Behind the Tears

This is what I thought about after writing "Behind the Tears":

I HATED writing this DAMN &^@^*!@&*+# book, lol. It's true, I did. And if I wasn't committed to finishing "Behind the Tears" I would've scrapped it, because it caused me SO much trouble. No doubt fans of Behind the Hood and Graffiti Heaven (the prequels) will love it, and will be biting their nails over certain sections, but ... when I got to one plot point near the end, it made me very uncomfortable and that is saying a lot. At one stage, I even walked away from the story, preferring to paint instead, because I only paint nice pictures and this storyline was anything but nice. I think some people may cry over this book, but it just made me want to kill off Chaz at the beginning ... although I didn't, dammit. Maybe I could go and rewrite that part? Nah, just kidding, because that would totally take out the suspense if I did.

HOWEVER ... I did enjoy writing a few of the storylines. Also, "Behind the Tears" is a bit different from the other two books, because the overriding genre is romance (although, a dark romance), and with a side order of suspense. There are three potential couples, some love triangles and one very disturbed man, who people will hate even more than Tama from "Behind the Hood," and it is possible.

But, I'm sure a lot of ladies will love one particular romance (if not all). I've already noticed some people on Goodreads are speculating about what Sledge's relationship with Corey entails. Just put it this way, they are right. There are hints in "Behind the Hood" alluding to what Corey's character is like, and he will be making Sledge feel very uncomfortable ;)

Anyway, I may update on how the editing progress is going. At present, I am well on target to having this book published before Christmas.


Cheers, Marita.


P.S. The cover uploaded on Goodreads is not the one being used. A drawing of Ash will be on the cover, while his brother Dante will be on the back. And since the brothers look the same, apart from their different tattoos, it will appear like you're viewing two sides to one person.

Graffiti Heaven FREE for 2 Days Only

My edgy YA novel GRAFFITI HEAVEN is being promoted this weekend and will be free, starting today and ending Saturday the 22nd of December. So, if you want to download an ebook copy of this edgy YA story here are the links:

AMAZON US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RB6J2M?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RB6J2M&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

AMAZON UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008RB6J2M?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RB6J2M&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

AMAZON DE (Germany): http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B008RB6J2M?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RB6J2M&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

AMAZON ES (Spain): http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B008RB6J2M?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RB6J2M&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

AMAZON IT (Italy): http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B008RB6J2M?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RB6J2M&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

If you don't have a Kindle or iPhone, etc, there are apps available on the book's Amazon page, which will allow you to read it on your computer or other electronic devices.

A group of high school students deal with sex, love, bullying, family and betrayal. (Edgy YA)

Life is turned upside down for Ash Rata and Tiana Lilu after they skip school to take their relationship to the next level. When their family and friends find out, they are forced to deal with rumours, bullies, an overprotective brother and mortified parents.

Amongst the turmoil Ash grows closer to his stepdad, learning to trust again after years of holding a grudge against his jailed father. But following a guys' night out together, Ash's life is shattered when he wakes up in hospital and learns his stepdad has done something unforgivable. Traumatised, he pushes everyone he loves away, terrified that they will discover what really happened that night.

Set in the year 2000, ten years prior to Behind the Hood, Graffiti Heaven is the first in a series that follows Ash Rata's teenage years, a coming of age tale where both comedy and tragedy battle it out on a New Zealand stage.

M15+


The link to GOODREADS (where you can read a number of reviews): http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13070740-graffiti-heaven

I hope you enjoy the read, and it would be great if you could leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads so that others know what the book is like.

Cheers,


Marita.

Beautiful Disaster Review

bookshelves: romance

Read from August 28 to October 14, 2012

I'm am totally conflicted on how to rate this book, because big chunks frustrated the hell out of me, while other areas I liked. Hence, the rating of 3, smack bang in the middle of scratch my head territory.

So, I'll go through the good and the bad, alternating between the two:

I don't tend to read books like this, in fact this might be my first New Adult Romance full stop. But I love paranormal romance, so I thought it was just a side step, something I'd enjoy. And I did sort of, but I think my main problem that held me back from really liking it (and it's a major one) was the character of Abby. She FRUSTRATED the hell out of me! I didn't like her at all, because I thought she was being mean to Travis a lot, and was quite selfish, leading him on constantly. Okay, it was fine for her to reject him at the beginning because of his rep, I get that, but when she finally got with him the drama after that was annoying. For ages it was like, she was SO great, he just had to chase her around everywhere (I didn't see why she was great, especially since she treated him badly), and when something went wrong it was always Travis's fault. Like the time she dumps him and then goes to his place to get something with America, and he walks in with a girl and she is mad at him! Like WTF? And America blows up at him and his cousin, again WTF? They had absolutely no empathy for the poor guy. He was dumped, he was moving on, but no, he had to abstain from sex because her royal highness hadn't given him permission to move on, but oh, she was allowed to do what she wanted. And another thing that really bugged me was when Travis beat up Chris with Abby's permission, because her "virtue" was denounced. And not with one punch, but quite a lot, yet when Travis punches another guy once and Abby gets the guy's blood on her she goes apeshit at him. Again, WTF? So, he isn't allowed to hit someone unless she gives him her royal decree? Another thing I couldn't stand about Abby, was that she was so judgmental of him (and others), going through a good section of the story feeling like Travis wasn't good enough for her, treating him like a whipping boy, and that he was just everything wrong, whereas she was the one who was wrong in my opinion. So, you can clearly see I didn't like her.

Okay, now to Travis. I liked and understood him better, but he did go over the top with his violence, like WAY over the top when he beat up Chris just for a verbal slight on Abby's "virtue". I have been punched before (karate) and have seen guys go down for a lot less punching than what Travis did to Chris, and I believe the type of punching that Travis was doing (or more like committing) could've caused serious damage, yet no one helped Chris, no one phoned the cops or the authorities, and that was it, once the beating had finished there were no more consequences and Chris's role in the story was done. It really seemed incredibly over the top, unrealistic and contrived. Travis was generally an over the top character, but as said before, I didn't mind him mostly, and Abby did drive him nuts. God only knew why he wanted her, probably because she kept telling him no and he wasn't used to that, since every girl on campus threw themselves at him.

Now to take a long breath, before the next lot................ Done. Now, I'll state some parts that I liked. The fight club scenes. I found those interesting, plus the drama with the creep pushing Abby against the wall, and the Vegas scenes. With the Vegas part in the story, that was one time that I could understand Abby's frustration with Travis, because he wouldn't listen, but still, she seemed to drop him way too easily and he didn't realise the seriousness of the situation. And the way America dropped Shepley too was way too easy. The women could be stone-cold bitches in this book. But I digress, overall America was fine, it was only one tiny section in the book that really annoyed me about her.

The plot, I mostly liked this. At times I lost interest, but then the author threw in some things that I didn't predict, like Vegas. My interest perked up greatly at these spikes in the plot, and I did enjoy those parts. Also, the fire scene was thrilling, and had me really worried for one of the minor characters, because of his connection to Travis. I'm glad with how the author portrayed this bit. And the ending, some say it's to sugary and wraps things up with a pretty bow, all nice and tidy, but actually, I liked that she did this, it gave the book a nice clean ending, and I did want a happy one. So, all sweet on that frontier. Additionally, I liked Travis's family scenes, giving the reader a bit of background on him, and I liked his determination to get Abby back (whipping boy! and again, why dude, why?), but it made for interesting drama.

Some people criticise the toxic relationship between Abby and Travis, but despite their character flaws, I didn't mind this part, because that's what the story was about. Plus, who wants to read a romance story where there isn't drama and it's all romance and flowers: I don't! So, no criticism on that.

On a minor note, the writing style did leave me a little jumpy, and scratching my head at times. Overall it was okay, fine, and easy to read, but occasionally it jumped from one place to another without a transitional phase. Like, Abby was in one place then suddenly she's outside, and I'm wondering, what the hell, I thought she was over there, so I go back and re-read the part and yup, she was over there. We really need to be told that she's actually got up and left. This happened more than a few times, but not always, so just be prepared that occasionally the characters will move like Usain Bolt between settings.

I'm going to round off now, and having looked over my review. Looks like I have a good amount of criticisms, but I wouldn't say to not read the book, because I did like parts, and I did finish the book, just was confused as to whether I liked it or not. Guess I'm sitting on the fence like with religion. My brain (and education) tells me it's illogical to believe, but my superstitions say you have to or your going to buuuuurn, lol. Just joking. But Beautiful Disaster was sort of like this, my brain was telling me this was something I really shouldn't like, and it had so many faults, mainly me not liking the main character, but the plot kept my interest, and stopped me from giving this book a lower mark. So, yeah, 3 is adequate for me.

Would I read Travis's point of view with walking Disaster. Maybe, it might be interesting, although the only problem (and a major one) is that I know the plot and that was the main part I liked. But then again, looking into a guy's brain can be fascinating and I might get to understand why he went overboard at times. I'll see, maybe if it's on special, like when I got Beautiful Disaster.

So, would I recommend this. Not sure. I think younger people will like it more than older readers, who have more of an understanding on life situations (though, not always true, depending on the person). For me, if I was younger I might not have been as critical, so it's purely a subjective thing. You either like it or you don't, and if you're like me, you're not sure :)

The AMAZON LINK to this book.

A fantastic YA read: Rot & Ruin

When I went into reading Rot & Ruin I did not expect to find it so engrossing. I’ve only read one other zombie book, Outpost, and liked it, but that one was a totally different look at the zombie lore. In Rot & Ruin zombies act like expected, but apart from that, the author doesn’t present his zombie story like others. Instead, he takes it from a very human angle, following the lives of Benny, his brother and friends. We get down to how life is for Benny, what it is like to live in a time where the old conventions of the world are no longer viable. In school, amongst their studies they learn how to handle zombies. When they reach 15 they have to start working so they can keep their rations. Because they live in an enclosed town, where it is supposedly safe from zombies, he has only a limited choice of jobs he can pick from, of which most he considers boring. So, in the end he ends up becoming an apprentice to his half-brother Tom, who is a bounty hunter (a closure specialist to be precise). At the beginning of the book Benny will annoy you, because he acts like a selfish teenager that unjustly blames his brother for things. He admires the wrong kinds of people, two other nasty bounty hunters, when he should be admiring, instead of hating, his brother. But as the story proceeds events happen one after the other and his affected and preconceived notions about how things are starts to be questioned, then falls completely away.

What I loved about this book was the way the author didn’t make the zombies out to be the real villains. The zombies act on instinct, they have no hate in them, just need, you can’t judge them on a human level, because they are no longer human and are basically animals that don’t know any better. But the bounty hunters (apart from Tom) are the real villains. They know what they are doing, are supposedly with feelings, yet they do the vilest things: like preying on the zombies and young children for their own amusement. They’ve created a Gameland where they barter money to see which children can survive in a pit (and other scenarios) against zombies. They also hack at zombies for their own amusement, playing with them, and forgetting they were once people, people that were loved. This is Tom’s view of zombies, which is why he’s a closure specialist. He gets contracts from families to go put their loved ones (who have become zombies) to rest in a humane manner.

Because of what the bad bounty hunters do they have made enemies not only with Tom, but a girl who roams the wilderness. When the worst of the bounty hunters attack people that Tom and Benny love, taking one of them, the brothers go looking for her (Nix, and Benny’s love interest). Along the way the lost girl joins them, leading to an explosive climax. And the epilogue is so perfect, really moving.

This is just a fantastic novel, well worth your time reading. I’ve been told that this book and its sequels are being turned into movies, which I would absolutely love to see.

5 very well deserved stars. I highly recommend Rot & Ruin.  

Click on this Amazon link to buy this book. 

Graffiti Heaven's Fan Page

My new book Graffiti Heaven has a fan page. I will be discussing everything to do with the book at this link: Graffiti Heaven's Fan Page. Some of the topics that will be discussed include (in alphabetical order): Abuse, Bullying, Coming of Age, Dating and Sex, Drugs, Edgy YA Reads, Family Issues, Homophobia, Peer Pressure, Prejudice, Racism, Sexuality, Teen Depression and Attempted Suicide, Teen Life, Teen Pregnancy, etc.

I am open to answering questions and chatting about these topics, as well as the future of this series. I will also upload articles every so often.

Graffiti Heaven and Music

I'm in the mood for some music, so since my new edgy ya book Graffiti Heaven (the prequel to the Behind the Lives series) is set in the year 2000, I thought I'd see what songs my characters would've listened to back then. Some songs have also been chosen according to the characters' story-lines as well as their personalities. I have numbered the countdown in relation to the main characters, Ash being the most important, then Tiana, Jenna, Levi and so forth.

ENJOY THE COUNTDOWN!

 10

Ant 
 A bad choice in song for the rough and nasty mouthed Ant? By the third to last chapter of the book, you'll find out why I picked Ricky Martin's She Bangs.

9

 Salma

Destiny's Child was mentioned as playing at Salma's party. Plus, she tries to jump Ash there, so Jumpin', Jumpin' is right in more ways than one.

 8

Dante

Lil Bow Wow's song Bounce With Me is perfect for Ash's naughty li'l brother, plus it's stated in the Behind the Lives series that Dante likes rap. Lil Bow Wow is also the same age as Dante, 13.

7

Hunter

The Backstreet Boy's video Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely sadly fits Hunter's character. It also suits Kelly O'Brian as well.

 6
Lavinia 

Oops, I Did it Again by Britney Spears.

Like the song says, Lavinia's not that innocent.

 

5 

Joel

The dreadlock boy who loves reggae and is a big fan of Bob Marley. But, I've chosen a New Zealand reggae song for him as it suits him well. It's called For the Love of it and is by Salmonella Dub, with the talented Tiki Taane on vocals.

4

Levi

Nelly's Country Grammar is perfect for Tiana's brother. He loves cars and women, and the music would be his taste.

3

Jenna

 She wants real love from Ash, she has hot pink streaks in her blonde hair and she kicks arse and will punch anyone who gets in her way.

Like Pink, Jenna's Not Every Girl.

2 

Tiana

Tiana is an eternal romantic, so Sound Garden's song I Knew I Loved You is perfect for her, plus it relates to how she feels about Ash.

1

Ash 
You couldn't get a song that fitted Ash's tragic soul better than Crawling, just change the female in the video to a guy. Although this song was released as a single in 2001, it was on Linkin Park's album Hybrid Theory, which came out in 2000.

Behind the Hood AND Graffiti Heaven

I have two published books,  one for readers 18 years and older called Behind the Hood and an edgy YA book called Graffiti Heaven. They are both about the rougher side of life in New Zealand, and are set in South Auckland (based around Clendon Park / Manurewa). I remember when I first put part of Behind the Hood up on Youwriteon and Authonomy (writers websites) people were genuinely shocked and told me that they had no idea New Zealand had these types of places, because it is often portrayed as clean, green and safe.  But, from Auckland to New York, London to Melbourne, we all have our problematic areas.

Another thing that people asked about was why I chose to write about the Maori people in Behind the Hood. 

Originally this took me by surprise, and still has me tongue-tied at times, because I never really considered that I was specifically writing about one culture. Instead, it was the settings that influenced my story. This was because at first I had intended on writing a fantasy piece set in Singapore, but changed it because it wasn’t working. And when I placed it in one of my old neighbourhoods in South Auckland (Clendon Park, which I call Claydon in the book), the story suddenly took off and morphed into realism.

                                                      

However, the settings do not alter the fact that my novel is very much character driven, which is another reason why I don’t believe my book is just about the Maori. Instead it’s about New Zealanders from areas like Clendon. Although there are a number of Maori characters, there are also others that aren't, like Rory and Stella, as well as her bunch of friends from West Auckland. Also, Jess and Saul are Samoan, while the Connor family are Irish and Cook Island Maori (which is different from New Zealand Maori). Plus, the characters that have Maori in them also have other nationalities, such as seen in Dante's tattoos. He has both Slavic writing and Maori designs, which reflects his Croatian and Maori heritage. I added this in because there are both Maori and Croatians in my family, which is quite common in the upper part of the North Island. It's a place where a lot of Croatians (from the Dalmatian coast) came to dig gum. And because of how well the Dalis (a nickname) got on with the Maori there were intermarriages. So, again, this isn't a Maori story, this is a New Zealand story.

I have also had people mention Once Were Warriors. Although I touch on similar topics, my book isn't the same and is written very differently. Not only are the styles nothing alike, but Once Were Warriors focuses on one family, and was set in Rotorua (while the movie was set in Otara). In contrast, my book encompasses a number of families. Once Were Warriors was also from a different generation. Although it was published and made into a movie in the 90s, the mention of Jake’s slave ancestry suggests that it was set further back.

But, as I said, my novel does touch on similar topics as Alan Duff's.  Domestic violence, suicide, gangs, abuse, crime, and so forth are all portrayed, which shows that these problems have spanned a number of generations.

In Graffiti Heaven I wrote about the same place as well as extending it to the wider community of Wera (based on Manurewa). This book is set in the year 2000, ten years before Behind the Hood.  Although it follows some of the same characters from Behind the Hood, namely Ash Rata, I went for something different, making it not as harsh. Yes, it still has harsh topics, but it isn't as in your face as Behind the Hood is, plus it has humour. And, this time the ethnicity of a lot of the characters are noticeable, which was intentional. Two of the main characters are Tongan (Tiana and Levi), one is Maori/Croatian (Ash) and the other is a run of the mill Kiwi with a mix of nationalities (Jenna), while there are more with Samoan, Irish, Japanese, Italian and Welsh ancestry - a real cultural melting pot.

In Graffiti Heaven I also cut down on the viewpoints, and unlike Behind the Hood, chose not to get inside the head of the bad guy (not something that I wanted to do, due to the horrible nature of this character). Yes, in a way you could call Jenna (the bully) the bad guy, but she wasn't a harsh character and is not the true villain of the story. Instead, as long as you haven't read Behind the Hood, you will not know who the villain is until they strike.

Graffiti Heaven also doesn't solely rely on action. Instead, it covers many topics: Teen life in general, first times, sex, dating, peer pressure, bullying, jealousy, step-families, dysfunctional families, kids dealing with their parents splitting, unwanted pregnancy as well as homophobia and sexual abuse. But, because the above topics are controversial, Graffiti Heaven has still raised some eyebrows, even more so with the first chapter going straight into a certain type of sex scene. HOWEVER ... this scene sets up the book and a lot of the tension that follows, so in my defense it was needed to propel the story forward. Plus, it was inspired by someone's experience (not mine!)

So, give the books a try. Graffiti Heaven is currently on special for .99 cents, while Behind the Hood is $2.99. And a last note, for anyone that is disappointed that Tiana (from Graffiti Heaven) isn't in Behind the Hood, don't worry, she is back in its sequel Behind the Tears (due out this year) as well as the rest of the Graffiti Heaven series. If  you wish to know what Behind the Tears is about, you can read the new preliminary blurb on Goodreads: goodreads-behind-the-tears

LINKS to Marita's author page on Amazon:

amazon.com/Marita-A.-Hansen - US
amazon.co.uk/Graffiti-Heaven    or   amazon.co.uk/Behind-Hood-Lives  UK

Also available on other countries' Amazon sites.