REVIEW: The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up. The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

This is possibly the BEST book I've read this year and that means I preferred it to The Hunger Games! Yes, it's THAT good! Once I started reading, I just couldn't put it down.
One of the other reviewers here said that this book is an 'epic Hunger Games', which is quite a good description but in my opinion The Forsaken is better (and I love the Hunger Games!). It's more in-depth, perhaps a little more adult. I actually cried at one point too (okay then, I cried at more than one point). The Forsaken truly is an epic read. If you liked Lord of the Flies, then it will probably appeal to you too. It's quite scary in parts and it really makes you think...  What if? Could this kind of thing really happen in our lifetime?
Keep an eye out for author Lisa M Stasse because she's going to be huge. This book has the potential to become a true classic. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

#YAIndieCarnival: Great Giveaway & new authors

This week at the carnival each carni is highlighting an indie author outside of the carnival. Be sure to go to all the carni’s sites to hunt for smoking hot indie authors and their novels and ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! Details at the end of the post.

I'm interviewing Carlyle Labuschagne, a YA author whose first book, The Broken Destiny, is due out later this year. I first 'met' Carlyle over at the YA Trailer Park, and we've since become social networking buddies.

Your first YA book, The Broken Destiny, is coming out this Autumn, tell us a little about it.
I always cringe at these questions - so much to say - LOL. Well its based on a planet (the purple planet) called Poseidon, where the broken kind have been exiled after earths destruction - or so its seems. Ava is the granddaughter of the founder of their kind, she is third generation of genetically altered beings. Through her mother's journal she deciphers clues to who they really are, a journal she keeps secret from the Council and the Keepers. Weeks before her 17th birthday and weeks after her friends disappearance, an attempted kidnapping by a second generation Zulu Witch doctor changes her life forever. She learns about her destiny the hard way - Her destiny is to rise above the fall, to become what she hates to save them all... book one is the start of her journey in finding out what the ancient weapon is that has been ethnomed within her soul, and its a very difficult path she has to walk to find her true purpose... Her destiny starts with betrayal, violence and possession. The series is a mix of Science-fiction, Dystopian, and Urban fantasy.

What inspired you to write The Broken Destiny?
Oh wow so many things, I guess for me I felt hollow and it was a space only writing could fill. The time was right for me to be in the right mindset to begin this journey.

How many books are you planning in the series?
Four books

If your book was made into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters?
Well I haven't found them yet! And trust me I have looked!!!
I do have a collection of images, for me they totally have to look as I envisioned them in my head - not that hard to cast right? http://www.carlylelabuschagne.com/the-broken-kind.html
The minoans http://www.carlylelabuschagne.com/minoans--last-of-an-ancient-race.html
The Zulu's http://pinterest.com/carlylel/the-broken-series-zulu-3/

I noticed you have a Broken Series playlist on your website, do you always have to listen to music whilst writing?
Oh yes!!! In fact I listen to music all the time, sometimes I am singing in my sleep. Music is so important to my writing I have actually approached the legendary South African Band Prime Circle and have been granted by the manager himself to use their lyrics in my book. Music sets the mood for the scenes and amplifies the words and feelings and images in my head.

What made you want to become an author?
I never wanted to, all I ever wanted to do was to make a difference in someones life, to put a smile on their faces, to inspire, to help them heal. Writing had done that for me from a very young age and I guess it just happened to be my passion, and that coincided with my dreams and goals. I am blessed!

Who, or what, inspires you?
There are so many talented people that inspire me, I find it amazing at what people are capable of. My parents, my husband they inspire me, they are determined, hardworking, and generous souls. My sister is someone to aspire to, my mother in law has things that inspire me too. I could write a book on this you know....

Where is your favourite place to write?
My study. I love my study *sigh*

What is your favourite movie that was based on a book?
I would say "The hunger games" , but the ending was all wrong for me. Twilight saga was awesome. Percy Jackson. "The Lorax" was a good interpretation of the book. I also enjoyed "How to train your dragon."

Name one book that made you think 'wow'? Why did it have such an effect on you?
Divergent, Twilight , The hunger games, Pretty in black series by Rae Hachton.... so many , so many... I love stories, I can fall into a story very quickly. I very much enjoy Kristin Cashore' s books. Suzanne Young has an effect on me too.

Who is your favourite author (s) and why?
Oh no - how long do we have. Lets put it this way. I learn from every book I pick up.
My top Authors -Cassandra Clare, Kristin Cashore, Stephenie Meyer, Becca Fitzpatrick, Suzanne Collins,

Name one of your all-time favourite book covers?
I love the book cover for Wither. But all time favorite - Fire by Kristin Cashore - Covers are becoming increasingly over the top gorgeous, how can I list just one!!!

If you could have a dinner party with any authors from any time in history, who would you choose and why?
I think it would be more like a dinner extravaganza..... Raine Thomas, Chelsea Fine, Angeline Kace, Leigh Fallon, Rae Hachton, Tiffany King, Suzanne Collins, Elizabeth Miles, RaShelle Workman, Veronica Roth, and to mix it up Edgar Allan Poe and Shakespeare.

Tell us a random fact about yourself.
I am obsessed with trees. They are the most beautiful things in the universe.

Tell us something interesting about the area where you live.

Yay! I live in Johannesburg South Africa - Home to Nelson Mandela, and the largest man made urban forest in the world ;)

Find Carlyle online:
Twitter https://twitter.com/carlylel
Website: http://www.carlylelabuschagne.com/index.html
goodreads : http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12537426-the-broken-destiny
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlyle-Labuschagne/189835811074342?bookmark_t=page
YALITCHAT.ORG http://yalitchat.ning.com/profile/CarlyleLabuschagne

WOW Carlyle's answers could have been written by me... we have so much in common. I can't wait to read The broken Series, it sounds wonderful. Want to win The Broken Destiny when it comes out? Click here to enter the HUGE GIVEAWAY! GOOD LUCK! Winner announced at the carnival next week

To meet lots more AWESOME YA authors, check out my fabulous fellow carnis...

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series

2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self

4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga 

6. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
7. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog 

8. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
9. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series 

10. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
11. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey

12. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter  

13. Melissa Pearl, Author of The Time Spirit Trilogy
14. Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga

15. Courtney Cole Writes
16. Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.

17. Ella James
18. Maureen Murrish

19. Valerie Sloan
20. YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings

Click here for more Indie News:

Choosing your escape by John Nelson

When we pick up a work of fiction and start turning pages, we hope to begin a journey. A good novel will hook us right away and transport us there quickly. We choose a genre like a holiday destination. Some may pick up a romance novel because they wish to escape to a romantic fantasy world and they select the heat index of a novel based on the level of titillation they desire.
My “holiday” destination is often the dystopian genre. I read to escape, be entertained, and mentally stimulated. I want a book to make me pause, think and reflect. What I look for in a good dystopia is that I can see my own society reflected back in the pages. I like cautionary tales that show us the road signs that may lead us (in reality) to a place we may not want to go. George Orwell was a master at crafting a cautionary dystopia tale. We could reflect upon our own society as he took us to an imaginary world. 

My first published novel, Against Nature, was inspired by Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here. But it was also inspired by the world around me in post- 9/11 America. The newspapers were filled with frightening headlines about torture, secret prisons, domestic spying, and suspension of habeas corpus. I also became alarmed by the rise of politicians who espouse a Social Darwinist philosophy and were finding their way to high government positions. I thought we weren’t too far away from descending into a dystopian society and it inspired me to write Against Nature.
Fact can make good fiction! I used headlines of past events and added in a little imaginative fiction to create a modern dystopia. Most dystopia fictions start off in the post-apocalyptic world and give the reader hints about how they got there. In Against Nature I take the reader from the here and now and we head into a dystopian world together.
My catalyst is a global pandemic; a disease without a cure. The disease is neither virus nor bacteria and all known treatment regimens have failed. One radical scientist, Serena Salus contends it’s an extraterrestrial organism introduced to earth in the wound of a now deceased astronaut. The government asserts it’s a genetically engineered microbe created on earth by enemies of freedom. Serena discovers an experimental vaccine, but also learns of the government’s plan to distribute it based on one’s future labor value to the stock exchange. Serena comes in conflict with powerful forces that will stop at nothing to control her vaccine; considered the world’s most valuable commodity.
Serena’s suspenseful journey across pandemic America makes us wonder if such a landscape could exist during a catastrophic pandemic. That’s what I love about the dystopian genre. It transports us to a fantasy world, but we can still see our own society reflected back in the rearview mirror.
John Nelson is the author of the e-book dystopian thriller Against Nature. The novel is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, OmniLit or from the publisher: Wild Child Publishing. You can email him at: againstnature@hotmail.com