L8r G8r — A Novel Using Internet-speak

The quest to feature one 2007 novel for each letter of the alphabet continues.  L8r G8r (as in “Later Gator”) by Lauren Myracle represents the letter “L,” and it looks really freakin’ cool.  It is the third in a series of young adult novels (although there’s no reason the book can’t be enjoyed by old adults, too, like me).  The first book in the series was TTYL (Talk To You Later) and the second was TTFN (TaTa For Now). 

The novel is done in a style where it is built out of instant messages.  I want to read it not only for the story, but to see how the author brings this style to life.  Plus, being an internet addict, the whole concept appeals to me.

Fantastic Fiction offers this description of this unique novel:

The winsome threesome say “l8r” to high school in this sequel to the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestsellers ttyl and ttfn

Through their instant messages, three inseparable friends have shared the ups and downs of high school. They’ve survived a flirtatious teacher, a witchy classmate, a pot-smoking smoocher, a Care Bear-toting stalker, and much, much more. Now it’s their senior year, and Angela, Zoe, and Maddie–otherwise know as the winsome threesome–are feeling invincible. Too bad Jana, the Queen Bee who made their sophomore year a nightmare, is on the warpath again.

The Oops Wrong Cookie blog says:

Don’t let the unusual format turn you off from a touching, well-written story. Yes, even though you may cringe at the thought of reading all lowercase typing, 3 different fonts (including blue type), and abbreviations like “cu”, “ur”, “plz” and “g2g”, it’s such a fun story. Honestly, there isn’t much IM language in here as I thought there would be. It’s really a novel in dialogue. Just think of it that way and give it a try.

You can view the author’s website at laurenmyracle.com or read her blog here.

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Marked and Betrayed

I was thrilled to get home and find the books Marked and Betrayed in my mailbox yesterday.  I had won Betrayed in a contest over at Dionne Galace’s blog, It’s Not Chick Porn (see my previous post), but was not expecting to receive a copy of Marked as well, so I was doubly stoked.  Adding to my excitement, the books were signed by the authors, although one was signed “You’ve been marked,” which freaked me out a little bit — lol.

For some reason, I’m just not into the book I’m reading now, so I think I’ll put it aside for awhile and jump right into this series (called the “House of Night” series) of YA vampire fiction.

I Won!

Yesterday, I was surprised to get an email telling me I’d won a free book in a contest.  I was especially suprised because I didn’t know I had entered a contest.  It turns out, they were giving out a free copy of Betrayed to commenters on one of the posts over at the blog, It’s Not Chick Porn — I guess I missed the line about the contest when I was reading it over.  (This blog regularly features contests and free stuff, so be sure to check it out.)

The post is a very cute and entertaining interview between the mother-daughter writing team of PC Cast and Kristin Cast.  Here is one of the questions the daughter asked the mother:

“Now that you are having a mid-life crisis, quickly approaching menopause, and quite possibly on your way into diapers, what do you plan on doing with the rest of your years as you float toward the oh, so great white light?”

Betrayed is the second in the young adult vampyre series, The House of Night.  The first book is titled Marked.

Sara Hantz had this to say about it in her blog at sarahantz.com:

When I was asked to review Marked, I wasn’t sure what my reaction would be. I don’t read paranormal books, especially not books with vampires in them. Well, all I can say is WOW!!! It hooked me from the start. It’s one of those rare books that, if you have to put it down, you spend the intervening time wondering what’s going to happen next to the characters.”

The authors have upcoming guest appearances in Tulsa and Shawnee, Oklahoma, as well as Reno, Nevada, in October/November 2007.