Jeri Smith-Ready

Blogtoberfest Day 18 - Simone Elkeles

The winner of Linda Gerber's Death by Denim is...Dawn M.! Also, I had to pick another name for Megan Crewe's Give Up the Ghost because the first winner did not respond, and the lucky new person is...Sheila Deeth! Congrats to both of you, and thanks to everyone for their enthusiastic comments. It always makes the authors feel at home.

Announcing a late addition to the schedule: Rachel Vincent will be joining us on Sunday, giving away her first YA, My Soul to Take (which I read, and it's wonderful and original!).

Today's Blogtoberguest is Simone Elkeles, whom I met this summer at the American Library Association national conference and then hung out with later that week at RWA Nationals (where she may or may not have been my date to a certain publisher's party, thus making it even more fun than usual!).

Simone is the author of Perfect Chemistry, which just happens to be the last book I finished. It was amazing, a truly beautiful love story of Brittany and Alex, who come from opposite sides of the tracks in a Chicago suburb. Their relationship is hot-and-cold, complicated, and absolutely against all odds. I loved every word.

She also has one of the best book trailers I've ever seen. Not just a commercial with stock images and music, but an actual rap music video, complete with characters from the book. It's a hilarious little parody, so check it out!



Simone will be giving away a signed copy of Perfect Chemistry to one lucky commenter. She's here today to talk about...


Halloween is fun for kids, but do you remember “the scary house?” You know, the one you and your friends were afraid to go ring the doorbell because they might actually make you close your eyes and reach into a bowl of “eyeballs” in order to get your “treat?”

We had one of those houses in my neighborhood where I grew up. I can’t say I ever had the nerve to actually ring the doorbell. I just stood by the sidewalk all bug-eyed hearing the nervous chatter and fear coming from the kids who were brave enough to venture to the door and say “trick or treat” without knowing what was to come next.

I like my candy to come easy. Go to door, say, “Trick or treat!”, reach inside a huge bowl and pick my favorite choice. Then say, “Thank you!” and I’m on to the next house. It’s the no-hassle, no-fear Halloween for me.

Now that I’m a mom myself, I take my kids trick-or-treating in my neighborhood every year. Lo and behold, we have “the scary house” in my neighborhood, too. (it’s even dubbed “the scary house” all year long by every kid in school). But my neighbors (who I don’t know personally) have taken scary to the next level. The adults recruit their friends and they all dress up in scary costumes. They stand or lay down scattered on the lawn…one is laying inside an open casket (you don’t know he’s alive until you get close and he suddenly reaches out for you and freaks you out)…one is dressed as the Grim Reaper with a very real-looking weapon…one with fake blood dripping down his face with a real chainsaw buzzing.

I laugh when the young kids clutch their parents on the sidewalk. Most trick-or-treaters actually cross the street to avoid “the scary house”. Then you get “the brave trick-or treaters” - the older kids who puff up their chest and mock these dressed-up adults. They say these parents can’t scare them with a ten foot pole no matter how scary they look…well, until The Grim Reaper and Chainsaw Guy slowly start following them to the next house, and the next…those “fearless” kids run like heck away, screaming and laughing because they truly are scared…and they know next year they’ll try again.

If you’re brave enough to reach the front door (after passing yet another “corpse” who reaches out at you or witch who says you’re the perfect specimen for her next stew – they do have a big black pot of boiling water with smoke coming out of it), they have a plethora of great candy in a bowl to choose from since few people actually reach the front door.

I never went up to the scary house in my neighborhood when I was a kid. Now I’m older and know better. Nobody is going to hurt me. Nobody is going to hurt my kids. I laugh at the other scared trick-or-treaters…of course I do it at a very safe distance on the other side of the street.

Do you have “the scary house” in your neighborhood? Are you living in “the scary house?” Got any pictures to share?

~Simone Elkeles

www.simoneelkeles.net


To enter to win a signed copy of Perfect Chemistry, leave a comment below. And remember, each comment automatically enters you in the drawing for the grand prize package: all 25 books!

For complete rules, read the introductory post.

Deadline for entry: Friday, October 30, 11:59pm Eastern. NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. The winner is HeatherMarie!

Alexandra Diaz and an ARC of Of All the Stupid Things
Melissa Walker and Lovestruck Summer
Sydney Salter and My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters
Christine Marciniak and When Mike Kissed Emma
Tricia Mills and Heartbreak River

Thanks so much to Simone for sharing her Halloween memories! (I would've been too scared to go to that house, too.)

Labels: Blogtoberfest, Contests, guests

• posted by Jeri @ 8:00 AM
• 40 comments