Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Lisa Unger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lisa Unger. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (Sept 20, 2011)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  • Then visit MizB and add your link!



She started to tell her mother that everything was fine, that she was worried for nothing, that Kevin was just a difficult man to understand but that he was good to them and all was well.  Except the words wouldn't come. (Darkness, My Old Friend, p123)

        This is such a good book!  Not even half way through and I highly recommend it!
      Darkness, My Old Friend: A Novel
      Publisher/Publication Date: Crown, Aug 2011
      ISBN: 978-0-307-46499-6
      360 pages


      Thursday, September 9, 2010

      Stop and meet Lisa Unger - author of Fragile

      Hi Lisa!  Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for me.  Let's start with an easy one (or maybe not. . .)

      1. Can you tell us a little about your latest book, Fragile?


      It's difficult for an author to summarize her book. I can tell you what it's about ... but it will take 400 manuscript pages! Loosely based on an event from my own past, FRAGILE is set in a fictional town called The Hollows. Maggie Cooper is a family and adolescent psychologist, and her husband Jones is the lead detective with the small Hollows Police Department. When their son's girlfriend Charlene goes missing, the disappearance eerily echoes a horrible event that occurred in The Hollows when Maggie and Jones were in high school. The Hollows is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone else, and people rarely leave. But beneath the peaceful surface, there are buried secrets and ugly memories. As the truth about what happened to Charlene is revealed, another truth, something Jones has spent his whole life trying to hide is clawing it's way up from the grave. This is crime fiction, of course. But it's also an exploration of the bonds of family and community, the power of memory, and the fragility of life.




      2. What was the hardest part of Fragile to write?


      This story has tried to find its way out for a number of years. It has turned up in other partials, but was never able to resolve itself into a novel. Because I write without an outline, I was far into the narrative before I finally realized what it was about. And I realized that I had been trying to write this story, in way or another, for twenty years. No novel writes itself, but FRAGILE was a story that flowed very naturally. I was very in tune with my characters, their various trials, their secrets. I was living in that fictional town. I don't recall one aspect of the story as being harder than any other. It was difficult getting to the place where I was able to write it, but once I was there, I found the telling very organic.




      Fragile
      by Lisa Unger
      3. I know that Fragile is loosely based on an incident you experienced growing up, but other than that, do you do much research for your books?

      It's interesting that the novel most inspired by an actual event is probably the book for which I did the least amount of research. I usually do a great deal. Generally, on any given topic, I start with the internet, move on to books, and finally find someone who's willing to talk with me. Those layers of research are important to me, allowing me a three- dimensional knowledge of my topic. But with FRAGILE, which is so much about the power and impact of memory, I did far less. I didn't want the book to be about the actual event from my past, just the essence of it. I had a fear of exploiting the memory of a girl who met a horrible end, of causing anyone any more pain. So I didn't explore the past, research the real-life case ... I just relied on my very foggy memories to tell a story that was personal to me.




      4. How do you typically write? Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out?

      Every novel starts with a character, a voice. I write without an outline. I have no idea what's going to happen day-to-day, who's going to show up, what they're going to do. I certainly don't know how a book is going to end, though I have a general idea of the direction I'm moving. I write for the same reason that I read: because I want to know what's going to happen.




      5. Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing?


      I am happiest in my office, in the early hours of the morning. But other than that, because I wrote for so long in the nooks and crannies of my life, I can write anywhere. Once I'm in the zone, the world just fades away. Of course, as a mother, there's not a lot of uninterrupted time anymore. But I generally work in the morning, while my daughter is in pre-school. And if I haven't accomplished my goals for the day, I write again when she sleeps.




      6. Do you have much say in the title or covers of you books?


      The cover has everything to do with the fabulous art department at Random House/ Crown. I have never seen a cover from them that I didn't love. I think if I didn't love something, I would have a voice at my publishing company. But ultimately, I defer to their judgement on these matters. The cover, and even the titles, are a marketing concern. For example, my original title for Sliver of Truth was The Ghost. But the folks at Random House wanted something different, so my editor and I obsessed about it until we came up with the title that ultimately wound up on the book. But all of the other titles have been mine.


      7. Is there anything that has surprised you about writing, publishing or touring with your books?


      Because I worked in publishing for many years before becoming an author, the writing life didn't hold a lot of surprises for me. I knew that my first book contract was just a beginning, that it was harder to succeed as a published author than it is to get published in the first place. I knew that I would have to work as hard as anyone trying to create a successful career. I knew the realities of the book tour (though I didn't know anyone else who had done it with a nursing four month old!). So, in many ways, I was uniquely prepared for the life of an author. In writing FRAGILE, on the other hand, I learned that as a writer, you can have ambitions to tell a story but not have the talent or the skills to tell it well. I think that I needed to write eight novels before I was the kind of writer who could write FRAGILE. And I think I needed to grow up a little to tell that story.




      8. Do you have a favorite author/book or one that you always recommend?

      I have had such a love affair with books, that I could never choose one favorite. For writers, I always recommend On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, or The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. The book I'm most looking forward to at the moment is Laura Lippman's I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE. It releases on Aug. 17 and I just can't wait. She's one of the writers I most admire.




      9. You have written many essays either about your pregnancy or your daughter, Ocean, but what is your favorite activity to do with her?


      I really love doing everything with Ocean -- kayaking, swimming, traveling, going to the movies. She such a funny, fabulous, little stick of dynamite; she makes everything we do more interesting! Of course, stories are a very important part of the day -- the ones we read and those we make up together. We are currently writing a book. We came up with the story together and we're working on the illustrations -- I draw, she colors! It is a hilarious process and she is a rigorous editor, as well as a natural storyteller. If I had to pick a favorite activity, that would be it.




      10. Is there anything else that you would like my readers to know?


      In conversations with a number of different librarians, I heard that at libraries across the country, new book budgets are being slashed or eliminated. Several librarians have written to me to say that they can't offer my book, or any new book, to their patrons because there's simply no money to buy them. I want your readers to know this because I hope they'll do one or all of the following: 1) Donate new books to the local library 2) Support the Friends of the Library 3) Write to their local government to demand that our library budgets be left intact. Meanwhile, if you know of a library who would like to carry my book but can't afford to, please have them connect with me at www.facebook.com/authorlisaunger and I will happily donate one.

      There you have it!  I am about halfway through this book and I am loving it! Look for my review in the next few days.

      I am lucky in that our public library is very well supported by our community.  We are actually getting ready for a renovation which will add a second level and a dedicated teen area.  I am a Friend of our library and hope that you are too, or will become one.  I think that is wonderful that Lisa would donate her book to a library that couldn't afford one! 

      You can also connect with Lisa at her website, her blog - Notes from the Margin, or on Twitter.
















      .

      Friday, June 5, 2009

      Friday Finds: 6-5-2009


      Here are my finds this week!


      Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

      I found this at J.Kaye's Book Blog.

      About the book: (from Barnes and Noble website) If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of waiting for a cab, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used to call her life. She would still be the privileged daughter of a doting father and a loving mother. Her life would still be perfect—with only the tiny cracks of an angry junkie for a brother and a charming drunk with shady underworld connections for an uncle to mar the otherwise flawless whole.

      But that’s not what happened. Instead, those inconsequential decisions lead her to perform a good deed that puts her in the right place at the right time to unleash a chain of events that brings a mysterious package to her door—a package which informs her that her entire world is a lie.

      Suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her family, Ridley wanders into dark territory she never knew existed, where everyone in her life seems like a stranger. She has no idea who’s on her side and who has something to hide—even, and maybe especially, her new lover, Jake, who appears to have secrets of his own.

      Sexy and fast-paced, Beautiful Lies is a true literary thriller with one of the freshest voices and heroines to arrive in years. Lisa Unger takes us on a breathtaking ride in which every choice Ridley makes creates a whirlwind of consequences that are impossible to imagine . . . .




      Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

      I found this book over at Semicolon's blog.

      About the book: (from Barnes and Noble website) Another New York Times bestseller from Laurie Halse Anderson! High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father's boss's daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy— and Tyler's secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in school, in his family, and in the world.


      What great books did you find this week?? Stop over at Should Be Reading and share yours!

      Beautiful Lies
      Publisher/Publication Date: Random House, Dec 2006
      ISBN: 9780307336828
      384 pages


      Twisted
      Publisher/Publication Date: Penguin, May 2008
      ISBN: 9780142411841
      272 pages

      LinkWithin

      Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...