A Special What, When, Where, Why and How with Charity and Darcy!

Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance are here on their Virtual Tour for the release of the astounding "Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading" (which I discussed earlier, here). Click on the banner for other stops cuz... you could win a cool Geek Gift (there will be a drawing from all blog comments).

Welcome ladies -- and now, onward and upward!

What would you name your car?

C: I’ve always felt like I should name my cars, but I don’t. This doesn’t mean I don’t love them.

It’s like my daughter and her baby dolls. We have Purple Baby, Red Baby, Green Baby … you get the idea. For the longest time, that’s what we called them. When my sister-in-law heard this, she was aghast. “Aren’t you a writer? I was thinking you’d come up with something more creative like Little Snuggly Cuddlebums.”

Sadly, no. Sometimes a car is simply White Car and a baby doll Purple Baby.

D: All my cars have had names. The one I drive now is kind of old; it’s a 2000 Impala. I hate to get rid of it because it’s been a really, really good car and it’s taken me to so many fun places. We’ve been to 22 states, the District of Columbia and two countries together. I call her Bess most of the time, but sometimes I call her Bestie.

When you're gone, where are you?

C: Like Darcy (answer below), I kept hearing music/lyrics. Only I was hearing the wrong lyrics: not “When You’re Gone,” but “Since You’re Gone,” by The Cars. Since I’ve been searching for mash-ups of 80s music all weekend on YouTube, I think this is appropriate.

So, clearly, I’m in the 80s, possibly with Ric Ocasek.



D: I had a hard time answering this question. Every time I started to, my mind would wander. I knew it reminded me of song lyrics but I couldn’t remember which ones. Finally, I googled ‘when you’re gone’ and came up with a list. There was that weird/sad one where Eminem is missing his daughter, and the even sadder one by the Cranberries – the one that sounds like someone has died – but those weren’t it. There was one by Avril Lavigne that I don’t remember hearing. Then I found it. It’s an old song by MXPX, Everything Sucks When You’re Gone. It goes like this:

All I ever needed was to eat popcorn with you,
Come on over,
Watch the late show,
Stay up talking until two

Today's the day you're leaving,
And tomorrow you'll be gone
You're in my heart and on my mind,
I will bring you along

Everything sucks when you're gone,

And that’s kind of really where I am when I’m gone. I love to travel but there is always a piece of me that misses whoever I’ve left behind. One day I would like to take a trip and bring everyone I love along with me – even my dog and cat!

Where were you when you got your first kiss?

C: I was in the Paris Metro, which--oddly enough--is in Paris, France. I was actually on the way to Gare du Nord to take a train up to Sweden.

I was leaving the tour I was on (Girl Scouts--geek alert) early to visit relatives. I so didn’t want to go. Or rather, not at that moment, because I was missing the big last night party, and OMG, our tour guide was sooooo cute. Think Paul McCartney circa 1964, only way cuter.

Yeah, my entire troop was IN LOVE.

So, there we were, my friends, me, and Mr. Cute Tour Guide, who was riding with us part way. He had to get off the train to do some tour guide stuff. He turned to me to say goodbye, then he kissed me.

Kiss. Me.

On the lips.

Then he hopped off the train, the doors closed, and we gaped at each other all the way to Gare du Nord.

And--ha!--he didn’t kiss anyone else goodbye at the party or the airport the following morning. To this day, I treasure that first kiss in my geeky, geeky heart.

D: My first kiss was epic-ly awful so, instead, I’ll tell you about my best kiss, okay? I was 17 and I had known the guy for a few months. He was hotttttttt but he was also a couple of years older than me (which can be a big deal when you’re in high school and the guy is not). We’d become really good friends and I had even fixed him up with some older girls I knew.

He was on a date with one of those girls and I had tagged along. We’d driven to Chicago to see the King Tut exhibit at a museum. I know this sounds weird but the Tut thing was a big deal – people were camped in line to see it, just like a rock concert. We’d been there hours already, and it had rained – so we were soaked.

The older girl went off to find a bathroom so the hot guy and I were standing around, just talking. Suddenly he grabbed me around the waist, pulled me close to him and planted this humongous, life changing kiss on me.

Oh. My. God. It was good. So good, in fact, that a few years later I ended up marrying Mr. Steal A Kiss Hottie and we’ve lived happily ever after.

Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?

C: Because my mom is an avid bird watcher. Or “birder” as I think the lingo goes. This involves special lists and counts, and sudden stops on back roads.

This is also a gene that skips a generation. I’m all: that’s a robin, and that’s a crow. And that’s about it. My daughter has a special love for birds (and all animals, really). I can see birding in her future.

D: I am either in a scary black and white horror movie, or it’s 1970 -- I’m strapped into the passenger seat of my mom’s car and the radio is on. Seriously, when I was young, Close To You by the Carpenters was my mom’s favorite song. My little brother would be locked into his booster seat in the back and we’d be driving down the road belting out that tune at the top of our lungs. Good times, I tell ya, good times!

How good are you at Scrabble?

C: For me, board games--even Scrabble--are “bored” games. My mind wanders. I start plotting stories in my head. I don’t pay attention. Therefore, I’m not very good at any games, not even ones that involve words.

D: I pwn, of course! (BTW, that’ll be 16 points – triple letter for the W.)

About Charity

Give me a:

C! Coffee. Three cups, every morning. Nonnegotiable.

H! Hopeful. I’m generally an optimist, except when I’m not.

A! Army. Six years. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …

R! Reading. All kinds of books. Except the scary ones. I’ve sworn off the horror genre and serial killers. I like my sleep too much. But I’ll stay up late for young adult fiction.

I! IT. By day, I work for a software company, where we do many geeky things, and where everything I write has XML tags.

T! Tenacious. This word used to show up a lot on my officer evaluation reports. It’s a nice way of saying I’m stubborn.

Y! Yet. As in “Are we there yet?” It’s the journey, not the destination, that’s important.

And Darcy

Give me a:

D!- Dork, nerd or geek? Dork, definitely. Although I have qualities from all three camps it is the off-kilter, socially inept side of me that tends to shine the brightest — like the time in middle school when I thought it would be cool to demonstrate a ballet jump for my friends in the orchestra room … and jete’d into five music stands and a cello.

A!- Artist. I love to draw, although lately I mostly specialize in doodles during boring work meetings. In high school I took every art class that I could fit into my schedule. I missed winning my school’s art award by one point but it was okay anyway — I got to present the award to one of my bffs.

R! - Rad. I love pop punk rock and I married a former skater/surfer dude.

C! - Coffee. Can’t. Exist. Without. It.

Y! - Young adult literature. I don’t just write it, it’s my favorite genre to read too.

Visit them at their website.

A Review: Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading

“Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.” - JRR Tolkien

“Prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job." - George Orwell

I don't normally do full blown reviews here, but today I am and I'll explain why.

A few weeks back, Charity Tahmaseb (published author *G*) sent me an ARC of her book. I was going to read and review it for the LASR site in preparation for the spotlight she and Darcy were having.

At the very last moment, I decided to let one of my other reviewers review it and bought her a Kindle copy. She did so here.

I passed off the book because I wanted to make sure she received a completely unbiased review. I feel like I can provide one, but would I really know?

But now... YOU guys get to hear me gab about it instead, because ... I really did enjoy the book.

Charity turned me on to YA a little while back when I was bemoaning my disenchantment with the romance genre. She gave me some unusual suggestions like "I Am the Messenger" by Marcus Zuzak (a fabulous book -- even my mom read it in ONE day and loved it), and got me to start browsing the YA section of the library.

So, when I had a chance to read "The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading" I was thrilled. And I wasn't disappointed. The book contains a wide variety of kids-- geeks, jocks, cheerleaders, average joes--and they all have their place in the book. Each character was clearly drawn from our H/H (Bethany and Jack) down to the freshmen wrestling team (whom I loved!!).

The plot isn't a new one, but Darcy and Charity made it fresh. Geek girl tries out for cheerleading on a whim and, shockingly she makes it! Now what? No one quite knows what to do with her. Her geek friends feel betrayed by her defection, the popular girls snub her and she's lost her place. Where does she fit in?

But then... be still my heart... the guy she's been crushing on forever TALKS TO HER. Maybe there is something to this cheerleading gig after all.

Still, even though she can now make it through the gauntlet (what's that? Read it to find out!) relatively unscathed, that doesn't mean the popular girls aren't out to make her life miserable. And she suddenly has to juggle worries and responsibilities she never had to before, such as: what do you do when someone dumps beer all over you?

The book addresses so many important things: underage drinking, the importance we place on external looks (and how that affects the girls), sex, peer pressure. It doesn't glamorize any of them, but presents them realistically and without apology. Bethany is a good example for girls because, while she is frequently frustrated and confused, she has a good moral compass and lives by it. She's not a goody-two-shoes or holier-than-thou, she's just a good kid trying to make it through high school.

Charity has talked about the difference between YA romance and adult romance with me before, in the context of the "Happy Ever After" vs. the "Hopefully Ever After" and it's reflected in this book. Does geek girl end up with popular jock? After many mishaps and misunderstandings, of course she does (and no, I don't consider that a spoiler -- it's much like saying that in a standard romance the H/H end up together. We know they will, but read it for the journey). But, she's a kid and still in school... it's not as though the book will end with a proposal, or even an "I love you, move in with me." or just a simple "I love you." It doesn't work that way. And, even though my brain realizes this, my heart wanted a little bit more. An epilogue that shows that they made it in the end, because the two of them have a lot of obstacles to overcome.

And the fact that I wanted this only shows how wrapped up I became in the characters. I loved them all and want to continue following them on their journey through life. I sighed when the book ended and wished for more. And, if that isn't the mark of a satisfied reader, I don't know what is.

It's a good book for adults AND for your teenaged daughter. I can't wait to see what the authors come up with next (and I hear Bethany and Jack might make a cameo in one or more of the upcoming works... WOOT!).

==================================

A Small Congrats Gift...

... to my friends, Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance whose book, "The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading" releases on TUESDAY!!!!!! WOOT!!



Love you guys :-)