Project Tell Taylor

Michelle Madow is one of the many fabulous authors that I have worked with since starting I Write, I Read, I Review. She was actually the first author to contact me about reviewing a book (you can find my review for Remembrance here.) and when her follow up, Vengeance, released I did a launch day review for that too (it can be found here).

So when I found about Project Tell Taylor I absolutely had to get involved. I think that she deserves some applause for having the guts to send her book to someone who so deeply inspired it without the two of them having ever met. And I mean that sincerely. I'm chicken! There's no *way* I would send Moon Dance to the artist who most inspired it! *is laughing* Might be that the artist is male, but... Bah! Getting off topic! *laughs again*

I bet you're wondering what all of this babbling about, so without further ado...

Q: What is Project Tell Taylor? 

I'll let Michelle explain it herself...

Michelle Madow's debut novel Remembrance was inspired by Taylor Swift's "Love Story" music video. She talked all about it in a blog entry a few months ago, discussing how Remembrance was inspired by Taylor Swift's "Love Story" music video. She even wrote a letter to Taylor Swift and sent it to her, along with a signed book!

It's been a few months now, and she has yet to hear back from Taylor that she received the letter and book. She really wants to tell Taylor about how inspiring she and her music have been to her, but since Taylor Swift is an international superstar, she’s a little hard to reach. This is where YOUR help comes into play! Michelle is giving away the biggest prize pack she's offered yet, and the ways to enter to win are by telling Taylor Swift about Remembrance.

The Goal: Get Taylor Swift to Tweet about Remembrance!

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well, read on to find out more!

Q: So, Kat... What inspires you? 

Okay, wait. If we seriously started talking about everything that inspires me you'd still be reading this post at 1 in the morning. I'm an optimist. It doesn't take much to get me excited about things and wanting to do them. So, since this post is about what inspired Michelle to write her book, I'll talk about the primary musical inspiration behind my own. Ready for a laugh? :p ;)

I bet some of you so saw this coming! Awake by Josh Groban is one of, if not my absolute favorite, albums ever. And a lot of the songs on here make me think of characters or scenes from my book. "Mai" is Kesyl's theme. "In Her Eyes" is Avish thinking about Cait. I got the nickname Butterfly that Kyden uses from "Lullaby". "So She Dances" is about Sarena. "Machine" is one of the themes I use for Isabelle.

What makes Awake so great? Why do I find it such great material to listen to when I'm working on my book? The central theme of the album is definitely love. Which some music people do tend to scoff at. But it's about love in many different forms and stages of being. It's also in several different languages depending on the song in question. I find that helpful. Why? Because since my only language is English, I can actively choose whether to pay attention to what I know the song 'literally' means (I've looked them all up) or I can zone out, listen to it, and let myself devise my own interpretation based purely on sound.

Anyway, that's enough with getting mushy over Josh Groban. *shakes head* ...Back to Project Tell Taylor!

Q: But what is Remembrance About? 

Remembrance
by Michelle Madow
Find it on GoodReads

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.

And since I love Vengeance just as much, here's it's summary, too:

Vengeance
by Michelle Madow
Find it on GoodReads

How far would you go to get revenge?

When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back … well, it's downright crazy.

Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay?

Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga.

*Vengeance is the short story that bridges the events in Remembrance and the final novel in the Saga.

Okay, Kat. I'm tired of reading...

Alright, alright. :D You're in luck, because Michelle made a video showing off all of the absolutely awesome prizes up for grabs in the giveaway. Watch this and prepare to be amazed! :)

YouTube not agree with you? Well, here is an image of the prizes, just in case of that!

Fact: I'd love to win this! Isn't it great? :D 

Alright! Time to Enter for Your Chance to Win!

Review: Vengeance by Michelle Madow

I really loved Remembrance by Michelle Madow, so yesterday when Vengeance was released picking it up right away didn't take a lot of decision making. I've been very eager to check this out since I found Chelsea interesting in Remembrance. I wondered if Michelle would succeed in walking the line between making us empathize with Chelsea while making her take action. I feel she did this admirably.

WARNING: Because this is a short story and the contents of the tale are so closely set together, the following review may have spoilers. If you are merely curious whether or not I liked the story and wish to remain spoiler free, please look at the General section. Thank you.

The Plot: (Summary from GoodReads)

When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back … well, it's downright crazy.

Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay?

Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga.

*Vengeance is the short story that bridges the events in Remembrance and the final novel in the Saga.
The plot in Vengeance is quick, to the point and flawless in its execution. We get to see how the events of Remembrance have left Chelsea and after a quick entrance into her point of view we are immediately thrown into her tale. In short: Shannon may know a way that she can get Drew back. Chelsea is devastated about losing him, so she's up for pretty much everything.

I think that Michelle did a fantastic job showing us more about her reincarnation system. I also like how Shannon's aunt works differently from the man who helped Lizzie in the first book. I'm curious if Michelle made her magic up or if she did a bit of basic research into modern paganism. I liked the fact that the methods seemed relatively authentic, even though what this woman gets Chelsea to do breaks a key tenant of most modern magickal belief systems -- it will strip Drew of free will if it works.

I liked the fact that, despite the fact that Shannon is clearly not a great character, Michelle was able to get across how Chelsea views her current friendships, and how she still misses Lizzie and struggles between the friend she had and the betrayal she feels. This made the decisions she made during the story have weight and come across in a natural and interesting way.

The Characters:

I liked Chelsea, despite what this book has her doing. Do I still want Lizzie to end up with Drew? You bet! But I could certainly empathize with Chelsea's situation and understand what drew her to do what she did. (Hello, unwanted pun!) Her skepticism about magic and gradual willingness to believe in order to get what she wants, especially considering what she witnesses, made it hard to full hate her for what she is doing. I think it will be interesting to see how her actions will effect the next book.

I am very curious what the motives behind Shannon and her aunt's involvement are. Shannon was shown to be quite a pain in the first book and despite their "friendship" here, Chelsea does not seem to have forgotten or be neglecting this fact. Using magic to force someone to do something is pretty sinister so I wonder what's really going on here. Is the aunt doing this to get at Lizzie for some kind of past life issue, or is there something at stake in the present we don't know about? I am very curious, which is exactly what I should be right now.

There are going to be some of you who might be disappointed that there is no appearance from Lizzie in the book. I feel that this is for the best. It means that to our knowledge she will be entering the next story blind. We will not know whether or what Drew has told her and will be guessing about that. If Drew tells her that Chelsea is over he might be concerned she will be upset. But if he doesn't say anything, and what Chelsea does works ... There is going to be a lot of trouble up ahead.

The Romance:

This really does not apply here. We see that Chelsea wants Drew and that Drew is totally interested in Lizzie and definitely not interested. I wonder if he made a mistake speaking to Chelsea and whether that will effect the next book, though.

In General:

Be aware that Vengeance is not a full length novel. It's referenced as a 1.5 in the Transcending Time Saga for a reason. As long as you are aware of this going in, I think that fans of Remembrance are definitely in for a treat. Vengeance is an intriguing tale that enriches what has come before and lays groundwork for what may come in the future.

It also grants an intriguing look into Chelsea's situation, allowing us to see both sides of the story. As the stakes are drawn higher, the mystery of what all actually happened in the past is made more fascinating and the varying mechanics of Michelle Madow's take on reincarnation come further to light, I am confident in saying that I am anxious to see how this whole thing will conclude.

A memorable tale that does all of the things a bridging story should do, if you enjoyed Remembrance, Vengeance is an absolute must read.

Waiting On Wednesday (Dec. 7th)

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

This week's can't wait to read it selection is...

Vengeance

by Michelle Madow

How far would you go to get revenge?

When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back … well, it's downright crazy.

Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay?

Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga.

Why I Want It:  Well first the simple reason -- I really enjoyed Remembrance. I really enjoyed seeing Lizzie and Drew get together and I thought that the reincarnation element was interesting. But I also felt that Chelsea was an interesting character and she definitely got a crappy deal in the first book. Now she has a chance for revenge and I'm curious to see whether she'll take it, what it will entail and what the end result will be.

I also wonder if, at any point (here or later) she will realize how pointless revenge actually is -- in short, whether she will eventually get her own happy ending. I somehow doubt we're going to see that in Vengeance and I am cool with that. I'm going to have fun learning more about how Michelle's reincarnation system works and watching Chelsea be naughty. It should be a lot of fun.

So, are you eager to read Vengeance? And what is your selection this week? I'd love to know, so feel free to leave a comment.