Welcome to Bookanista Thursday! Lots of excitement going on here today, so let's get right down to it! Today, I'm featuring a book that I loved enough to BLURB--Jenn Johansson's INSOMNIA. Here's what I said about it:
"Completely unputdownable. I've decided to nickname Johansson 'Scary
McScarypants,' because she spooked me in all the best ways. Who do I
have to bribe to get book two now?!"
You should call her Scary McScarypants too. I think she'd love that.
A little about the book, courtesy of
Jenn's website!
It's been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me.
Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person
he's had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other
people's fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets--and Parker can
never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If
nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death.
Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow
him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to
bizarre lengths to catch Mia's eye every day. Everyone at school thinks
he's gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is
threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it's Parker.
Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all?
Scary, right?!? This book really creeped me out, but not so much that I wouldn't interview Jenn herself. Here she is, kindly responding to some very random questions!
C: When
I met you, I knew we were kindred spirits because we both write emails
that are all: RANDOM CAPITALS!!!!!! :) :) :) Can you tell us about a
!!!!! :) :) :) moment you've had recently?
J: Sure!
It feels like I'm having those almost every day right now with all the
crazy release happiness. A particularly fun one though was when I
received my final author copies and saw the cool things my publisher did
to the cover. The matte with glossy cracks looks INCREDIBLE in person. I
just sat and stared...then jumped up and down...then stared more.
C: I
have to admit that I'm a little flummoxed. On one hand, you're all
!!!!! :) :) :), but on the other hand, there's a reason I've nicknamed
you Scary McScarypants. You bring teh scary in INSOMNIA. How on earth
did that happen? Have you always been a horror fan?
J: Haha,
it flummoxed me at first as well. I have not always been a horror fan.
In fact, for a long time I was terrified of all scary movies. But I have
always enjoyed reading scarier books. I think there is something
special about the way the brain filters a scary book. It pictures mostly
monsters and images that the person can handle, like a built in filter.
Brains are tricksy like that. I guess you could say I love playing with
people's brains...but not eating them...I'm not a zombie (that I know
of).
C: Imagine
this: you have insomnia, and your only hope of true sleep is to try and
match eyes with either David Hasselhoff or Richard Simmons each night.
Who do you choose and why?
J: Oh
wow...tough choice. I'd have to consider David Hasselhoff as the lesser
of two evils here. I can't handle the incredible amount of bounciness
and hyper energy that Richard Simmons give off and I'm certain I'd end
up killing him. The Hoff and I, I have a feeling we'd hit it off. We
both love Germany and the color red, for example. It's like we've always
been destined to be friends.
C: Totally
random questions! I specialize in them! What one TV show or movie
franchise do you wish they'd revive? I want more Space Ghost Coast to
Coast with the fire of a thousand suns.
J: This is hard
actually because there are so many that I think they'd mess up if they
brought them back (like Friends...I LOVE it...but please don't ruin our
happy memories with a depressing revival). My top choice would have to
be Eureka. It lends itself well to starting off in a new place. Plus, I
adore how much it makes my brain work. (Wow, I talk about brains a lot.
I'm suddenly ultra-aware of it.) If you all haven't seen Eureka, every
season is currently on Netflix instant. You must remedy this
immediately. I have three names for you: Nathan Stark, Zane Donovan and
Holly Martin (Felicia Day).
You can all thank me for this later.
C: Imagine this: You're in high school, and
I'm your best friend. A sparkly vampire and a glow-in-the-dark werewolf
want to take us to prom. Should we ditch them, or should we go?
Oh...we
definitely ditch them. And go party it up hardcore on our own. We could
invent new dances and do a spotlight-Thriller-duet performance. There
would be much envy had by all...so much...so, so much.
Plus, we could make vampires and werewolves cry, which has been on my to-do list for quite some time now. ;-)
C: If you had a theme song, what would it be?
J: My
theme song would be Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson. My kids call it "Alien
Baby Music"...I really don't think I need to say anything more than
that...
C: And for my last question: !!!!!!! :) :) :) ! :D????
J: !! ;-)!! :) :) :) !! =oD =oD ^^ !!!!!
Thank you so much for having me! This was such a fun interview. You = the best! :)
*****
Thanks so much for visiting us, Jenn! And the best part of this is that Jenn is giving things away! Books! Critiques! Enter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
And don't forget to stop
here to sign up to review SALLY SLICK AND THE STEEL SYNDICATE before you visit the rest of this week's Bookanista awesomeness!
Christine Fonseca praises THE PLEDGE by Kimberly DertingCorrine Jackson is wild for WHEN IT HAPPENS by Susane Colasanti
Katy Upperman is bewitched by NANTUCKET BLUE by Leila HowlandLenore Appelhans swoons for STAR CURSED by Jessica Spotswood…with an annotated snippetStasia Ward Kehoe is wild for THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen ChboskyTracey Neithercott highlights WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller Tracy Banghart raves over JUMP WHEN READY by David Pandolfe
