One Hundred Candles Review, Interview, and Giveaway!!
REVIEW
Title:
One Hundred Candles
Author:
Mara Purnhagen
Publisher and Date:
Harlequin Teen 2011
About the Author: (inside cover)
Mara Purnhagen cannot live withot a tall caramel latte, her iPod or a stack of books on her nightstand. She has lived in Aurora, Illinois; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; and Duncan, South Carolina. She currents lives outside Cleveland, Ohio, with her family, two cats, and a well-meaning ghost who likes to open the kitchen windows.
Summary: (back of the book)
I've opened a door that cannot be closed.
It's taken a long time for me to feel like a moraml teenager. But now that I'm settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charolette Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. and what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it's not as if Noah is anything more than a friend...
But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleased by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I've opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.
My Rating:
4.5/5
My Thoughts:
At some points, the book moved kind of slow, but mostly it moved along quite well and I really enjoyed the romances, though I knew that *spoiler alert* Harris never really liked Charlotte *end of spolier*. I have to be honest though, when Charlotte first starts going out with Harris and recieves the 13 roses, I thought they were from Noah. Who they were actually from definately surprised me!
Not only was the romance aspects wonderful, but so was the paranormals! I loved how one parent believed in the paranormal while the other lived to disprove it! It was such a fun book that I'd definately recommend.
GIVEAWAY:
You have the chance to win a "One Hundred Candles Prize Pack" shipped directly from Mara Purnhagen herself!!
Included in this Prize Pack are:
A signed copy of One Hundred Candles
Bookmarks
Pens
(the bookmarks and pens are "sparkly and cool"!)
This is an International Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!
All you have to do to enter is follow PrincessReviews, and like the Harlequin Teen Facebook Page! Plus, you can earn more entries by doing other things!
When it says Chicken on the entry page, please put in Foot as your response.
Enter by filling out this form!! Giveaway ENDS May 15! Winner will be drawn and announced May 16th! Good luck!
INTERVIEW:
It was such fun interviewing Mara! I hope you all enjoy the interview as well!
Tasha Haight, PrincessReviews
Mara Purnhagen, Author
1. What is the Past Midnight series about?
As the daughter of paranormal investigators, Charlotte Silver knows that ghosts aren’t real. Her family takes a scientific approach to debunking haunting and legends, and they believe that there is an explanation behind everything. Their theories are tested, though, when something follows Charlotte home from an investigation in Charleston, South Carolina.
2. How old were you when your first book got published?
I was 35 when I was first published, but I have been writing stories since I was seven.
3. What book was your first book and when did it get published?
My first published book was a YA contemporary called Tagged, about graffiti in a small town. It came out in March 2010. I found out that book sold (as part of a two-book deal) during an absolutely insane week. We had moved from South Carolina to Ohio, things were hectic, and before the moving truck pulled out of the new driveway, I had a book deal—and a thousand boxes to unpack. Then my computer crashed and I lost everything. Fortunately, I had emailed myself the work and could use it as a backup.
4. What is your favorite girl name? Boy name?
Adele for a girl, Henry for a boy.
5. Why call your new book One Hundred Candles? What is the significance of that?
“One Hundred Candles” is a real (although obscure) game. It requires a group of people to sit in a circle and reveal their personal ghost stories. After each story, a candle is lit. When all one hundred stories have been told and all one hundred candles are glowing, one hundred spirits will join the group. That’s when the game really begins. Participants claim that weird things begin to happen, from doors opening to clocks chiming. It will continue (supposedly) until the circle is broken.
6. What was your favorite TV Show as a kid?
I didn’t watch much television as a kid. I’ve always been a big fan of The Simpsons, though. Still am.
7. Who inspires you the most to write?
That’s a good question. Other authors inspire me, but also the idea of my audience. I always think about my potential readers. I also think about what I want to read, or what I would have liked to have read when I was in high school.
8. Cats or Dogs?
I have two cats. I adore them—they tolerate me.
9. Can you tell us a bit about the "Ghost that opens windows" in your house?
We moved to our current house in 2008. For the first few months after we moved in, the kitchen windows (there are four of them) would randomly open and shut, always when one of us was in the kitchen. It was great—I thought of it as a ghost making its presence known. So one day, after two of the windows opened by themselves, I said out loud: “I know you’re here and I think it’s awesome. We’ll take care of the house, okay?” After that, the windows didn’t open again.
10. Which character from one of your books are you most like and how?
There may be a little slice of my personality in every character. I am a skeptic like Charlotte, good at handling pressure like Avery, and motherly like Annalise. One of my absolute favorite characters in the series is Bliss—you’ll see why when Beyond the Grave comes out in August.
11. Who is your favorite author (besides you)? What is your favorite book (besides yours)?
I have so many favorite authors, and the list seems to grow daily. I’ve been so impressed with the debut authors coming out in 2011 and try to read at least one “Class of 2k11” book each month. Sara Bennett Wealer, Julia Karr and Laura and Lisa Roecker are all fantastic!
12. What are 10 not-well known facts about yourself?
a. I played baritone in a Drum Corps.
b. I am left-handed.
c. My favorite animal is the koala bear.
d. I have never broken a bone.
e. I can drive stick shift.
f. I put ranch dressing on just about everything.
g. I never drink diet soda.
h. I don’t usually wear nail polish, but when I do, it’s always a shade of blue.
i. All of the fish in our back yard pond are named after characters from The Simpsons.
j. One day, I hope to visit Greece.
13. True or False: You can put your foot behind your head like in movies when people do yoga.
False.
14. What are your top five favorite things about the Past Midnight series?
a. My main character, Charlotte, is normal—she has no special powers.
b. There is an emphasis on family throughout the books.
c. Everyone is a skeptic—but they also acknowledge that some things can’t be explained.
d. Everyone is haunted by something, whether it’s their past or a ghost.
e. I like that Charlotte doesn’t have a romance going on in Book One. That was intentional, but her love life progresses with each book.
15. Do you just write young adult books, or do you write adult books to?
Right now, I am focused on YA, but I also have a middle grade project in the works.
Thank you! If there is anything else you'd like to say, please mention it here:
A second e-novella will be out in August, just before the release of the final novel in the series, Beyond the Grave. No title yet—but I’m almost done writing it!
Thanks for having me!
Title:
One Hundred Candles
Author:
Mara Purnhagen
Publisher and Date:
Harlequin Teen 2011
About the Author: (inside cover)
Mara Purnhagen cannot live withot a tall caramel latte, her iPod or a stack of books on her nightstand. She has lived in Aurora, Illinois; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; and Duncan, South Carolina. She currents lives outside Cleveland, Ohio, with her family, two cats, and a well-meaning ghost who likes to open the kitchen windows.
Summary: (back of the book)
I've opened a door that cannot be closed.
It's taken a long time for me to feel like a moraml teenager. But now that I'm settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charolette Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. and what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it's not as if Noah is anything more than a friend...
But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleased by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I've opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.
My Rating:
4.5/5
My Thoughts:
At some points, the book moved kind of slow, but mostly it moved along quite well and I really enjoyed the romances, though I knew that *spoiler alert* Harris never really liked Charlotte *end of spolier*. I have to be honest though, when Charlotte first starts going out with Harris and recieves the 13 roses, I thought they were from Noah. Who they were actually from definately surprised me!
Not only was the romance aspects wonderful, but so was the paranormals! I loved how one parent believed in the paranormal while the other lived to disprove it! It was such a fun book that I'd definately recommend.
GIVEAWAY:
You have the chance to win a "One Hundred Candles Prize Pack" shipped directly from Mara Purnhagen herself!!
Included in this Prize Pack are:
A signed copy of One Hundred Candles
Bookmarks
Pens
(the bookmarks and pens are "sparkly and cool"!)
This is an International Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!
All you have to do to enter is follow PrincessReviews, and like the Harlequin Teen Facebook Page! Plus, you can earn more entries by doing other things!
When it says Chicken on the entry page, please put in Foot as your response.
Enter by filling out this form!! Giveaway ENDS May 15! Winner will be drawn and announced May 16th! Good luck!
INTERVIEW:
It was such fun interviewing Mara! I hope you all enjoy the interview as well!
Tasha Haight, PrincessReviews
Mara Purnhagen, Author
1. What is the Past Midnight series about?
As the daughter of paranormal investigators, Charlotte Silver knows that ghosts aren’t real. Her family takes a scientific approach to debunking haunting and legends, and they believe that there is an explanation behind everything. Their theories are tested, though, when something follows Charlotte home from an investigation in Charleston, South Carolina.
2. How old were you when your first book got published?
I was 35 when I was first published, but I have been writing stories since I was seven.
3. What book was your first book and when did it get published?
My first published book was a YA contemporary called Tagged, about graffiti in a small town. It came out in March 2010. I found out that book sold (as part of a two-book deal) during an absolutely insane week. We had moved from South Carolina to Ohio, things were hectic, and before the moving truck pulled out of the new driveway, I had a book deal—and a thousand boxes to unpack. Then my computer crashed and I lost everything. Fortunately, I had emailed myself the work and could use it as a backup.
4. What is your favorite girl name? Boy name?
Adele for a girl, Henry for a boy.
5. Why call your new book One Hundred Candles? What is the significance of that?
“One Hundred Candles” is a real (although obscure) game. It requires a group of people to sit in a circle and reveal their personal ghost stories. After each story, a candle is lit. When all one hundred stories have been told and all one hundred candles are glowing, one hundred spirits will join the group. That’s when the game really begins. Participants claim that weird things begin to happen, from doors opening to clocks chiming. It will continue (supposedly) until the circle is broken.
6. What was your favorite TV Show as a kid?
I didn’t watch much television as a kid. I’ve always been a big fan of The Simpsons, though. Still am.
7. Who inspires you the most to write?
That’s a good question. Other authors inspire me, but also the idea of my audience. I always think about my potential readers. I also think about what I want to read, or what I would have liked to have read when I was in high school.
8. Cats or Dogs?
I have two cats. I adore them—they tolerate me.
9. Can you tell us a bit about the "Ghost that opens windows" in your house?
We moved to our current house in 2008. For the first few months after we moved in, the kitchen windows (there are four of them) would randomly open and shut, always when one of us was in the kitchen. It was great—I thought of it as a ghost making its presence known. So one day, after two of the windows opened by themselves, I said out loud: “I know you’re here and I think it’s awesome. We’ll take care of the house, okay?” After that, the windows didn’t open again.
10. Which character from one of your books are you most like and how?
There may be a little slice of my personality in every character. I am a skeptic like Charlotte, good at handling pressure like Avery, and motherly like Annalise. One of my absolute favorite characters in the series is Bliss—you’ll see why when Beyond the Grave comes out in August.
11. Who is your favorite author (besides you)? What is your favorite book (besides yours)?
I have so many favorite authors, and the list seems to grow daily. I’ve been so impressed with the debut authors coming out in 2011 and try to read at least one “Class of 2k11” book each month. Sara Bennett Wealer, Julia Karr and Laura and Lisa Roecker are all fantastic!
12. What are 10 not-well known facts about yourself?
a. I played baritone in a Drum Corps.
b. I am left-handed.
c. My favorite animal is the koala bear.
d. I have never broken a bone.
e. I can drive stick shift.
f. I put ranch dressing on just about everything.
g. I never drink diet soda.
h. I don’t usually wear nail polish, but when I do, it’s always a shade of blue.
i. All of the fish in our back yard pond are named after characters from The Simpsons.
j. One day, I hope to visit Greece.
13. True or False: You can put your foot behind your head like in movies when people do yoga.
False.
14. What are your top five favorite things about the Past Midnight series?
a. My main character, Charlotte, is normal—she has no special powers.
b. There is an emphasis on family throughout the books.
c. Everyone is a skeptic—but they also acknowledge that some things can’t be explained.
d. Everyone is haunted by something, whether it’s their past or a ghost.
e. I like that Charlotte doesn’t have a romance going on in Book One. That was intentional, but her love life progresses with each book.
15. Do you just write young adult books, or do you write adult books to?
Right now, I am focused on YA, but I also have a middle grade project in the works.
Thank you! If there is anything else you'd like to say, please mention it here:
A second e-novella will be out in August, just before the release of the final novel in the series, Beyond the Grave. No title yet—but I’m almost done writing it!
Thanks for having me!
Great interview! I love the questions. The book seems interesting. Can't wait to read it! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! And the book was interesting...but in a good way:)
ReplyDelete