Y’all don’t you just love it when you read a book that makes you want to gush and gush and THEN you get the opportunity to pick the author’s brain about it? Seriously, that’s like dreams coming true for me.
PLUS OMG YOU GUYS! Today is the RELEASE DAY HOLLAAAAA for Masque Of The Red Death by Bethany Griffin. Bethany has graciously dropped by to answer a few BURNING questions I had!
The Masque Of The Red Death
1.One thing that struck me while reading Masque of the Red Death was the lush style of writing. Which writers have influenced you?
Oh wow, so many writers. I love Anne Rice, and I’m not sure if my writing is lush, but if so, she influenced me a lot. Growing up I read a lot of semi-modern gothic literature by authors like Victoria Holt, and lots of fantasy (my favorite fantasy authors are Guy Gavriel Kay and Jacqueline Carey).
2. Much of Masque centers around a horrific plague that reminds one of The Black Death during the Medieval period. Did you do any research on plagues while writing? What was the most interesting thing you came across?
Okay, well I love the middle ages and the Bubonic Plague, the Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is one of my all time favorite books, but I have to admit I didn’t do a lot of research for Masque, I read up on the awful symptoms that Poe described for his plague, tried to make the initial plague awful and different, and went from there.
3. If you had to pick a theme song for Masque, what would it be?
Machine Gun by Portishead.
4. What are a few YA books you’ve read and enjoyed recently?
I loved Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood, Black Heart by Holly Black (and the rest of the books in that series), Oh, I really liked Invisible Sun by David Macinnis Gill.
F’realz, Bethany has GREAT TASTE in YA books AND music.
Via http://www.bethanygriffin.com/bio.html
And okay, because I was in L-O-V-E with Masque of The Red Death, I kind of want you all to fall in L-O-V-E with it too and OMG OPPORTUNITY! So, here’s the deal. Leave a comment on this post with a great YA book you’ve read lately and I will choose a winner on April 30th for my ARC. Oh, and of course this business is open INTERNATIONALLY, y’all.
And the winner is Andrea at Love Is…
Can’t get enough of Masque and Bethany?
Check her website WHICH IS TOTES KICKIN‘.
Oh and don’t forget to follow Bethany on twitter!
OH YEAH and right here is the reason I think you should ALL COMMENT AND ENTER!
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I’m a huge music junkie but I’ve never heard of Portishead – must look them up 🙂 And recently, as in last night, I just finished Catching Jordan sooooo….that’s the book that’s been on my mind. Looooove it like cray!
I’m dying to read Masque so thanks so much for the giveaway! <333
This is such a cool interview, I’ve been hearing great things about this book and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy, so thanks so much for the giveaway April! A great YA book I’ve read lately is Robin Wasserman’s TheBook of Blood and Shadow, it was freaking amazing! 🙂
YAY! 😀 Can’t wait to read this book. <3 Thank you for the chance to win it 😀 Hmm, Shadow and Bone is amazing. <3 🙂
Love, Carina
Fabulous thank you. I enjoyed HEIST SOCIETY.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Ooh, the plague. And medievil times? Sounds interesting. 😀 I can’t to read it!
Article 5 was amazing!
thunter_5@yahoo.com
I LOVED Scarlet by AC Gaughen!!
Also, I’ve read Masque of the Red Death. Yep, I enjoyed it too! (I have a copy of the book, so don’t enter me in giveaway!)
I’ve been really lucky with the books I’ve read recently: Purity by Jackson Pearce, Above by Leah Bobet, and Starters by Lissa Price were all excellent. I’m also currently reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl which is GORGEOUS and I LOVE IT. It’s totally put me in the gothic mood, and Masque of the Red Death seems like it would have some gothic elements, considering it’s based on a Poe story.
The best YA book I’ve read lately is Melina Marchetta’s Froi of the Exiles. Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
I’ve always been interested with the black plague. i think it inspired a lot of artist with their works. I’m excited with this book!
Recently there are so many good YA books out that it is difficult to choose.But if I had to pick one it would be Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley.Her writing style was beautiful and I got totally sucked inside her world.
I just finished The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen and was so pleasantly surprised by it. I loved it–it was totally smart, totally cute contemporary YA.
The Masque of the Red Death has been on my radar for a long while now. I’d love a chance to win a copy!
Yay, an international competition! A great YA book I read recently was A Monster Calls, which actually isn’t great, it’s amazing!
Very cool interview! I’m seriously excited about this one; I love Poe! Probably the best two books that I’ve recently read are Fire by Kristen Cashore and Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier.
My most recent 5 star read was Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. Loved that book.
Thanks for the chance to win. This book sounds AMAZING.
A recent favorite that I read was Divergent. I was a little late to the party, but definitely enjoyed it!
Thanks for the chance to enter!
ONE BOOK? Good grief, that’s hard.
First of all, I read this book ages ago on an arc tour and I ate it up. I read it fast and fell in love with the Debauchery Club and the setting-as-character and the dark-as-heck vibe with the contagions and masks and stuff. And I kinda love Will.
Lately, I’ve read a ton of good stuff but the last book I read was awesome. It was Ascend by Amanda Hocking, which finished out the Trylle Trilogy and I LOVED IT. It’s troll mythology and it was different and fresh and who doesn’t love something NEW in YA??? Plus the covers are SO PRETTY.
Really looking forward to Masque. Currently readin Partials by Dan Wells.
I loved Immortal Rules!! <3 But I read it in early April. So..what I read lately was Die For Me. I reread it actually and loved it! Thank you SO much!
Love the interview! Thanks so much for the chance! I'm DYING to read this. Ahhh!!
precious_shusky at yahoo dot com
Woot, thank you for making it international!! 🙂 I’ve been dying to read this…I read a few weeks ago Divergent, I know I’m late to that party but it’s my favorite book so far. Love it, so different and intense.
Woot, thank you for making it international!! 🙂 I’ve been dying to read this…I read a few weeks ago Divergent, I know I’m late to that party but it’s my favorite book so far. Love it, so different and intense.
Gosh, there are sooo many awesome books!!!
Books I have recently read and loved are “Witch Eyes” by Scott Tracey and “Fugitives” by Alexander Gordon Smith (4th book in the “Escape from Furnace” series). My next read will be “A Touch Morbid” by Leah Clifford, and I already know I’m going to love, love, love it!!! 🙂
Thank you so, so much for this amazing giveaway! I am dying to get my hands on this book!!!
LOVE this interview!! I can’t wait to read MASQUE! I love the cover and idea.
I recently read Destined by Aprilynne Pike and omg SO GOOD. <3 but so sad that series has ended for me!
I just started Siobhan Vivian’s new book, The List, yesterday, and boy it’s really sucking me into the story. It seems I’m trying to find a few more contemporary titles to read, but my go-to genre is always paranormal/supernatural whether YA or adult. 🙂 I’m so looking forward to reading Masque of the Red Death, and Poe is a serious rock star. Thank you for the great interview and giveaway!
I read Finnikin of the Rock and am excited to dive into Froi of the Exiles. Fantasy isn’t my favorite genre but Melina Marchetta can write no wrong!
The Hunger Games was the best ya book series I read so far this year! I can re-read that series no problem because of how well the series was written! Thanks for the giveaway!
Hi April 🙂
I would love to get a chance to read “Masque of The Red Death” asap since I’ve been a dedicated Poe fan since high school. Regrettably, it’s not likely that a Polish translation should appear on the market here any time soon… Can’t wait for the new “The Raven” movie too!
Oh, and when it comes to YA books I dig the “Gone” series, to my surprise. But the MOST AWESOME title I came across recently that I would love to recommend to everybody is “The City of Dreaming Books” by Walter Moers. Enough said that in that world there are literate dragons who write poetry and hang out in a city full of magical antiquarian bookshops. Doesn’t get any better than that! You can check more details under the below link:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62031.The_City_of_Dreaming_Books_Dreaming_Books_1_
Cheers from Poland!
I just finished The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting last night. Amazing!
Thanks for the giveaway!!
Great interview! Masque of Red Death looks pretty promising, though I can’t say I’m familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s works. 😀 Thank you for the international giveaway!
~~Beatriz
I can’t wait to read this one, anything that relates in any way to Poe has my attention. A great YA book I’ve read recently…The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour and Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I’ve also been pining like crazy for Robin Wasserman’s The Book of Blood and Shadow!
Thanks for doing the giveaway 🙂
ashleylovesbooksblog [at] gmail [dot] com
This book looks so good!!! My favorite book that I have read recently is Under The Never Sky. I’m going through a big book faze so I have read alot of books and this one was by far my favorite I can’t wait for the next book to come out!!!
Thanks
bridget.howard@hotmail.com
Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper was amazing. It was defintely eye-opening. As a 4/5 grade teacher, I’m always looking for YA that is interesting and provides students with a different perspective. This book, told by a girl with cerebal palsy, defintely gives kids (and adults) a fresh look at people who seem different from us on the outside.
I loved Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley : )
I want this book so badly! It’s Poe and you can’t go wrong with Poe! I’m currently reading The Immortal Rules and it’s SO good!
Ooh. Plague research. I’m sure that was, um, fun.
I’m in middle of reading Karsten Knight’s Wildefire, though I’m not sure yet if I love it. It’s kind of bizarre (though the cover is soft and felt-y, like Paranormalcy, which I LOVE.)
Thanks for the giveaway! I <3 Poe.
I can’t wait to read Masque. Thank you for a great interview.
I haven’t been reading much later, since I’ve had so much work to do, but THE IMMORTAL RULES was really good. 😀
Interestingly I also just read Born Wicked and it was AWESOME. FINN <3
AWESOME INTERVIEW! And yes what great taste in books and music, I like this debutante already and I haven’t even read Masque of the Red Death!
One great book I’ve read recently…We’ll Always Have Summer b Jenny Han, I finally got around to reading it and wow, amazing!
Masque of the Red Death! Seriously, I read the galley of this and I’m stick thinking about it so I have to pick that. 🙂
ComaCalm’s Corner
Er… by stick I mean still… of course…
I loved Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.
brookea_2006 at yahoodotcom
Great giveaway!
I loved Goddess Interrupted! =)
I absolutely adored Across the Universe! I have been recommending it like crazy! Thanks for the giveaway! Cant wait to pick up a copy of Masque.
Okay. So.
LOVE Portishead.
Starting Born Wicked today. Starting Black Heart on audio next.
Which means the great YA books I’ve read lately include: Red Glove, Code Name Verity, Spell Bound, and The Fault in Our Stars!
Thanks, April!
Machine Gun as a theme song? That, more than anything has grabbed my attention!!! Now I’m crazy curious.
Thanks for hosting this contest, April! This Q&A made me want to read it even more 😀 I keep hearing so many good things about it!
This book sounds so good!!!! Glad to hear how much you loved it, great interview as well. There’s a couple books, first, I loved Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, it was really something different from what else is out there I thought. 2nd, I’m reading a book that doesn’t come out till September, but I’m loving it, and that is Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan.
The last book I read was Tempest by Julie Cross and it was awesome. I have Grave Mercy to read next and I have read some really great things about it that I can’t wait to get started.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
A great YA book that I’ve read lately (p.s. Picking just one is SUPER hard), is Blood Red Road. I really enjoyed that one & can’t wait for Rebel Heart to come out in October! = )
The last YA that I LOVED was “The Scorpio Races” by Maggie Stiefvater (and I realize I’m fairly late to the party on that one). Seriously. Read it in one sitting and practically cuddled it when I finished.
I really cant wait to read this book! My latest great read is Defiance by CJ Redwine! I LOVED it 🙂 Thanks!
valialind(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
A great YA I’ve read lately is Across the Universe. I didn’t know a lot about it, and was sort of hesitant, but boy was it amazing!
Oh dear. The last really good one that I read was Divergent, but of course that’s everyone’s answer.
So for something different, I’m really enjoying Glitch by Heather Anastasiu right now, although I’m not finished so who knows how I’ll feel in a couple days. But I’m almost done, and so far so good!
The last really good books I read are Shattered Souls and Dreamless! Loved both of them. Great interview! I cannot wait to get my hands on this book! 😀
A great book that I just read was Starters by Lissa Price!! Although the cover is icky…
Thanks for the amazing giveaway! I just read Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, and When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle. Both were AMAZING! <3 loved 'em. Thanks again 😀
Thanks so much for the great interview and opportunity to win. I really loved Shatter me and Pandemonium.
I am reading Bewitching by Alex Flinn and it is really good!
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com
That is one hard question! I read so few YA novels, I actually had to check out my timeline to see which YA books I read lately. So, the last few YA novels I read were Dreamless and The White Oak. Dreamless was good! I loved the different take on Greek/Latin myths!!
I’have read Shatter Me few weeks ago and it was really good:)
I read The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda a couple of weeks ago and loved it! It is a vampire dystopian how can it be cooler? It is also told from the male pov which is kind of different in YA. If you have ever seen the movie Daybreakers think that but aimed at teens.
The Fault in Our Stars! Maybe the best book of 2012 I’ve read so far.
dontkillkittens8(at)netscape(dot)net
(is this, still open?)
Ohhh this is quite difficult to choose! I read Where She Went a month ago and I absolutely loved the book! It’s better than the predecessor imo. and although i loved it, my vote will go to White Cat by Holly Black cause’ awesome book is awesome. (and it doesn’t hurt the MC is male XD)
The best book I’ve read this year was The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis. I reminds me of Forbidden and Nevermore.
A great YA book I’ve read lately would probably be… Rampant by Diana Peterfreund. It was a litlle “slow” at first but in the end, I couldn’t put it down 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway (Hoping on it still being open)
Thildeespensen(at)live(dot)dk