Blog Tour: Shattered Souls - Mary Lindsey - Guest Post: Writing Method

Mary Lindsey is here today with a post on her writing method courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her soon to be released, Shattered Souls. Thank you for being here today, Mary! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy! 

Method Acting Applied to Characterization in Fiction

I’ve been asked if I use a particular method to write. Coming from a theatre background, “method” means something different to me.

I was trained in the Stanislavsky Method of acting, and I’ve discovered that some of the principles of the system apply to developing richer characters in novels.

Method acting derived from the system created by the Russian actor, Constantine Stanislavski in the late 1800’s. “Method” acting was popularized in the U.S. in the 1930’s and advanced by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio from the 1940’s until his death in 1982.

In Stanislavski’s system, actors deeply analyze motivations and emotions of their character in order to personify them with psychological realism and emotional authenticity.

The character has to come from somewhere or something within the actor—or in this case, the author—in order to be believable.

I won’t bore you with an essay on Method Acting, but I’ll give you an example of how it changed a scene once I got into my own head and memories before going into my main character’s.

In the opening of the book, Lenzi, the protagonist is approached by the spirit of a dead child in the school bathroom. After escaping the locked stall and finding the main bathroom door locked, Lenzi does something entirely different than she did originally: she slides down the door, curls in a ball, and rocks.

When I first wrote it, I had her bang, scream and fight her way through her fear. But after I put the scene through a couple of acting exercises (internal mental and emotional ones—I didn’t scream and bang on my door), I realized her reaction was more intense and believable if she withdrew for a moment. I based this on an experience I had in Kindergarten when I got locked in a school locker for many hours.

So, although each book dictates a different approach and organization, my consistent tool when writing is the emotional and sense memory recall exercises I used on stage. It adds a richness to the characters that makes them more believable to me as well as the readers.

Thank you so much, Corrine, for having me on you blog today!

Thank you for sharing a glimpse of your writing method, Mary! Also, thank you so much for being here today! 

Mary Lindsey can be found on her website.

Shattered Souls can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Penguin, and Goodreads.

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A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger.

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Blog Tour: From Bad to Cursed - Katie Alender - Tens List

Today, Katie Alender is here with a tens list for her new release From Bad to Cursed courtesy of the Teen Book Scene. Thank you for being here, Katie! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner located below. Enjoy!

Ten Reasons You Shouldn't Get On Kasey's Bad Side

(1) She's very good at making friends with ghosts. Angry ghosts. Powerful ghosts.

(2) She will totally sneak into your room at night and surround you with creepy dolls, so when you wake up, you will definitely pee your pants.

(3) She's smart. Like, super smart.

(4) She's paying attention even when you think she's not.

(5) There might have been that one thing with the broken arm...

(6) ...And that one thing with the house that kind of, um, isn't there anymore.

(7) She's spent a year in a mental hospital, pretending to be crazy. Which is probably enough to make anyone a little crazy.

(8) She's always been the "good" daughter. So chances are, if it comes down to your word against hers... you're in trouble.

(9) She can boil water just by thinking about it. And broken air conditioners obey her whims. It's probably not worth finding out what else she can do with her mind!

(10) Even though she seems like a shy, awkward, scared girl, there's a really good chance that underneath her nervous exterior is a girl who knows what she wants. And knows how to get it.

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Anyone who thinks they know Kasey from the first book is probably in for a bit of a surprise in FROM BAD TO CURSED... I know she surprised me!)

Thanks for having me today!

You are more than welcome, Katie! Thank you so much for being here and giving us the heads up about Kasey! 

Katie can be found on her website and blog, twitter, and facebook.

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Alexis is the last girl you'd expect to sell her soul for beauty and popularity. After all, she already has everything she needs--an adorable boyfriend, the perfect best friend, and a family that finally seems to be healing after her sister Kasey's unfortunate possession by an evil spirit.

But then Kasey tells Alexis about the mysterious new club she has joined, and the oath she has taken to someone named Aralt. Worried that Kasey's gotten in over her head again, Alexis and her best friend Megan decide to investigate by joining the Sunshine Club, too. At first, their connection with Aralt seems harmless. Alexis tries a new -- normal-- look, and finds herself reveling in her elegance and success.

Still, despite the Sunshine Club's outward perfection, the group is crumbling from within, and soon Alexis finds herself battling her own personal demons. She can hardly even remember why she joined in the first place. Surely it wasn't to destroy Aralt...why would she hurt someone who has given her so much, and asked for so little in return?

Synopsis taken from goodreads. 

Past Midnight - Mara Purnhagen

Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….

(Synopsis taken from goodreads.)

Title: Past Midnight

Author: Mara Purnhagen

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: September 1, 2010

Source: Received through netgalley. I received this galley free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Harlequin Teen for sending me this copy for review. 

My Rating: 4/5

Charlotte is just your typical, normal, everyday girl. That is, until you find out that her parents happen to have their own ghost-hunting "reality" show. When she moves to a new town, and to a new school, Charlotte thinks that she can keep her parents' lifestyle under wraps. She is juggling both school, and her home life quite well; until one day, something eerie happens to follow her home. 

Charlotte is a relatable character. She just wants to lead a normal life, without the added complication of "celebrity status". She wants to have friends, go to parties, and just be a normal teenager; instead of staying in one place only long enough to finish a semester of school before her parents decide to relocate again. I could easily sympathize with her, and felt that she was a believable character. 

The plot line was equally interesting as I haven't read many books about debunking ghosts. Actually, this might be the only one that I have read which tackles the topic of ghosts in this way. Regardless, it was a good, fast read, and I certainly can't wait for the next book in this series to come out. I didn't find it overly "spooky", though others who have read and reviewed it have found it made them relatively uneasy. 

All in all, this is a quick and easy read. I enjoyed it, and found that the premise was unique, and therefore made it all the more interesting. I'm sure many will enjoy it, and want to carry on with the series as it progresses. 

Give Up The Ghost - Megan Crewe

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over "breathers." Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable. They know the dirt on everybody. . . and Cass loves dirt. She's on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.
But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass's whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.
As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim's life, she's surprised to realize he's not so bad--and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it's time to give the living another chance. . . .

Title: Give Up The Ghost
Author: Megan Crewe
Genre: Young Adult, Ghosts
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
My Rating: 4/5

Though I enjoyed this book, I didn't love it immediately. At first I didn't care for Cass, but I grew to like her after I realized that she wasn't completely vindictive; she didn't want to destroy everyone by telling all of their secrets, she just wanted to be left alone. I could identify with her character then. Though she can see ghosts, the story is not completely a ghost story, it's more of a coming of age novel about the trials of an outcast who is befriended by an unlikely ally, the ever popular vice president of the student council; though she doesn't want to help him, doesn't trust him (not that she trusts anyone), she opens up to him, and genuinely starts to care for him and his well-being. It was an original tale involving ghosts, but it didn't focus solely on them. I liked how the characters were developed, I just wished that we could have seen more character development between Cass and her ex-best friend, Danielle. Their hatred, while there, seemed tenuous at best. All in all, I did enjoy the book, and look forward to reading more from this author in the future. This was an excellent debut novel.

This book counts toward the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge hosted over at J. Kaye's book blog.

The Hollow - Jessica Verday

A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER...

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead . . . and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again. . . but also special.
Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her--one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian as well as her own sanity.

Title: The Hollow
Author: Jessica Verday
Genre: Young Adult, Lore, Ghosts
Publisher: Simon Pulse
My Rating: 3/5

I really wanted to love this book as I love the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, however this book was just "meh". I found it frustrating that the heroine of this story would delve into the mystery surrounding Kristen's death for a chapter or two and then just as quickly, give up. We wouldn't hear of anything for chapters on end, if at all. I thought it would focus more on the Legend than it did as well, but sadly it didn't get really good until the last 20 pages or so. There are various references, but nothing concrete. We are left with a lot of unanswered questions which I hope are answered in the next book "The Haunted" (which comes out in September 2010). I had high hopes for this book, but found that the book spent more time on the day to day stuff (school, hair, projects) than it did on the actual meat of the story. I want to like Abbey, I really do, and I did for a bit, but I think she needs to grow a backbone. Her love interest, Caspian, leaves more questions than answers as well. I will continue to read this series because there was a glimmering of hope that this story isn't done yet, that it could move from the realm of 'meh' to excellent. There are a lot of twists and ideas that make it seem that the story is not over yet, and hopefully Jessica will follow through and explore those twists. In reading this book, and finding out that it is part of a trilogy, I think that it was mainly setting up the story for the next two books, so I hope the next book blows the story into the realm of excellent. All in all, I'll say stick with it, because hopefully the next books will make up for this one! (Though as a disclaimer, I did enjoy this one somewhat, but not nearly as much as I had hoped I would!)

This book counts toward the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge hosted over at J. Kaye's book blog.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder

Girl meets boy.
Girl loses boy.
Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see or touch him,
unless she's dreaming.
She can't hear his voice,
except for the faint whispers in her mind.
Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson.
The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with.
He's back from the dead,
as proof that love truly knows no bounds.


Title: I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Author: Lisa Schroeder
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse
My Rating: 4/5

This was a light and easy read. I wasn't expecting this book to be all in verse. I enjoyed the style of the writing. It flowed quite well, especially for being set in a poetic format. I loved Ava's character, she has a strong voice, and we follow her after the tragic loss of her boyfriend, and first love, Jackson. We see how she copes with his death, as well as his ghost. It was a very heart-warming story. I don't want to say too much more as I don't want to give out any spoilers. All in all, it was a unique format, and a quick read. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants something "light-hearted", but deals with tough subjects, to read.


This book counts toward the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge hosted over at J. Kaye's book blog.

Ghostgirl - Tonya Hurley

Sometimes high school really is a matter of life and death.

Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is. Even worse: she's dead. And all because of a guy and a gummy bear.

In this satirical yet heartfelt novel, Tonya Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

Title: Ghostgirl
Author: Tonya Hurley
Genre: Young Adult, Ghosts
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
My Rating: 1/5

I really wanted to like this book. I thought it would be good, especially since it was packaged so well. Unfortunately, it was just a nice package; there was nothing in the story that really jumped out at me. We, I think, are supposed to feel empathy for Charlotte, the main character, but she was a very unlikeable character. From the beginning of the book she is whiny, self-involved and gives us a crash course in "Stalking 101". There are glimmers of hope for this story when we are introduced to Scarlet. Her character, at least, is a very definitive one. There were a lot of clichés and that exasperated me as well.

The premise for this story is that Charlotte likes a boy named Damen. He is popular and she is "invisible". He is also dating popular, self-involved Petula. In an effort to get Damen to notice her, Charlotte thinks she must act more like Petula so she emulates Petula, puckers her lips like Petula does, and just all-around acts like Petula. She ends up being partnered with Damen in Physics, and is supposed to tutor him, but she dies choking on a gummy bear before she can even have a second conversation with him.

Even after death, she is still obsessed with Damen. She befriends the only girl who can see her, Scarlet. Scarlet, incidentally is Petula's younger "goth" sister. We never find out why Scarlet is the only one who can see her, or even why she can see her in the first place. Charlotte possesses Scarlet on numerous occasions, and doesn't care what she does in her body, as long as it gets her closer to Damen. As Scarlet is being possessed, her spirit is displaced. She can still see what is going on around her and wanders around while Charlotte is inside her body. Consequently, Damen does not realize that he is in fact talking with Charlotte, so when Charlotte is NOT possessing Scarlet, he is getting to know Scarlet. He likes both "sides" of Scarlet's personality and Scarlet and Damen start to fall for each other. This makes Charlotte jealous; so much so that she forcibly pushes her way into Scarlet's body on numerous occasions so that she can be near Damen. (Scarlet is maybe the only character that I do like in this book.)

There is a secondary plot in this book as well. Charlotte is supposed to be helping out a class of the deceased pass on. She apparently is "The One". The secondary plot is very confusing. In an effort not to ruin the book for everyone, I won't go into any more detail about what happens. All I'll say is that I did not like this book and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

This book counts toward the 2010 100+ Reading Challenge over at J. Kaye's book blog.