Annie Oldham's Infraction

Hello Readers,

So I wanted to post this on the first, but that didn't happen. My life has been crazy lately. But hey this post is only two weeks later that I originally planned. (:

Planning on going on a 18 month trip takes a lot of prep and when you add being a full-time student, full-time employee, NaNoWriMo, and being the head chair of two massive Christmas projects, life gets really busy.

However, I wanted to talk about a brilliant author named Annie Oldham and her latest novel Infraction. 

I'd like to start by sharing some information about Annie.

Annie Oldham graduated from BYU (the school that I attend) and majored in English (that's also my major, isn't the world small sometimes?). Annie is happily married and according to her blog, feels that she is the mother "of the most adorable girls in the world."

Apart from being a wife and mother, Annie is actively pursuing her passion for writing. Infraction is the fourth book that Annie has written and is the second in the Burn series.

You can get in contact with Annie through her website. Be sure to stop by and be sure to check out her blog tour schedule to learn even more about Annie and her latest novel Infraction. 

I first became introduced to Annie when she asked me to review her book The Burn over almost two years ago. Ever since then, I have had the privilege of working with her several times and in several capacities. 

These are all the times Annie has appeared directly/indirectly on my blog:

My Review of The Burn-This is the book that precedes Infraction. The Burn was an incredible book that I absolutely adored. 

Q&A with Annie Oldham-Annie was nice enough to put up with me asking her a few questions. 

My Review of Bound-Another really excellent read.

So naturally when Annie contacted me and asked if I would perform a light copyedit of Infraction, I jumped at the chance. I'm so glad I did. 

Annie is always so great to work with. Her writing is always incredible and she has such a great personality. Working with her on Infraction, simply solidified that opinion. 

This is the review I wrote of Infraction on Goodreads: 

Annie is an incredible writer. Her novels always suck me in so completely. I've had the opportunity to review several of her novels and have loved every single one of them. She is definitely a writer that I'm going to be keeping tabs on.

I helped Annie with this book by providing a light copyedit. However, as I was going along, I found myself having to remind myself not to get caught up in the story and to keep editing. 

Her characters are brilliantly developed, her plot is beautiful, and the pacing is excellent.

This is the second book in a series that I both love and recommend. This one is definitely worth reading.

Yes, I edited this book, but it was still so incredible. Sequels are usually such drags and are usually impossible to get through. But even while editing this one, I found myself wondering what would happen next.

This book is definitely one I recommend which is why I'm including the Amazon link. Think about buying this one and The Burn. This is a series you won't regret reading or buying.

Amazon link to The Burn
Amazon link to Infraction

Love,

Danica Page

Guest Post: Rebecca Reid, author of The Coop

Hello Readers,

Today I'm pleased to have Rebecca Reid, author of The Coop, on the blog today. But before we get into her guest post, here is some information about the author.

Rebecca Reid was withdrawn from school due to illness at fourteen. Being limited in the things she was able to do, she wrote all the time − poetry, stories, feelings, thoughts. 

At 16 she had her own page in the local weekly newspaper, the Bangor Spectator, in which she covered anything and everything: fashion, beauty, film, teen issues etc. At 17 she became a model, doing catwalk, photographic work, and TV. In 2008 she graduated in English from Queens University, Belfast, and she was awarded an Arts Council writing grant in 2009. 

Married in 2007, she lives in N. Ireland with her husband and their three daughters. The Coop is her first novel, and part of the Thickets Wood Trilogy.

Follow Rebecca on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/thicketswood
Visit Rebecca Reid on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccareid.thicketswood
Pick up your copy of The Coop at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BBGY0E

And here is some information about her book, The Coop. 

A psychological thriller about the destruction of innocence.

Enter The Coop, a dark and mysteriously misleading psychological thriller.

A girl, apparently imprisoned in a room, is the thread of mystery running parallel to the tale of Thatchbury village.

Meet Howard and Lilly. They take you on a journey through Thatchbury where Mathew, the child from the coop, shoots Jodie Tiding, and so unravels the history of his loveless raising, her innocence and the dramatic events leading them to disaster.

The Coop is a darkly compelling vision of the layers of consciousness. 
Although conceived as the first novel in a trilogy, The Coop stands alone as a brilliant individual work of fiction.

You can also enter to have a chance to win a Kindle Fire HD. 

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But now here's Rebecca's post. 

My book, a reflection of moi? Never.

We have all heard the saying ‘write what you know’, right? The thing is, it’s what we don’t know that excites us. Isn’t that why we read? Isn’t that also why we write? To experience the unreachable. To create the unimagined. Why then, if you voice the slightest inquiry regarding your writing do you always get told, ‘just write what you know’ – this is often accompanied by a subtle shoulder squeeze or a pitiful pat on the back. Entirely uninvited and in my case, unrequited, I am far from a touchy feely kind of person, more especially in a moment of angst. I say angst, because to voice any kind of query regarding my writing, I must be in a bad place. Any way, who wants to hear ‘write what you know’. Could anything be less stimulating to a defunked brain?

However, no matter the genre or topic, it is solemnly true that despite how uninhibited ones writing may be, real life and not just anybody’s, mine as the author, drips onto the pages. Yes, clearly the day-to-day habits of human kind are a reflection of real life; that is understood, what I am referring to are the subtleties within the story. A scene. Perhaps even a chapter. There will be something, no matter how small or insignificant, within every novel that is a true reflection of its creator.

My husband came to me just the other day enquiring as to whether his grandparents and their hen keeping were, in some obscure way being reflected within my novel ‘The Coop’. It took me a moment to respond. My initial reaction was no, of course not. The words shot around my brain before being churned out and replaced with a vividly pensive question mark. Had they been the subconscious influence that brought on the creation of Mrs Cauldwell and the chicken coop?  Well, yes, I began to realize they had. Of course they had. Ideas, creation, they come from somewhere. They are stimulated within you by an image, a sound, a flashing thought. Every plot has been sourced from within and its roots are bound to you through something you have experienced. It doesn’t make hearing that irritating saying any easier to digest, but it does make you realize that every piece you read is never that far from reality.

Thanks for stopping by Rebecca. Your book looks most intriguing. I know I will definitely be checking it out. Have a great day.

Love, 

Danica Page