Guest Post:Lauren Kate + Giveaway

Guest Post: Lauren Kate Q&A

I’d like to thank Lauren Kate for taking the time to answer my questions.

In honor of Young adults, I wanted to have a themed Q&A. There are three (kind of four) categories – Books, Movies/TV shows, and Music.

Books

What books were influential to you or popular in your teen years?
When I was in middle school, all my friends and I were reading The Babysitters Club books, The Sweet Valley High books, anything by Louis Sachar or Roald Dahl. I also secretly devoured all the Clan of the Cave Bear books, which were really very smutty. In high school, I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

Do you recommend any of those books now?
All of them! Particularly Dahl, Dickens, and Fitzgerald.

Movies/TV shows
What were your favourite movies?
Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club (in high school, people always told me that I looked like Molly Ringwald). My friends and I loved Dazed and Confused, So I Married an Ax Murderer, and The Princess Bride. I also used to watch Gone With the Wind with my mom every year on Thanksgiving.

What were your favourite TV shows, and do you miss any of them?
I miss My So Called Life so much—and I know I’m not alone in this! Jordan Catalano was the biggest stud of all time. I also watched a lot of MTV and I long for the days of awesome music videos.

Which do you like better, movies and TV then or now?
I’m not sure I could pick. I’d definitely pick My So Called Life over any reality show today, or really any show ever. But I love The Office (UK version only!) and Gossip Girl and The Colbert Report nowadays. As for movies, new releases like Hot Tub Time Machine and Inglorious Bastards can definitely hang with all my favourites from childhood.

Music
What were some songs you liked or were popular?
I was in high school during a grunge and punk era, so we loved Pearl Jam, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Green Day. I was also big into Madonna and Gwen Stefani. To this day, my go-to karaoke song is Spiderweb by Gwen Stefani.

Which do you like better, music now or then?
With music (more so than with movies, books, or TV), I have a very strong sense of nostalgia related to the songs of my youth. A Pearl Jam song will remind me of the first car ride I took with a boy, Time of Your Life by Green Day reminds me of my high school graduation. Even though there’s some amazing music coming out these days, it can’t compete with the memories I have tied to all those songs from the 80’s and 90’s!

Additional Question
Is there anything else that really influenced you growing up?
My older brother. Robby is two years older than me and I worshipped him growing up. (I still do, really, but in a different way now.) For so much of my childhood, I thought everyone in the whole world thought of me as Robby’s little sister. I was always trying to keep up, to do as well as he did in school, play the same sports, and all of that. I definitely have younger child syndrome! But, even though he did leave very big shoes to fill, Robby was always, always kind to me. He always included me, always let me hang out with him and his friends, and I never realized how special that was until I got older.

Contest:

Contest Update: I've changed the rules of the contest, as well as the deadline(again... for the very last time). For those who have already entered, I will add 1 extra point to each entry. I also garantee that I will select atleast one winner from the set of people that have already entered.

Thanks to the people at Random House (aka Lauren), aside from being able to interview the awesome author of Fallen and Torment (out September 28, 2010), I also get to throw a contest! 5 winners will get a copy of Torment (amazing right?)!! 3 winners will be from the UK, and 2 International (aka everywhere else).

To enter, you must go somewhere on the internet, such as a blog (must be your own), Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and tell me why you liked Fallen, or why you're excited for Torment. You MUST also be a follower of my blog.

Extra entries include:

+1 - Commenting on Lauren Kate's Guest post here

+3 - Blog post on contest

+1 - Linking giveaway on sidebar or tweeting

To enter fill out this form

http://fallebooks.co.uk/