Elizabeth Miles Interviews the Furies - Beware!

When Elizabeth Miles suggested an interview with the Furies to help us celebrate Greek Week, we were more than happy to let her do the interview, because frankly, we prefer it if the Furies are oblivious to our existence.  Below is the last communication we have received from Elizabeth and we are growing quite concerned.  If you have seen or heard from her, please let us know...

Elizabeth Miles interviews the Furies

They may be sisters, and they may be joined at the hip, but unlike the Kardashians, the Furies are nothing if not unique. Each has cultivated her own individual style; they showed up to our interview with their differences on display. Tisephone (or Ty, as she prefers to be called) wore a flowing white dress that complemented her flawless skin and shock-red hair; Megaera (or Meg) arrived with a mussed mane, black leggings, a forest-green tunic, and a stunning red collar necklace; and Alecto (she goes by Ali) was bombshell-chic in a white tank top, and a miniskirt that showed off her legs, and knee-high heeled boots.

“I know what you’re thinking—we’re pretty hot,” Ali announced without compunction as we settled into a booth at the local fisherman’s bar. “But don’t be jealous,” she added, shooting a look toward Meg. “We haven’t always been like this. We’ve learned a lot over the years—about how to…play to our strengths.”

What follows is a transcript of our recorded conversation.

Elizabeth Miles:

Hello ladies, and thank you so much for joining me today. Would you mind introducing yourselves for readers who may not have spent as much time with you as I have?

Ty:

Should I go first? Why do I always go first?

Ali:

[Rolling her eyes.] Because you always push to the front, that’s why. I’ll go. My name is Alecto—but don’t call me that, call me Ali—and I’m a Fury. Haha, that sounds bad, doesn’t it?

Meg:

Well, let’s not beat around the bush. It is bad. We’re Furies, and we’re bad-ass. Oh—I’m Meg. Hi.

Ty:

And I’m Ty. [She smiles, revealing perfect white teeth that match the streak of white in her red hair.]

Eliz M:

Nice to meet you all—I think. And what does that mean, to be a Fury?

Ty:

[Her smile disappears.] It means that we are goddesses of revenge.

Eliz M:

I see. And each of you has an…area of expertise, is that correct?

Meg:

Yup. We each have little nicknames we’ve called each other for a looooong time. Like, my sisters call me “the jealous one.”

Ty:

Yes. And my name means “avenging murder”…so sometimes they’ll call me The Avenger or something.

Ali:

And mine is “unceasing anger.” Isn’t that kind of cute??

Eliz M:

Adorable. Now, let’s talk about your arrival in Ascension. What brought you here, to this small town in Maine?

Ali:

[Her eyes narrow ever-so-slightly.] Wouldn’t you like to know?

Meg:

Ali, stop it. [She looks at her sisters, who shrug as if to say, ‘Go ahead.’] Let’s just say we have history here.

Ty:

We used to have…friends in this town. We come and go. You could call us jet-setters. We’ve been called worse. [All three laugh, hard.]

Eliz M:

Oh, so you’ve been here before?

All three in unison:

Yes.

Eliz M:

What brings you to town this time around?

Ty:

A new friend. [She offers nothing more, daring me to keep prodding.]

Eliz M:

[Taking my chances…] And is that new friend Emily Winters?...[They stare.]…Chase Singer? [More impassive staring.]…I guess not. Zach McCord?

Ali:

[Snorting.] You think we would waste our time on that juicebox? We do have principles, you know.

Ty:

Ali, stop talking. [To me:] I think we’ve reached the end of this part of the interview.

Eliz M:

Okay, okay. One last question before I give up: Where do you come from?

Ali:

My mom used to tell me I sprang from spilled blood—

Meg:

[Interjecting.] I don’t think that’s what she’s talking about, Ali. We

Eliz M:

Okay, now for some quick-fire questions to finish things off... Favorite foods?

Ty:

Nothing makes my mouth water like a rare, bloody steak.

Meg:

I’m partial to vanilla ice cream topped with a pool of thick strawberry syrup.

Ali:

Pomegranate. I love feeling those seeds explode between my tongue and the roof of my mouth.

Eliz M:

Favorite animal?

All three in unison:

Snakes.

Meg:

Now it’s our turn to ask you some questions. We want to know more about your past! After all, by writing about us, it’s almost like you summoned us.

Eliz M:

Not a chance. I won’t risk the Furies wrath… [Tape recorder stops.]

 

You can learn more about Elizabeth Miles on her blog (which has great author interviews as well) at http://www.elizabethmilesbooks.com/.  Or learn more about the series at http://www.thefuryseries.com/.  And really, if you happen to run into or hear from Elizabeth, let us know she survived her interview with the Furies! 

We want to thank Elizabeth for taking the time to come play with us.  She is a great writer, super nice, willing to risk her life for an interview and loves strawberry-rhubarb pie (I promised her cobbler the next time she is in Chicago -  you should take her some if you are lucky enough to meet her ;-) ). 

~Shel

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

From Simon & Schuster:

Sometimes sorry isn't enough....

It's winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems...

Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year's even better--the guy she's been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there's no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em's best friend.

On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that's nothing compared to what's really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it's only a matter of time before he's exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay.

Em and Chase have been chosen.

First of all, I am not big on book trailers, but I actually picked up this book because of the trailer, so I took the liberty of pilfering it from Simon & Schuster's site for your viewing pleasure...

Fury is much darker than I expected (though why I expected something more light-hearted from a book about the Furies I have no idea).  The main characters, Em and Chase have obviously done bad things to draw the attention of the Furies.  They are selfish, unthinking idiots to be frank.  Em is hooking up with her best friend's boyfriend and hurting all kinds of people in the process.  Chase is uncaring and manipulative, obsessed with his reputation and unwilling to let anyone get in his way.  In fact, the only truly "good" person in the book is JD, Em's next door neighbor who does not have a mean or conniving thought in his head, ever. There is definitely no happily ever after at the end of Fury - it is a classic Greek tale, full of magic and tragedy.  

It takes an extremely talented writer to create a story centered around such unlikeable characters and make you care about them.  Make no mistake, no matter how horrible Em & Chase's actions are, you will care.  Your heart will race and break as you experience the Furies torment with them.  I cried foul, rooted for justice and hoped for the best as Elizabeth Miles took me on this nail-biting ride through Ascension.

On the series website, it says "Stephen King-meets-Twilight in this sexy new series" and when I read it I thought, that is exactly right.  You can check out the series info at http://www.thefuryseries.com/ or on Simon & Schuster's website.  Book Two is Envy, but I have no idea when it will be released, my guess is that the torture will continue until next fall...

I give Fury 4 stars and encourage you all to read it, so you know what to look out for - beware the Furies!

~Shel      

Greek Week Update!

We are hard at work attempting to bring you fun and frivolity for our Greek Week celebration next week.  Just to give you an update (these are subject to change, but this is our tentative schedule):

October 3, 2011:

Interview with Jennifer Estep!  We are so excited to have our first author interview.  Jennifer's book Touch of Frost features students from Mythos Academy (lots of fun spin on all types of mythology, not just Greek).  Shel's review of the book and Jennifer's interview will kick off our Greek Week!

October 4, 2011:

The much anticipated release date of Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.  To celebrate, Nat will review The Lost Hero and I am sure there will be plenty of general giddiness over the release of Son of Neptune.

October 5, 2011:

Shel reviews Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini. This was one of her favorites of 2011, so far.

October 6, 2011:

The Furies themselves agreed to an interview!  I know, I know.  I am nervous too.  We will post our review of Fury by Elizabeth Miles and celebrate her take on the Greek scorekeepers. 

October 7, 2011:

Sweet Venom and the Oh.My.Gods. series by Tera Lynn Childs take center stage on Friday.  We were lucky enough to meet Tera recently and are super excited to have her come play with us on the blog! 

October 8, 2011:

We will post our review of The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter and discuss her very unique take on the Greek gods and mythology.

October 9, 2011:

We are still working out the details for how to end our Greek Week celebration, but I am sure we will come up with something ridiculous and fun!

Oh and did I forget to mention you should check back for information on giveaways during Greek Week?  Oh, my bad...

Get your togas and ambrosia ready people!  See you next week!

~Shel

** It is entirely possible that I forgot a fun Greek/mythology inspired series and if I did - please tell me.  I do not want to leave anyone out.  AND if it is a book I have yet to discover, I definitely want to check it out!  You can comment here or send an email to bibliojunkies @ gmail.com

Greek Week - October 3-9!

Guys, we are totally cooking up some fun for our Greek Week coming October 3-9!  We will have interviews, reviews, contests and any other silliness we can come up with! 

We will have reviews of some of our favorite books featuring Greek mythology, gods, monsters and mayhem, including:

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Fury by Elizabeth Miles

And more! 

A Peek in the Biblio-Bin - #2

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.  It is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore,  borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This week Shel is giving you a peek into her section of the Biblio-Bin.

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But all is not as it seems...

Em is thrilled that the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend. And on the other side of town, Chase’s social life is unraveling and the stress of his home life is starting to take its toll. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel....And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. There are three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—to choose who will pay. Em and Chase have been chosen.

On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mergirl, true, but signing the renunciation will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being-human thing once and for all.

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, the waves start to get rough. Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?

The seafoam on the raging surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up—Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her own dreams?

Tera Lynn Childs’s sequel to Forgive My Fins offers another tail-flicking romance with plenty of fun, sun, and underwater adventure.

Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

A boy who can see the world's secrets and unravel spells with just a glance.

Braden's witch eyes give him an enormous power. A mere look causes a kaleidoscopic explosion of emotions, memories, darkness, and magic. But this rare gift is also his biggest curse.

Compelled to learn about his shadowed past and the family he never knew, Braden is drawn to the city of Belle Dam, where he is soon caught between two feuding witch dynasties. Sworn rivals Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe will use anything--lies, manipulation, illusion, and even murder--to seize control of Braden's powers. To stop an ancient evil from destroying the town, Braden must master his gift, even through the shocking discovery that Jason is his father. While his feelings for an enigmatic boy named Trey grow deeper, Braden realizes a terrible truth: Trey is Catherine Lansing's son . . . and Braden may be destined to kill him.

How about you?  What books came your way this week?