GRAVITY

So today was one of those Thursdays where I actually jumped out of bed and didn't bemoan the fact that it wasn't Friday yet. My super fabulous CP, Melissa West, has FINALLY revealed the cover for her upcoming YA debut! And on the Story Siren, no less (that kinda makes her a rockstar)!


*Drumroll......*

Isn't it sooooooo beautiful???? I love the colours, the font, the femininity of swirls around the title and just how the whole thing glows. I've definitely talked about GRAVITY before, but I don't think I've ever given the full synopsis...

In the future, only one rule will matter: Don’t. Ever. Peek. 

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed--arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die. 

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know--especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

I know I'm biased, but this book is seriously so ahead of the game. I can't wait to read it again!! To my book girls (you know who you are!): I've just pre-ordered you a copy :-)


Congrats, Mel!!

The Fault in Our Stars

It’s been just over a year since I lost my Dad to cancer. Sometimes I read the blog post I wrote when the horror was all going down, and realize that I still feel the same way about it all. This January 13th, I rode my bike to work like I usually do. I was crossing over the river when I realized that with the time difference to Toronto, it had been exactly one year since he’d passed away. A whole year, come and gone. I wouldn’t say that dealing with his loss has gotten any easier, or that it’s gotten any harder. It’s just become more abstract. He's in my life, but he's not. I go through phases where I dream about him every night. The same dream, over and over. I see him standing in the kitchen of my childhood home and I am stunned. “Dad, you are supposed to be dead,” I say. He shrugs and smiles, “I’m here. I’m ok.”

I guess it is natural that I was reluctant to pick up John Green’s THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. He is an amazing writer (the symbolism of the title alone made me swoon), but I was like, "Do I really want to read a book about somebody dying of cancer, when I’ve just lived through someone dying of cancer?” In the end, curiosity and the realization that a fair chunk of the story is set in Amsterdam made me pick it up (seriously. I LOVE Amsterdam and have only read a few books that take advantage of it's unique atmosphere).

From Goodreads...

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Yes, I bawled. I might have been two hours late for work the next day because I woke up with puffy eyes and had to wait for them to go back to normal. But I also laughed. A lot. Hazel and Augustus had an awesome relationship that reminded me of Rory and Lorelei from Gilmore Girls (not the Mother-Daughter thing, obviously! But the banter and energy). John Green really captured that even in the sadness of death, there is joy. We see it from all sides. From Hazel's parents, from Augustus' family, and from Hazel and Augustus themselves. By the end, I was left with the impression that even though life can be totally unfair, it is worth living. John Green somehow managed to bring humanity to a subject that a lot of people are afraid to talk about, and for that, I am thankful. 

RTW: Pseudonyms

Hi Everyone! 

So, I was just visiting the lovely Katharine Owens over at The Insect Collector, and realized that YA Highway has a super fun 'Road Trip Wednesday' going on today. I've never participated in RTW before, but I can't resist this topic because I've thought about it SO much (does that make me vain? I hope not). This week's topic is:

If you couldn't use your own name on your book, 

what would your pseudonym or pen name be?

My full name is Laura Anne Elizabeth Hughes. A mouthful, for sure. Or, if you ask my Mom, it's 'classically beautiful'. All I know is that filling out passport forms is a b*tch because there are never enough letter spaces for me when they ask for ''full name''. 

Anyways, I have to admit, my name has grown on me over the years. There were definitely a ton of Laura/Lauren/Lauryn/Laurie's in my classes growing up. In fact, in my first year at university there were 3 Laura's on my res floor alone. We were all given nicknames: Smoker-Laura, Psycho-Laura & Malibu-Laura. I was Malibu. Don't ask. 

The good thing about the name 'Laura' is that it is pretty common all over the world. I don't have to worry about people spelling it wrong here in the Netherlands, the pronunciation is only slightly different. As for Hughes? Well that's a different story. I might have to make a YouTube video on how to pronounce it and try to make it go viral here.

The reason I've thought about this all before is because when I first started blogging, I totally planned to buy my domain name and blog from there. Imagine my shock when I realized that not only is there another Laura Hughes, she's also an author! What are the odds? I tried going for the ''.ca'' domain name instead of the ''.com'' one, but then poor LauraHughes.com in Boston had to keep forwarding me misdirected mail. 

This is why I'm known around the internet as ''Lo''. It's a nickname that my Grandpa gave me when I was a baby. It kinda stuck, and spread out to other family members, close friends ad my significant other. It sounds cheesy, but as an author, I think I'd consider my readers close friends, too. 


As Katharine said, when I publish, I want credit for it. However, I don't want to confuse my readers when they go search for me. So, Lo Hughes it shall be! 

BTW: courses, cruising & hot aliens

Friends! So happy I remembered today is Friday. A perfect excuse for a BTW update!


B: Beyond the Blog


Well, let's face it. Everything has been beyond the blog lately! I hope you'll forgive me. But, I've been busy with a few AMAZING things. 


The first: I've spent the past 8 weeks taking a fabulous Media Bistro course called "Advanced Young Adult Novel Writing." Holy cow, what a education! Each week we have to submit 10 pages of our WIP, which is subsequently critiqued by 13 classmates as well as Kate Harrison, an editor at Dial books (an imprint of Penguin). It's the first time that I've shared LONDON CALLING with total strangers, and lo and behold, people actually seem to like it! I don't know why I find that so scary. But best of all, the strangers are no longer strangers. I've met some amazing people in my class, such as fellow Canadian Terry Lynn Johnson, and I'm so excited that we plan to keep in touch. 


The second: Travel plans!!! Lots of travel plans in the works. Since this is the first Christmas without my Dad, the Hughes girls decided to do something FUN and CRAZY and something the total opposite of Christmas in snowy Toronto. So, we're hitting the high seas! I'll be spending Christmas and  New Year's sipping cocktails and exploring St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts with my Mom, sisters and the Dutchman (a.k.a the boyfriend), of course! I think Dad would be pleased. 

Carnival Valor! My soon-to-be home away from home

Also, the Dutchman and I are heading to the City of Lights in January! Can you believe he's lived in Europe his WHOLE life and has never been to Paris?! It's time to rectify that situation.

shamelessly borrowed from Laura @ Oomphlove!

T: Things I like


So many things!


My very first (and still awesome) critique partner Melissa West  has sold her trilogy to Entangled Publishing!! The first book is called GRAVITY, and OMG there aren't enough words to describe how good it is. It's part sci-fi, part dystopian and ALL romance. Check out my review on Goodreads if you want to know more! Briefly: Hot alien (Enough said) :-)


In other publication news, you may recall back in April that I was lucky enough to meet up with blog pals Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner when I was visiting Melbourne. Over coffee, they briefly described something they were working on together, and I remember just thinking, ''Um. Wow. That's going to be big." Sure enough...they just sold WRECKED, pitched as Titanic in space, to Disney-Hyperion! I swear, all of these publication deals are so motivational. 


One of my favourite writing blogs ever, Let the Words Flow, is getting a re-vamp! When I found LTWF a couple of years ago, it was the first time I believed I could actually get published. I'm so excited to see what the girls have in store come January 9th when they re-launch as Pub(lishing) Crawl!


And totally unrelated to writing news, one of my oldest friends just started up a fabulous lifestyle and creativity blog, called ''Oomph Love''. She has some fabulous decorating and Christmas Gift ideas. Check her out!


W: What I'm reading


With all the critiquing I've been doing for my Media Bistro class, I haven't had much time to read for fun. However, last night I bought Catching Jordan by Miranda Kinneally as a treat. I couldn't put it down. From the Goodreads description:

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

I have to admit, I didn't grow up with football. It's just not a big thing where I'm from. Most of my football education has come from the TV show Friday Night Lights. However, I've been on a big contemporary kick lately, so I thought I'd give it a try. It did not disappoint! Full of heart, realistic relationships and it had me wishing my high school had a football team back in the day! I highly recommend.


Any more good book recommendations!? What have you all been up to lately?

Epicness!

Here's a fun fact: Back in the day, I almost failed my very first university midterm because I pulled an all nighter with Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER instead of my chemistry textbook. In my defense, 800 pages of time travel, hot Scottish rogues and a world that literally leapt off the page were a heck of a lot more interesting than balancing chemical equations. 

But seriously, Outlander (and subsequent books in the series) changed my life. I'd always LOVED history, but felt a wee bit pressured to pursue science and 'practical' things instead. I was fascinated how Diana Gabaldon took a spunky, modern character who I could relate to, and filtered 1743 Scotland through her eyes. I know it's really easy to romanticize the past, but this book didn't hold back. It inspired me to write in the same vein. 

Ever since, I've held Outlander as my gold standard for time travel books. And maybe, as a gift on the tenth anniversary of actually passing chemistry, the universe sent me THREE awesome series involving time travel this month (usually I'm hard-pressed to find one each year!). There should be something here for everyone, so without further ado....

FOR HOPELESS ROMANTICS & KICK BUTT BATTLES*....

*yes, those go together!

THE RIVER OF TIME SERIES (WATERFALL; CASCADE; TORRENT), by Lisa T. Bergen:

From Goodreads:

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds... until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another.

I will go on record as saying I didn't expect to like WATERFALL. There isn't much of a scientific explanation for how Gabi and her sister, Lia, time travel, and it took me a while to connect with Gabi as a narrator. It didn't help matters that there was this scene (when Gabi meets Lord Marcello Forelli for the first time)...

We froze. Neither of us moving, simply staring at each other if the other was going to move first.
"You are," he whispered, "uncommonly stirring." 

He closed his eyes then, as if he had to in order to break the bond between us, then lifted me to the saddle and stared at the ground as he guided my feet into the stirrups.

I *almost* put it down because I wasn't really in the mood for Twilight-meets-the-middle-ages. However, I'm SO glad I carried on. When it became clear just how kick-ass and feisty Gabi was, I just couldn't. get. enough. The descriptions of fourteenth century Italy were fascinating without being overloading or distracting, and the whole story just felt epic (and became more epic as the series went on; book 3 was by far my favourite). As a reader, we're taken all over Tuscany as Gabi goes from ballrooms to the battlefield and back again. And Lord Marcello? Oh Marcello...I haven't had a book crush this bad in a while. There is also a heavy theme on family in this series, which I found really refreshing. I can't really say much more without giving away stuff in book 2 (CASCADE) and book 3 (TORRENT), but if you are in the mood for romance, adventure, and an author who is constantly raising the stakes, check WATERFALL out. 

FOR SECRET SOCIETIES & THE PROTAGONIST YOU'LL WISH WAS YOU...

RUBY RED, by Kerstin Gier (translated by Athena Bell). 

From Goodreads:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Another funny story! About a month ago, I was browsing the bookshop at the Vancouver airport. I was desperately looking for something to read for my flight back to Amsterdam, but was feeling kinda 'meh' about the choices. Not buying anything, I sat down to wait for my flight, resigned to the fact I'd just have to pass the time watching the Justin Bieber biopic for the third time. I flipped open my laptop, and there was an email from the lovely Susan Dennard. She said she'd just finished a book called RUBY RED and it totally reminded her of LONDON CALLING (my never-ending work in progress). Of course, I freaked out, and immediately turned on my Kindle to see if I could buy in online. I could, I read, and I wanted to weep tears of joy when I was done, because this book was SO GOOD (and totally different from LC, phew!)  I'm a sucker for anything set in London, and London spanning multiple centuries in the same book is only a bonus. Also, Gwenyth is one of the most endearing protagonists ever. When I was done reading, I was left with the same feeling as when I read Harry Potter. Not that they are in any way similar plot wise, but in terms of scope, and imagination, and tone, I was left with the same tingly GIVE ME MORE feeling. Seriously, Susan made my summer by recommending this book, and I am anxiously awaiting the translation of the sequel, SAPPHIRE BLUE (you will not believe that the books are originally written in German!). 

FOR A TASTE OF MAGIC & TWO TIME PERIODS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE...

DARK MIRROR, by M.J. Putney

From Goodreads:

Lady Victoria Mansfield, youngest daughter of the earl and countess of Fairmount, is destined for a charmed life. Soon she will be presented during the London season, where she can choose a mate worthy of her status. 

Yet Tory has a shameful secret—a secret so powerful that, if exposed, it could strip her of her position and disgrace her family forever. Tory’s blood is tainted . . . by magic.

When a shocking accident forces Tory to demonstrate her despised skill, the secret she’s fought so hard to hide is revealed for all to see. She is immediately exiled to Lackland Abbey, a reform school for young men and women in her position. There she will learn to suppress her deplorable talents and maybe, if she’s one of the lucky ones, be able to return to society.

But Tory’s life is about to change forever. All that she’s ever known or considered important will be challenged. What lies ahead is only the beginning of a strange and wonderful journey into a world where destiny and magic come together, where true love and friendship find her, and where courage and strength of character are the only things that determine a young girl’s worth. 

This book was made of win for me on so many levels. It somehow managed to combine two of my favourite historical periods: The Regency and World War 2. That's a feat I would have thought impossible, but M.J. Putney does it SO well. Also, it involves boarding school, magic, and a swoon-worthy kiss atop the white cliffs of Dover. What more could a girl want? Again, there was also a great theme about family in this book, which seems to hook me these days. I'm looking forward to diving into the sequel, DARK PASSAGE, which just came out!

Phew. Even having read all of these, I still need MORE time travel in my life. Any other recommendations? 

Why, Hello September!

I don't usually watch a lot of TV, but when I look back on my life, summer 2011 will officially go down as the summer of "OMG THIS SHOW IS SOOOOOOO GOOD/WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!" See, when I wasn't busy climbing mountains...

Whistler, British Columbia

...being a responsible bridesmaid...

Liquid courage

...or venturing close to Twilight territory to celebrate the nuptials of my awesome critique partner Amanda in Edmonds, Washington...

I wonder if the Cullens ever visited this beach...

...I also had to study dreaded Organic Chemistry, and therefore had very little energy left to do anything but stare blankly at the wall. So, I figured I might as well stare at the delightful Dr. Simon Hill on Combat Hospital.

I know, right? Now imagine the English accent...

When I maxed out on life in a Kandahar hospital, I moved onto The Nine LIves of Chloe King. All I can say is holy cow! If you write YA/love YA books, you have to check out this show! While jam packed with paranormal drama and a killer love triangle, it has a really realistic spin on friendship and family. And some pretty swoon-worthy kisses...

Finally, I re-watched Season 1 of Downton Abbey. I could dedicate 500 blog posts to how awesome that show is. The writing, the production, the costumes...Ahhhh! The theme music alone gives me chills.

For a while a felt really guilty about 'wasting' all this time. But I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Have you ever heard a song that has just made you stop in your tracks and gasp because it's like, the most perfect song ever for a certain scene that just refuses to be written? (Ummm no?, haha) Well, this song did it for me yesterday as I was obsessively watching the trailer for Season 2 of Downton Abbey on YouTube hard at work at the day job.

In conclusion, the Summer of TV may just have been the most productive summer ever! 


Anyways, now that I'm back in Holland, I've been doing a TON of reading. I've never done book reviews here before, but I'm almost done the most amazing series I've read in a while, so stay tuned! 


How are you all doing?! 

Back to basics

I wish I could report that my blogging absence is because I really have been snuggling with Ben Barnes in London for the past month, but alas, life has just gotten the better of me lately. Not necessarily in a bad way, just enough that I didn't want to bore you all with mundane details. 

With respect to LONDON CALLING, I had a revelation while chatting with one of my CPs, and decide to stop writing in the direction I was going to take things back to scratch. I literally story boarded everything and wrote a whole new preliminary synopsis. At first I felt really dejected. Like, is this story EVER going to work?! After a few days of feeling like a giant failure (mental note to never start a book without plotting it first), I had to remind myself that it's not a race. I want to write the right story, not just rush this one in an effort to get published. It might take my whole life, but whatev (*on that note, please please please don't take my whole life!*). As such, my desk looks like this (the giant blackboard on the wall and craft books all over the floor are out of view): 

Special thanks to SAVE THE CAT; the only reason I didn't fall into the depths of despair this month

God bless my sister who is visiting and has to sleep among that mess! I'm pretty sure she can recite the whole plot in her sleep. 

What else? Well, summer seems to have skipped the Netherlands this year. I can't remember ever wearing jeans and a jacket so many days in a row in July. This is wonderful for work production, but my legs are so pale I'm pretty sure they glow in the dark. Luckily, it's home to Toronto on Friday where it's a balmy 40 degrees C.! Along with that visit comes a bachelorette party, 2 weddings, and memorial services for both my Grandma and Dad. August will definitely be an extreme exercise in human emotion. 

I know I promised summer book recs in my last post, but I've read so much this month that I think that deserves a post of it's own!! Thanks for staying tuned!!!!!! What's new with all of you?! Are you having a good + productive summer?