Introducing Julia Ember Author of 'Unicorn Tracks'

Unicorn Tracks

Author: JULIA EMBER

Publisher:  HARMONY INK PRESS
Genre:  YA FANTASY ROMANCE

Release Date:  21 APRIL 2016

Age Category:  14+

Pages: 187

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63476-878-8

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63476-879-5
Goodreads / Pre-Order Here

After a savage attack drives her from her home, sixteen-year-old Mnemba finds a place in her cousin Tumelo’s successful safari business, where she quickly excels as a guide. Surrounding herself with nature and the mystical animals inhabiting the savannah not only allows Mnemba’s tracking skills to shine, it helps her to hide from the terrible memories that haunt her. Mnemba is employed to guide Mr. Harving and his daughter, Kara, through the wilderness as they study Unicorns. The young women are drawn to each other, despite that fact that Kara is betrothed. During their research, they discover a conspiracy by a group of poachers to capture the Unicorns and exploit their supernatural strength to build a railway. Together, they must find a way to protect the creatures Kara adores while resisting the love they know they can never indulge.

As a member of the SST, I am honored to have the author of Unicorn Tracks here at my blog. I'll be interviewing her today with some really random questions! Please enjoy!

What troubles did you experience while writing this book?
Of my manuscripts, I would say that Unicorn Tracks was one of the easiest to write. I was between jobs when I started it, so I had a lot of free time that I would kill for now! That being said, I’d just trunked a manuscript that I hadn’t been able to sell. So, I was feeling quite a lot of self-doubt while I wrote Unicorn Tracks … questioning whether I could do it, whether or not I had any business trying to write a novel. Self-doubt can really undermine your ability to just tell the story because you constantly second guess your decisions and word choices.

When and why did you decide to make your characters part of the LGBT+ community?

I am a bisexual author and I live with my female partner! Strangely, though, before I wrote Unicorn Tracks, I’d never tried to write a f/f romance before. Once I started, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world and I don’t know why I didn’t do it before.

What is your favorite country/city?
Oh wow, that’s really hard! I’ve been lucky to travel a lot in my quite short life.  The places I’ve lived: Chicago, London, Edinburgh, will of course always be particularly special, but further afield I have amazing memories of Kenya, Tanzania, Bhutan, China … all the places I’ve visited have been special in their own way!

How has traveling affected your writing?
Traveling has definitely affected my writing. I was joking with one of my critique partners recently that I can’t start a new manuscript until I go on a trip and there is some truth to that. Unicorn Tracks was heavily inspired by my travels in East Africa. The series I have contracted to start next year was inspired by my trip to Bhutan and Myanmar. There is something inspiring about being immersed in a totally different world, even for a few short weeks.

If you could travel to any fictional world, which world would that be?

Well, Harry Potter seems like the obvious answer, but I am quite partial to it because I love London and imagining myself in Diagon Alley buying an owl. Beyond Harry, probably the world Emily Skrutskie created for THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US. I’m a huge animal fan and I love the idea of training giant genetically modified sea monsters for a living! Plus, since it’s futuristic, it doesn’t have any of those pesky medieval inconveniences like cold stone castles without bathrooms, plague etc.

If you could pick one fictional character to travel the world with, who would it be?

Definitely Fred and George Weasley (I refuse to accept Fred’s death). With the amount of traveling I’ve done, you learn that things can go wrong at any moment no matter how much planning you’ve done. When things do go badly, having a sense of humour is important. I know those two would keep the trip fun!

What is your favorite animal? And if you had said animal as a pet, what would you name it?

Horses and Cats! I have both as pets. I have two stupidly cute cats (if you follow me on Instagram you will see that ¾ of my photos are of them) called Luna and Sirius. I also have a beautiful pony that I’ve owned since I was 12 named Africa. He’s a total sweetheart.

If your main characters committed a crime, what crime would that be and why?

Well, both Mnemba and Kara are guilty of breaking and entering as well as horse theft in the book! I don’t want to give too many spoilers away!

Thanks, Julia!

About the Author:

Originally from the Windy City, Julia Ember now resides in Sunny Scotland where she learned to enjoy both haggis and black pudding. She spends her days working as a professional Book Nerd for a large book wholesaler, and her nights writing YA Romantic Fantasy novels.  She also spends an inordinate amount of time managing her growing city-based menagerie of pets with Harry Potter themed names. Presently, she is the haggard slave Sirius Black and Luna Lovegood the cats and Bellatrix Le Snake. She also owns a freakishly adorable cob pony called Africa.
A world traveller since childhood, Julia has now visited over 60 countries. Her travels inspire the fictional worlds she writes about and she populates those worlds with magic and monsters.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.julia-ember.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juliaemberwrites/ GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13734129.Julia_Ember Twitter: @jules_chronicle Email: Julia_ember@yahoo.com Inquiries relating to purchase, library stocking or print-publication review can be sent to Anne Regan at Harmony Ink: anneregan@harmonyinkpress.com

The Sunday Street Team is hosted by Nori from ReadWriteLove28. Check her out here. And check out the SST!

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Talking to a Crazy Person: An Interview With Myself

Sorry for the bad graphic. My Photoshop CC trial ended...so I have to get used to Photoshop CS...

Let's start this interview thing.

Boring Questions

How did you get into reading?

Uh...six years ago or so, there was this Florida state reading program. You could get pizza and stuff if you read all the books. So I started reading then. Before that, I positively hated reading.

And it's been a tumultuous relationship ever since.

How did you get into anime?

Two years ago, I got into it because of the manga section in the library. My first manga was Translucent. And my first anime was either Ouran or Death Note. Yeah...

What's your favorite anime?

-dies- 

-flops around-

Natsume's Book of Friends. Noragami. Hetalia. Yeah...

Who is your favorite anime character?

It's like asking me to choose my favorite child. I love Romano and Russia from Hetalia. And Yukine and Yato from Noragami. Yes, they're all guys.

Why are all your favorite anime characters guys?

Because the girls are whiny or in a harem. They make me super mad. So no...

Yeah, there are some good girls like Erza Scarlet but still...

Kiss kill marry! 

Kiss: Victor Vale from Vicious.

Kill: Isla from Isla and the Happily Ever After 

Marry: ROMANO from Hetalia. I'm allowed to use anime characters, right? Because Roma is my waifu. Even if I ship Spamano.

The Awesome Questions

Are you actually crazy?

-snorts- If you don't think talking to self obsessively, completely losing all sense of reality and fiction, and indulging self in fictitious people and places isn't the definition of crazy, I think you need to get your head checked.

But...on the other hand, I've never been to a psychologist. So I've never been diagnosed. But I probably am crazy. I have a really hard time deciding if my memories are real or from a dream.

Do you actually have friends?

You like the hard questions, don't you?

Yes, I have friends. I don't just stalk the online world, you know?

I have friends back in Florida. Jenna of the Best Friendom. Noah of the Messed Up Kidney Slash Pretty Much Every Body Part. Bo of the Squid Thing Hat. Chase of the Epic Bookery. And Matthew of the Long Fingers.

Not to mention my pen pal Helene of Denmark.

Plus the friends in Texas. Grant of the Hey Daddys. Georgina of the Extremely Tireds. Paris of the I Know Every Language Practically. To name a few.

So, yes, I have friends.

What happened in eighth grade?

None of your beeswax.

Are you really some genius?

-laughs-

-continues laughing-

-still laughing-

No

What's up with your paranoia?

GEEZ. 

I have a hyperactive imagination. So being alone freaks me out. SO BAD. I get scared of the things my imagination creates.

On the upside, I have a cute imaginary boy in my mind too. He says hi.

And...you never call yourself she. So what's your gender?

Something that shouldn't matter.

Do you think God exists?

I'm an atheist.

But I jokingly say I believe in Flying Mint Bunny.

What is your thoughts of the world after death?

Don't believe in it. You die, and that's it.

The What Ifs

If you had to live on a deserted island with one of your characters, who would you pick?

Haha...uh...Ravenda because he's my favorite and HE HAS WINGS. We could totally fly away from there. Boom. I cheated the system.

What would your last meal before death be?

Uh...dessert buffet? Cheating the system since the beginning of time.

If you could dine with any dead person, who would it be?

Julius Caesar. Because he's pretty awesome.

Ask the Author Halloween Edition: Mackenzi Lee

Ask the Author

This time on Ask the Author...

I'll be interviewing Mackenzi Lee author of This Monstrous Thing.

Who is Mackenzi Lee?

Website / Facebook (Gasp! People still use Facebook?!?!) / Twitter / Pinterest

Mackenzi Lee is a reader, writer, bookseller, unapologetic fangirl, and fast talker. She holds an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults, and her short fiction for children and teens has appeared in Inaccurate Realities, The Friend, and The Newport Review. Her young adult historical fantasy novel, THIS MONSTROUS THING, which won the PEN-New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award, as well as an Emerging Artist Grant from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, is out now from Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

She loves Diet Coke, sweater weather, and Star Wars. On a perfect day, she can be found enjoying all three. She currently calls Boston home.

Note: I do not own any of these pictures. The credit goes to the owners. 

What is so appealing about the story of Frankenstein?
Frankenstein is a story that has never stopped being relevant, in spite of the fact it was first written two hundred years ago, and I think this due to the fact that, at its core, it’s about what makes us human. There is the science aspect, obviously, which continues to become more relevant as we get closer to being capable of the things Mary Shelley was imagining, but I think everyone wonders at some point about the quality of their own humanity and, inversely, their own capacity for monstrousness. It’s pretty compelling stuff.

How did you get your idea for your retelling?
From a lot of places! It partly came from hearing Frankenstein misidentified as a steampunk novel, partly from a trip I took to Germany at Christmastime, and partly from my first exposure to Frankenstein via a stage production at the National Theater. It’s also a lot inspired by a lifetime of being the older half of a sibling pair. 

What's your favorite Halloween costume that you've worn?
I was pretty darn proud of my Buster Bluth costume last year. I even had a seal with a yellow bow tie. 

(I, truthfully, don't know who this is.)

What's your favorite Halloween costume you've seen?
At a Halloween party in college, a girl came as Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Ever since, I’ve wanted a wolf suit. 

(Being Max is one of many goals in life.)

What's your favorite memory of Halloween? (Trick-or-treating? Handing out candy? Pranking old neighbors?)
Growing up, my sister and I were really good friends with another family in our neighborhood who had a son my age and a daughter my sister’s age. We all were obsessed with Star Wars, so one year, the four of us and their middle brother all went as various members of the Jedi order. My little sister was so committed to her Yoda costume that she had my mom buy her green gloves and, since Yoda only has three fingers, sew the pinkie and ring finger and middle and pointer finger together so she would similarly only have three digits. She then walked around all night flashing the perpetual Spock sign. 

(Enjoy this picture of an adorable Yoda baby.)

What's your favorite horror story?
Frankenstein. Is that cheating? (Nope. Not cheating.)

What would you do if you saw Dracula outside your window?
Invite him in. I’d have a lot of questions. 

(Technically, you'd be inviting in Vlad the Impaler, but that's all semantics.)

In a zombie apocalypse, who would you choose for your survival team? (Fictional or real!)
Teddy Roosevelt. Captain Malcom Reynolds. Imperator Furiosa. Jacky Faber. 

(Look at Teddy. All dashing and mustache-y. And NATHAN FILLION. WOOHOO. And badass females FTW. And I have NO CLUE who Jackey Faber is!)

What's your favorite Halloween-themed drink? (Alcoholic or not.)
I don’t know if I have a specifically Halloween-themed favorite drink, so I’m gonna say Diet Coke drunk from a Halloween-themed glass. 

Would you rather stay a night in a haunted mansion or walk through an empty graveyard?
Empty graveyard. I’m the sort of creep who thinks graveyards are actually super cool and beautiful.

Thank you, Mackenzi Lee!

Ask the Blogger: Sam from Literary Lover

Ask the Blogger

This time on Ask the Blogger...

I'll be interviewing Sam from Literary Lover.

Who is Sam?

Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram / Tumblr

HEYO! I'm Sam, a 15 year old book blogger, and Throne of Glass enthusiast! 

I'm also a competition dancer and runner (but I prefer dance). I looove science and social studies and can get way to into using the CAPS LOCK button and emojis. I would say I'm a pretty energetic person but I'm also very indecisive. (Don't take me out to dinner. It'll take me hours to decide what I want to eat.) I bring a book or two (hey, you gotta have backup for when you finish!) everywhere I go & I will read literally anywhere. Walking in Universal Studios? YUP. Waiting in line for a ride in Disney? Done it. While getting an EEG? Actually no, they wouldn't let me but I was holding the book until my mom took it from me. 

Note: None of these pictures are owned by me. All rights go to the owners.

How did you get into blogging?
I always loved books and started out as a Divergent fan page on Instagram. I had started to review books on my Instagram and joined Goodreads in 2014, then I started to discover book blogs. I decided I would rather talk about books on a real blog then my Instagram.

What was your favorite series as a kid?
The Magic Treehouse series! 

What's your favorite series now?
Ooh thats hard. I am very indecisive so, Throne of Glass, Mara Dyer, and Vampire Academy are all tied for first. 

What's your favorite thing to do in your downtime?
Read, or watch Netflix. 

Who is your OTP?
Another hard one. My top OTP is Meredith and Derek from Grey's Anatomy, but Sloane and James from The Program are my top OTP from a book. 

What show do you fangirl over the most?
GREYS ANATOMY. I get way too excited about Grey’s Anatomy, and talk about it way too much. 

Who is the most swoonworthy book guy?

Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, for me at least. Although I can think of many other swoon worthy guys from romance novels, I’ll stick with Rhys. 

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what two items would you take with you?
I was literally thinking of this last night haha. Probably a yacht and an emergency survival kit. 

If you were hosting a dinner party for four, who would you invite? (Meaning you can invite three people because one of the four is you!)
If they have to be real people: Sarah J. Maas, Michelle Hodkin, and Alexandra Bracken

If they could be fictional: Noah Shaw, Rhysand (I am clearly very obsessed with SJM/Rhysand) and Lexie Grey. 

Would you rather dance the rest of your life or run the rest of your life?
Dance, definitely. Running is so hard for me and it gives me really bad shin splints. Plus, I enjoy dance, I hate running.  

Thank you, Sam!

Ask the Blogger: Melanie from YA Midnight Reads

Ask the Blogger

This time on Ask the Blogger...

I'll be interviewing Melanie from YA Midnight Reads.

Who is Melanie?

Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram

Melanie is a 15 year old student from Melbourne, Australia. She's known as that crazy melodramatic fangirl to her friends and loves spending her time procrastinating, fangirling over Percabeth, wasting her life away on Twitter and reading (duh). Addictions include gummy bears, ice-cream, coffee and binge-watching TV shows. The 100, HTGAWM and Sherlock are her true loves.

Note: I do not own any of the photos. All rights go the owners.

Why did you choose the name YA Midnight Reads?

I originally named the blog The YA Book Lover when I first started blogging. I KNOW. I give you permission to cringe, go ahead. I honestly have no idea what was going on in my brain when I first named it that. It was a on the whim decision, really. I ended up changing the blog to YA Midnight Reads just a few weeks later after that and to be honest, I can't remember why I chose it! I guess I used to read till really late (or really early in the morning, however you see it) and I thought it was summed up my reading life pretty well. YA books + late nights.

Why did you guys decide to co-blog together?

I have to co-bloggers, Celine and Larissa, but I blogged by myself to begin with. I started YA Midnight Reads back in Year 7, and it was really easy to keep it running by myself (I posted pretty much every day without fail) because the school I went to was really light on the homework and it was close to home so I didn't spend much time travelling home. But then in Year 9, I changed schools and the commute is 2.5 to 3 hours all up each day, and I get piles and PILES of homework, hence less time for blogging and reading. And because I didn't want my blog to be suddenly inactive, I thought about recruiting 2 co- bloggers, so I made a blog post about it asking for applications if anyone was interested. Larissa turned out to be one of the people who applied. As for Celine, she and I already knew each other as she had her own blog, but we were both talking about how hard it is to juggle school and blogging, so we decided to join forces!

What's your favorite series? 

HARRY POTTER. PERCY JACKSON. CHAOS WALKING TRILOGY. *flails* *dies*

Which book world do you want to live in?

Most definitely want to live in the Harry Potter world! I was obviously destined to go to Hogwarts *hair flip*

Who is your OTP? 

Anyone who knows me knows this one. My ultimate OTP of all OTPs is Percabeth (Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan). They were my first ship ever and have always remained my favourite even though it's been more than 2 years now. They possess my two favourite romance tropes: the hate to love as well as SLOW BURN. HELL YEAHZ. 

Which book guy makes you swoon the most? 

Okay, this question is like, VERY HARD. There are many. Here's just a few:

• Rafa from The Rephaim by Paula Weston
• Miles from Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
• Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Percy from Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
• Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

What do you do in your downtime?

Read (duhhhh), raid the pantry, binge TV shows, catch up on much needed sleep, heh.

If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what food would it be? 

I get sick of the same food after a while no matter how much I love it so this is really hard. I think pizza? At least there are different toppings... right??

What superpower do you want? 

This isn't really a superpower, but I would love to be invisible whenever I want. I MEAN, THINK OF ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD DO. It'd also come really handy in awkward situations. I could just - VOOM - vanish into thin air and avoid all the awkward cringe-y-ness.

Where would you create base camp if you lived in a zombie apocalypse? 

ON THE MIDNIGHTIAN BOOK FORT OF YA MIDNIGHT READS. (Yes, this is a thing. Only special people can see it though, so...)

Thank you, Melanie!

Ask the Blogger: Andi from Andi's ABCs

Ask the Blogger

This time on Ask the Blogger...

I'll be interviewing Andi the owner of Andi's ABCs.

Who is Andi?

Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram

I’m Andi and this is my foray into the world of blogging.

I’m a shopping fanatic, and that is putting mildly. I can’t help it. There is so much out there to showcase your personality. Shoes, bags, clothes, jewelry, tights… The endless array of options just leaves me wanting more. Add books into the mix and forget about it. Needless to say my credit card hates me.

When I’m not reading or shopping I’m either at work complaining about my job or at home watching TV, and what a TV watcher I am!  I have gotten better, but there are some shows I just can’t miss and I’m very okay with that.  I am also a Boston sports fanatic.  Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins.  Sunday’s you will likely find me in front of my TV decked out in a Patriots shirt calling them every name in the book and then rooting them on.  It’s what I do to show my love. And don’t even get me started on my love and hate of the Red Sox.  I don’t have that much time.

Why did you start reading? 

I was never a reader to be honest. I mean I picked it up in college but I wasn't hardcore about it. That is until a friend of mine suggested some YA books to me about 5 years ago. And then she told me to read Anna and the French Kiss and my life has never been the same. I started reading, really reading, after I read that book for the first time in 2010.

How did you come up with your blog name? 

The same friend that suggested Anna to me had a blog that she let me write reviews on. Well when real life got in the way and she decided to stop blogging she urged me to start my own. I told her I wouldn't unless I had a good name. I thought of all sorts of things and then I thought of things I love most: Accessories, Books and Clothes. Hence Andi's ABCs.

Who are your favorite authors? 

Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Ockler, Lauren Oliver, Emery Lord, Melina Marchetta, Morgan Matson, Miranda Kenneally...I could go on and on.

Who are your auto-buy authors? 

See question 3.

Which book had the best love triangle? Which had the worst? 

I can't think of any that are the best. I mean I don't hate love triangles and will read books with them, but I can't say one was the absolute best. I can tell you that I HATED the one in the Shatter Me series. Just no.

What book world would you like to live in? 

Before when I answered this question I didn't really have an answer. I mean most of the worlds are crazy scary. But I have recently read the first 3 Harry Potter books and I will have to say Hogwarts wouldn't be all that bad of an option.

If your life was a book, what genre would it be? 

I would definitely be contemporary.

What's your favorite accessory? 

My Louis Vuitton Speedy bag. I love that bag to pieces.

What's your favorite TV show? 

I love the Chicago shows on NBC. Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and I'm excited about the new one Chicago Med.

What's your best purchase ever? (It can be books, accessories, clothes, etc.)  

Best purchase...my Louis Vuitton. Book Purchase: Anna and the French Kiss. I have a ton of edition thanks to Stephanie Perkins, but the one I bought for myself, my original hardcover will always be special.

Thank you, Andi!

Ask the Blogger: Rachel from A Perfection Called Books

Ask the Blogger

This time on Ask the Blogger...

I'll be interviewing Rachel owner of A Perfection Called Books.

Who is Rachel?

Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube

Rachel is a teenaged unapologetic fangirl and perfectionist. She's a bit of a tough critic yet still manages to fall head over heels in love with lots of books. 

She loves reading for the escape it gives from reality and enjoys crying over books, swooning over characters, and laughing out loud over funny lines. She is a semi-recovering Netflix addict and a middle child of three.

What got you into reading? 

As a young child, my parents always encouraged reading. I started with series like Magic Tree House and A to Z Mysteries along with Junie B Jones. I really liked those, but I stopped reading for fun once I got to middle school. I still read the popular books sporadically (Twilight, Hunger Games, etc...). I read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare the summer after 8th grade. It really revitalized my love for reading, and it hasn't weakened since. 

Why did you choose your blog name A Perfection Called Books? 
I actually didn't choose the name! I found Goodreads and became involved in the social side of it by joining groups. I became friends with so many awesome people and they nicknamed me Miss Perfection because I'm a bit of a perfectionist. When I decided I wanted to start blogging, I asked for help in finding a name. My friend Layla came up with A Perfection Called Books because it keeps with the perfection aspect. :) 

Who is your favorite author?
That is a hard question!! I'd have to say Sarah J Maas with Cassandra Clare being a close second.

  

Who is the most swoon-worthy book character you know of?
Captain Chaol Westfall from Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas *swoons*

What character or characters reminds you of you? 
Sky from City of Savages by Lee Kelly. The dynamic between the sisters in this book and the personality of the older one (Sky) really mirrors me and my relationship with my sister. 

Here's a kiss, kill, or marry. Elias from 'An Ember in the Ashes'. Liam from 'The Darkest Minds'. Maxon from 'The Selection'. 
Kiss: Liam. Marry: Maxon. Kill: Elias (sorry)

What ship gave you the most feels?
Sydrian (Sydney and Adrian) from Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. I shipped them so hard!!

What book impacted your life the most?
Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley! It really showed me just how much of a problem gender inequality is in our country, especially in the military.

What's your favorite TV show? 
Ahh hard question. I really like The 100. Poldark is a new show I really like too! 

 

What's your favorite travel destination?  

Cape Town, South Africa was amazing to visit!! 

Thank you, Rachel!