Writer Wednesday: Book Spotlight on WHITE CHALK by Pavarti K Tyler

Welcome to a White Chalk Spotlight from Novel Publicity! This posts includes and excerpt, book blurb, and information about the author, Pavarti K Tyler. I just got my copy today and can't wait to read it. Look for a review coming soon.

An Excerpt

Too cold for me to be out, drenched in a thin sweatshirt, I trudged home after school. November had betrayed me with its promises of clear skies, and I’d skipped the bus.

Mr. Harris pulled up, his oversized body squished into the too small car. When the window rolled down, warm air tinged with the scent of coffee invited me in.

“It’s a little cold for you to be walking, isn’t it, honey?” He peered out the window, brows pulled high to his forehead, appraising my appearance.

“Can you drive me home, Mr. Harris?” My teeth chattered as I spoke.

“Come on, get in. But you know teachers aren’t supposed to pick up students on the side of the road.” He chuckled softly to himself.

“I know. I won’t tell anyone. Please? I’m just so cold.”

In the car, I kicked my soaked backpack out of the way of the heating vent and slid my feet out of my shoes. My toes had gotten so cold I half wondered if they’d be tinged with black—gangrene setting up shop. I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the car envelop me. When I opened them, I realized Mr. Harris hadn’t started driving again.

Instead, he sat staring at me. Parked in the middle of the road, his eyes roamed my body as I shivered.

Cold? Lust? I didn’t know, but the feeling of power spreading through my chest as he took in the curve of my hips made me bold. I sat up and pulled the wet sweatshirt over my head, revealing the T-Shirt beneath.

Mr. Harris shifted in his seat. His gaze fell upon my breasts and the sound of his breath sped up.

“Mr. Harris?” I asked, the temptation of seducing a teacher thrilling me.

“Yeah?” His voice was hoarse.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“What?” His body snapped to attention as he remembered where he was. “Oh, right… um….” He shifted position again.

“Really, I appreciate it.” I laid a hand on his arm and rose up in my seat, leaning forward so I could kiss him on the cheek—innocently, like kissing an uncle or cousin. But I knew it wasn’t, and when I pulled away, the dark intensity of his eyes told of desire I’d only been hoping to find.

About the Book

[caption id="attachment_3210" align="alignleft" width="200"] Click to buy on Amazon[/caption]

Evolved Publishing presents an intimate glance inside teenage angst and confusion, and one talented but troubled girl's attempt to make sense of life, in the coming-of-age tale, "White Chalk," by award-winning author Pavarti K. Tyler. [Literary, New Adult, Women's Fiction]

Chelle isn’t a typical 13-year-old girl—she doesn’t laugh with friends, play sports, or hang out at the mall after school. Instead, she navigates a world well beyond her years.

Life in Dawson, ND spins on as she grasps at people, pleading for someone to save her—to return her to the simple childhood of unicorns on her bedroom wall and stories on her father’s knee.

When Troy Christiansen walks into her life, Chelle is desperate to believe his arrival will be her salvation. So much so, she forgets to save herself. After experiencing a tragedy at school, her world begins to crack, causing a deeper scar in her already fragile psyche.

Follow Chelle’s twisted tale of modern adolescence, as she travels down the rabbit hole into a reality none of us wants to admit actually exists.

About the Author

Award winning author of multi-cultural and transgressive literature, Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry several international law firms. She now lives with her husband, two daughters and one very large, very terrible dog. She keeps busy working with fabulous authors as the Director of Marketing at Novel Publicity and penning her next genre bending novel.

White Chalk (Evolved Publishing) marks Tyler’s third full length novel and promises readers familiar with her work the same mind bending experience. Her other projects include: Shadow on the Wall (Fighting Monkey Press) and Two Moons of Sera (Fighting Monkey Press). Shadow on the Wall has received many awards: Winner of the General Fiction/Novel Category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Winner in the Fiction: Multicultural category for The 2012 USA Best Book Awards, and Finalist in the Multicultural Fiction category for the 2012 International Book Awards.

White Chalk has been hailed as “brave”, “raw”, and “destroyingly beautiful”. In line with novels such as White Oleander, Thirteen Reasons Why and Gemma, White Chalk invites you to witness one girl’s heartrending story of confusion and desperation.

You can find out more about Pavarti K Tyler here:

Website: http://www.pavarti.com

Twitter: PavartiDevi

Facebook: Facebook profile

Blog: http://www.pavarti.com

Review Wednesday: Jane, the Fox and Me, by Fanny Britt

Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is a wonderful, fast read for any and all ages, about feeling left out, fitting in, and finding shelter where you can.

Helene is a young girl, outcast from the girls who were once her friends. Though I'd have liked to know why, that is left a mystery. However, they now call her fat, and she has begun to believe it. The book is sweet but also sad, funny, and hopeful. At one point, her mother takes her to try on swimsuits, which are too small, leading Helene to picture herself as a sausage. Who hasn't looked in a mirror and felt that way? The sad thing was that she is only a kid.

Helene takes refuge in Jane Eyre (who, she points out, would never be a sausage, even though she is poor and plain). One of the most clever aspects of the book was the masterful use of color. Helene's life is black and white, but as soon as she opens Jane Eyre, the pages are colored. When she closes the book, she's back to her own uncolored life...

Until one day while on a camping trip, she sees a fox. The fox is in color. It's such a striking contrast to the previous illustrations that you know it's important. She says, If a human looked at me with those eyes, my soul would be his.

And then a human does. She makes a friend. A few leaves are colored on the next page. She finishes Jane Eyre. It has a happy ending. She's going to lend it to her friend. The last pages of Helene's story are in color.

I can't express how special this graphic novel is. Please read it. It only took me 20 minutes and it is worth many more.

Recommended for everyone, but esp. reluctant reader girls, those who are lonely, outcast, bullied, or overweight.



View all my reviews

Book News

I've been making some changes in my published books lately, as well as my approach.

I re-released a heavily edited version of The Superiors in paperback and Kindle editions on Sunday. If you have it on your Kindle, you should be able to get the updated version free. Trust me, it was embarrassing to read back over the one I had on there. I will never stop finding awkward phrases, etc.

If you don't have The Superiors yet, it will be free on Amazon March 13-18. So click on the link over there to the right, and it will take you right to it.

I've taken The Superiors off sale everywhere but Amazon for the time being. The Renegades is also exclusively available on Amazon. It's that link over there to the right, too.

Next project? Rewriting my new YA novel, which I hope to release later this year under a pen name. Also, writing the next book in the series, rewriting Book Four in the Superiors Series, and editing Book Two for re-release.

Guess it's time to get off the internet...

Read an Ebook Week: Review: The Day the World Ended, by Anna O'Hare

The Day the World Ended by Anna O'Hare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4.5 stars

Okay, confession time. I haven’t read many indies. When I first started publishing, I did a few review swaps, but that made me very uncomfortable. First off, I don’t like to write bad reviews, and since I know how hard it is for indie authors, I’m even more hesitant to add a bad review, even if it is deserving. Secondly, there’s the fear of retribution when you’re trading reviews. So, after trading 3 or 4 reviews, I’d had enough. This came about for two reasons, the main one being I received a book that was riddled with typos and just plain bad—it looked like the author published a first draft. I was left struggling to find something nice to say beyond, “I’m sorry I’m not going to review your book because it should never have been published,” or “Please for the sake of other indie authors, hire an editor or bribe an English teacher, or at least learn to use spell check. You’re making us all look bad.”

However, that’s a silly reason not to read indies (though I will not be trading reviews probably ever). Since I’m an indie author, it seems traitorous not to read other indies. So, after seeing a thread on Goodreads asking for reviews, I discovered this little gem (free on Smashwords, and more than worth your time). I will admit, I was a little hesitant to read something that’s supposed to be ya sci-fi (burned out on the genre), but I lost all reservations as I devoured the first chapters without pause. Because the end of the world here is simply a catalyst. It’s not the focus of the story, but what drives each story.

This book is about three groups of kids who are waiting for the end of the world (which is happening in a few days). What would you do if the world was ending in four days? Would you go find an abandoned house and make it your hideout, so you and your friends could hang out there, eat junk food and watch TV, have food fights, and be together? Would you seek revenge on a group of bullies who killed a classmate? Would you formulate a plan to break in to you rival high school and hang your school’s banner from the roof?

Each story drew me in. At first, I liked the story of the younger kids in the abandoned house the most. I liked how they kept their morals and didn’t succumb to anarchy. They had a food fight, but then they cleaned up the house, because if they were going to hang out there for the next few days, they wanted it nice. I hurried through some of the sections about the other kids so I could get back to this group. (view spoiler)[ Then, at the end, when they found the old woman and took care of her, I had all new respect for them. They all wanted to spend the end of the world together, and they did…along with a dead body. I did want to hear a bit about her, but I liked how a bit in each story was never answered.  (hide spoiler)] Their story felt the most complete to me.

The second storyline is about a girl, her little brother, and her cousin, who idolizes her, seeking revenge on some bullies. I would have liked if the boy the bullies killed had been Grace’s friend or crush, so that she had a reason for wanting to seek revenge so much. It seemed a bit odd that she just decided to dole out the punishment on behalf of some kid she’d only talked to one time. This storyline ended up feeling a bit weird to me. Still, it drew me in enough that I’d always want to keep reading to find out what revenge she’d dole out to the next boy, as her punishments grow increasingly alarming as the story goes on, until you realize that Grace is a complete psychopath. I kept waiting for her companions to stand up to her and realize she’s lost it and say no, they’re not going to go through with her escalating terror. Because it soon becomes apparent that Grace is a huge bully herself—not only to the boys she’s seeking revenge against, but to her little brother and cousin, too. (view spoiler)[ But when they finally stood up to her, and her cousin puts his arms around the little brother and says he’ll be there with him at the end, I burst into tears. (Okay, so maybe I have a soft spot for stories about brotherly love, but it was still sweet).  (hide spoiler)]

The third story, about the group of poor high school kids, started out as the one that didn’t grab my immediate interest, but ended up being my favorite. I didn’t like it at first because I didn’t like the main character, who is a teenager who is good at everything, has life all figured out, and is completely at peace. Which I don’t believe exists. But, as the story went on and the characters developed, I really enjoyed it. All the schools have closed, since the world is ending, except the poor kids’ school, because they don’t have anywhere else to go (perfect!) I loved their two teachers, and the weird morose kid, the snarky girl, the perfect couple, etc. All the characters came alive and seemed exactly like real people you’d know at a high school. (view spoiler)[ I was hoping Christian would come to realize he didn’t have life all figured out, but he never does. Still, as they sit on the roof singing, waiting for the world to end, it was absolutely perfect.  (hide spoiler)]

For a grammar nazi like me, I can’t read a book without noticing the mistakes, even in traditionally published books. There were a few in here, but the story was so compulsively readable that they were easily overlooked. I’m so used to editing that any mistake tends to jump out at me. There were a few times when I wasn’t sure if something was a mistake or British slang. Overall, the grammar was fine and the mistakes were few.

The storyline was easy to follow and addictive. I was reading this on my phone as I walked at the track every day, and I’d find myself reading it as I walked to my car afterwards, sometimes sitting in my car reading a few more minutes because I was at an exciting part and couldn’t stop reading.

The characters were mostly well-developed, at least the main players. Since the three stories have different characters, and some have dozens, obviously all are not completely rounded, but every character is unique and wonderful. Overall, this was a fast-paced character focused YA that would appeal to readers of sci-fi as well as contemporary YA. And if you hurry, it’s free on Smashwords (if you aren’t familiar, you should be—they format for download to any device), so grab it while you can, because it’s a steal.

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View all my reviews

Read an Ebook Week

For those unaware, this is Read an Ebook Week. In celebration, Smashwords (if you don't know this site and you read ebooks, get acquainted!) has a huge site-wide sale, with tons of books free and discounted this week. Among those that are free, The Superiors and The Vigilantes. The Renegades, just published on Smashwords yesterday, is half off for the week. Tons and tons of other books are free, and it's free to sign up for an account if you don't have one already. You can download any version on the site--mobi, epub, even pdf. So go explore a bit and find some free books. The coupon codes to get the books free or half off are listed under the 'Buy' button on each book's page.

I'll be posting an ebook review on Wednesday in celebration of Read an Ebook Week.