The Hunger Games Read-AThon: Part 1 "The Tributes"

If you want to join in on the fun, head over to Smitten Over Books & Breathing Books to learn more about this awesome event and begin reading what I believe is one of the best book series out there! And if you have read the books, feel free to read on and respond with your own thoughts and answers. I would love to hear them. Let the games begin!! Remember; be cautious on giving away MEGA spoilers! Give at least a warning if there are major spoiler bombs along your post.

Please enter here

1. Imagine one day waking up and found yourself in Panam. What district would you be in and why? To give you an idea, here’s a list of the 12 districts and their designated jobs.

o   District 1: Luxury

o   District 2: Masonry

o   District 3: Technology

o   District 4: Fishing

o   District 5: Power

o   District 6: Transportation

o   District 7: Lumber

o   District 8: Textiles

o   District 9: Grain

o   District 10: Livestock

o   District 11: Agriculture

o   District 12: Mining

ANSWER: I would want to wake up in District 4: Fishing, for two reasons. *Spoiler of future character* 1.) I’d want to be on Finnick Odair’s good side from the get-go. And 2.) Fishing a great skill to have for survival. Do you know how many different snares you can make out of fishing line? Or what kind of weapon’s you can make with hooks? Think about it.

2. The Reaping Day was one of the dreaded days by district 12. If you were picked that day as one of the tributes, what would be you initial reaction?

ANSWER: My initial reaction would be what any other persons would be: SHOCK. Plain and simple. I would be shocked that my un-lucky “number” was called. Then the realization that I, and I alone, held my fate in my hands, which would then cause me to strategize.

3. You are a tribute and you mentor is planning the best strategy for you to win. What do you think will be your best selling attribute and/or skill?

ANSWER: Hmmm… best-selling attribute or skill… well, being from District 4 I’d have to say using my knife. Those fish aren’t going to filet themselves are they? When it comes to willing a knife; I’d watch your necks if I were you. I’m not so bad with a spear either. Learned early on in life that a spear cannot only snag my meal for the day, but can also keep my enemies at bay. I’m sure it would suck getting a spear to the heart.

4. You were not picked but you sister/bother/father/mother was, would you sacrifice yourself for them a la Katniss or would you keep your ground a la Peeta’s brothers?

ANSWER: Seeing how this is a “game” for kids; I wouldn’t have to worry about my mother or father. HOWEVER … this is a no brainer à I’mma a la Katniss kind of girl. I like to be in control and what better way to protect my family then to take the reins and head in to battle myself.

5. Time for the first impression segment. What is the first thing that came into mind when you think of:

a.       Katniss Everdeen

b.      Peeta Mellark

c.       Gale Hawthorne

d.      Cinna

e.      Haymitch Abernathy

f.        Effie Trinket

g.       Primrose Everdeen

h.      Ceasar Flickerman

i.         Rue

ANSWERS:

a. Badass, fearless

b. Steadfast, loyal

c. Sidekick, trustworthy

d. LOVE HIM, Katniss’s secret service

e. a Drunk but devoted

f. Fickle, Opinionated

g. Innocent, Tough

h. Hidden agenda, favored District 12

i. Credulous, bold

6. Look up. Who is the character that leaps out to you the most? Why?

ANSWER: Probably Cinna. I truly loved this man. He had Katniss’s back. Sure each team has always had their tributes back, it’s their job. BUT Cinna and his team, in my opinion, supported Katniss in a way that made me feel like she was his favorite. I think he knew Katniss would be a game changer even outside of the arena.

7. Do you think Peeta ever thought of winning The Hunger Games even if it means killing Katniss in the process? Why or why not?

ANSWER: Ummm, of course! I don’t care how in love someone is, they are thinking of winning at one point or another. Now ask me if I would kill the one I love? à YES! Why, I have a family at home waiting for me. ME! Not the one I love. Does this make me heartless? Not at all. If I was heartless then I wouldn’t be thinking about the ones back home.

8. (Refer to page. 40) Fill in the blanks: The Peacekeepers are back too soon and Gale asks for more time, but they’re taking him away and I start to panic. “Don’t let them starve!” I cry out, clinging to his hand.

“I won’t! You know I won’t! Katniss, remember I _________” he says, and they yank us apart and slam the door and I’ll never know what it was he wanted me to remember.

ANSWER: “love you.” Smart on Suzanne’s part on not having him finish this line. I think it would have been changed the dynamic of the story for me cause I was rooting for Peeta the whole time. I think if Gale was allowed to finish saying what he wanted Katniss to remember, she would have either killed Peeta for sure or I would have liked Gale better.

9. Most memorable/favorite scene in Part I “The Tribute”?

ANSWER: When Katniss shot her arrow at the Gamemakers. I mean… come on! Like I said: Katniss = Badass!

10. I know it’s too early to say, but iff there was something you want to know more about or you would want to be elaborated, what would it be and why?

ANSWER: I would have to reread the books but what if two names would have been picked from the same family? A brother and sister act? I would like to have seen that played out. But I like that kind of drama.

No sign up! NOW! here

Teaser Tuesday (# I'm not keeping track)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just click the following link to see the rules. Without further ado, here are my teasers for the week:

After yesterdays Blogspiration post, I was so inspired that I HAD to reread the Uglies Series again. And of course I didn't read it word for word - I skipped to my favorite parts. These are some of favorite lines from the series. Tally has gone through several procedures at this point and the most recent being the most severe. David, Tally's love interest still sees Tally as her "Ugly" conterpart. The way David looks at Tally melts my heart.


“You just look like Tally to me.”
…
“You just took on five million years of evolution again.”

–David and Tally, Specials (slightly abridged, see pages 366-367 of the US hardcover)

Blogspiration - What Book Inspires You

Blogspiration is a brand-new weekly meme hosted by GrowingUpYA and Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers and writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video  is posted weekly, on the day of the author's choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation or just a little SOMETHING.

  

This Weeks Blogspiration is ... What book inspires you?

It's so hard to pick one book when the book(s) that inspire me usually come in a series. Ok ... ok, I'll pick one book series out of my many favorites.

The story follows a teenage girl named Tally Youngblood who lives three hundred years from now in a futuristic city. Previously to the book, our world (known as the "Rusty World" because at the time we have used so much metal that over time had deteriorated and rusted) had collapsed because of the creation of an "oil bug" that caused oil to combust when it came into contact with oxygen. The people who survived the collapse decided that action had to be taken to prevent this happening in the future. The survivors then spread out into cities, where they gradually became self sufficient and eco-friendly, and integrated the operations into the world. One of the main points of the operation is to extend the halo effect to all citizens, which was an idea that beautiful people had better fortune. This "halo effect" helped in reducing disputes and violence. They were not satisfied enough with the results, so they decided to develop a brain lesion (purposely damaged brain tissue) that made people compliant and pleasant. Some people became aware of the operation, and the lesions, and decided that they couldn't live in a place where something of that magnitude was happening. Villages like "The Smoke" were established to give citizens a place to go to avoid the lesions, and to be separated from society. The Smoke was also a place where two outlaw doctors named Maddy and Az studied how people who didn't have the brain damage behaved to determine its effects and possibly discover a cure.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

I'm sure most of you have heard and/or seen the posts || banners || buttons for April's A to Z Challenge. Right?! Well have you signed up? And if so - have you asked youself the following questions, like I have?

• Are you ready to get your blogging quota in for the the month?
• Do you have the time to blog every day? If not are you going to pre blog the night before or something similar?
• Do you have a game plan?
• How many posts for each letter are you going to each day?
• Have you visited here to check out the many different posts? - These posts are helpful and make the challenge user friendly.
• Have you checked out all the co-hosts' pages?

     Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
     Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
     Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

     Life is Good (Tina Downey)

     Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

     Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

     The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

     The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

     Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)

     Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)

     No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

     Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)    
     Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)

• Are following the co-hosts' on twitter?

     Alex J. Cavanaugh  @AlexJCavanaugh

     Stephen Tremp  @StephenTremp

     Matthew MacNish  @MatthewMacNish

     Jeremy Hawkins  @iZombieJMH

     DL Hammons  @DL_H

     Shannon Lawrence  @thewarriormuse

     Elizabeth Mueller  @ElizbethMueller

     Karen Gowen  @KarenGowen

     Damyanti  @damyantig

            So if you're on Twitter, follow @AprilA2Z and let twitterland know you're participating--and spread the word via the #atozchallenge

If you are wondering - YES I signed up. I'm #307. My game plan is ... well I couldn't decide whether I wanted to do one post a day or challenge myself more. I also have different topics I love. I narrowed it down to 3 topics a day for each letter and the three topics are *drumroll please*

1. Zombie Genre related topics.
2. My favorite movies
3. Music or books ??? Maybe both but not in the same day.

Now sign up here and help spread the word. The goal is to have 1000 bloggers by March 1. That's in *looking at calendar* a week from today ... 7 days. I'm planning on starting my lists now. Who wants to stress out when April comes rolling around? Not I. Good luck and have fun!

When a 13 Year Old Asks for Help

This isn’t like my usual sarcastic, humorous, or apocalyptic posts. Today’s post is real and an excerpt from my life – well my son’s life.

My son – not like the “norm” of boys his age – and he knows it. He's not into sports - at all. He like computers, books, game systems, etc.

Let me give you a little backstory here.

Just turning nineteen I moved out, became pregnant, and married the man because his father was a preacher and strongly suggested that having a baby out of wedlock was wrong. My parents, not liking my-babies-daddy, reluctantly agreed. Dad, being old fashioned, said something like “You need to make an honest woman out of my daughter.” *rolling eye* So we got married January of 1998, had my son the following June. 19 months later we had my daughter. And then 9 months after that we filed for divorce. Nothing special with that really, I mean, it’s common now. But when my ex’s new wife had their daughter 9 months later, he stopped seeing my kids. This crushed my 2 year old son. My daughter was still too young to really understand.

Moving on…

My brother who was two years younger than me, and my best friend, moved in with us, becoming the leading male role to my kids. My son idolized him. They hung out together and became best friends. In this time frame I began dating a man that I previously dated in high school. And again, found myself pregnant. We dated on and off but eventually ended it months after my brother died in a car accident. He was 22. Again, crushing my then, 4 year old son, my daughter, 2, and my new son, 5 months.

I thought my divorce was painful. Ha! Losing my brother was like ripping my heart out of my chest. And every new day is blessing but at the same time, the realization sits in and my heart gets wrenched all over again.

In 2004 I met my wonderful husband at a bar of all places and we hit it off and have been together ever since. He picked up this humpty dumpty’s pieces and put me back together again. He loves my kids like they are his own and we have a little girl of our own.

However, today, my 13 year old is struggling with life. Not with school, not with friends, but with the overwhelming power life can throw at you. He has always been an anxious kid. Always awkward. Being called names like faggot, queer, gay, loser, homo, nerd, geek, fatty, bible thumper, etc. Some of these names are nothing compared to the others. Is my son any of these? No. And trust me, I’ve asked. I’m not a parent that beats around the bush when it comes to my kids. I come right out and say what needs to be said. And, no, I’m not homophobic or a bible thumper. I will love my kids just the way God made them. But I have asked: “Are you gay?” “Do you think about drugs?” “Do you need to talk to someone besides me?” His answer: “Nope.” In return he has asks: “What’s a BJ?” “Why do woman have periods?” “Why don’t we go to church?” and other grown-up topics. Yes my stomach hits the floor but I answer honestly. (Side note: I believe in God. I just don’t believe someone preaching to me makes me a better Christian.)

I thought everything was right in the world until my 13 year old came to me this weekend and said “Mom I think I need help.”

My heart stopped.

I asked why and he proceeded to tell me that he worries all the time. While sitting in school he thinks about me getting into an accident or when he wakes up he panics, thinking I’m not there. After listening to him, I realized that talking to someone would help. It’s not just a little anxiety, it’s now starting to control his life. His first session is next week.

Then we were watching Glee last night. Out of all the shows… Glee? It was about someone trying to commit suicide. I was downstairs in the living room, my son upstairs in his room. From the bottom of the steps I call to my son. We walks over to the steep and says “No mom. It’s not that bad. I would never do anything that would have me spend eternity in hell. I would never see you guys again.” Again my heart stopped for two reasons. One - he knew what I was going to ask before I asked it. And two – he’s thought about it, however, came out on top.

My questions to you… how would you handle this situation? Would you have done anything different? Has this happened to you or your child?

Please be open and honest. No comment is right or wrong. Everyone has right to their own opinion.

Tagged By Pearson Report - A to Z Co-Host

Have you ever wondered what would happen if we played TAG out here in Bloggerville?

TAG = The Answer Game

You'll be asked the following questions and you aswer them on you blog! (a simple copy and paste event - no biggie)

Then you pose the same questions to your Followers and so on, and so on…

If you play the game...I’ll add your blog to my TAGGED BY PEARSON REPORT Blog List - where everyone will know you are a team player who's kickin' it with me and the A to Z team. Our goal is to see 1,000 participants, on the sign-up list, by March 1st...so here’s your chance to pitch in and show your support by playing TAG.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:

Are you signed up for the A to Z Challenge? 

YES!

What is your sign-up number? 

Sign up # is 307 Danielle @ Entertaining Interests

Are you ready? If yes...explain yourself. 

I think so. I have a game plan locked and loaded. Hopefully I can pull it off.

If you’re not ready...what’s your excuse? 

N/A

Just copy and paste these questions in your post and have at ‘er! Let’s see what makes you a Blogging from A to Z participant!

Let Pearson Report know when you post your answers and you'll be added to the TAGGED BY PEARSON REPORT Blog List which is on the side of the page, just under the A to Z Co-Hosts. 

The spotlight's on you...all you have to do is play The Answer Game (TAG)

So what are you waiting for...you’ve just been TAGGED!

And a little perk for - Followers of Note - if you participate your sign-up number will be entered into a draw basket for an original artistic creation from her daughter, Courtney, a designer in Animation. The piece selected is called Life and is a series of four prints - they can be seen HERE

Facetiousness Facts

A few posters to make your Tuesday a funny one.

Memorable Monday #3

Welcome to the first ever Memorable Monday meme at Escape In A Book! To celebrate this; they are giving away a book to one of this weeks participants.

Want to know more about this meme? Check out this post!

1. Share a quote that has captured your interest lately in a Memorable Monday post on your blog. Feel free to grab my logo (download it to your computer first).
2. Come back here and leave the link to your post in our inlinkz widget.
3. It would be nice if you visited one or two of the other participants.
4. If you tweet your posts then feel free to use the hastag #MemorableMonday

Blogspiration #6

Blogspiration is a brand-new weekly meme hosted by GrowingUpYA and Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers and writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video  is posted weekly, on the day of the author's choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation or just a little SOMETHING.

I try to be a wise mom, but sometimes I might sound like an old fuddy-duddy. And not only do I need to remind my kids about the quote below, but I also have to remind myself. Sometimes life gets the best of you and you need to remember that once shit happens, you can only go up for there.

WWW Wednesdays (#2)

Well this should be #3 but I forgot last weeks due to me being - what I felt like - overwhelmed from life. The two yr old won't poo (not that she can't but because she doesn't want to), the 9 yr old is testing how long my nerves are, the 12 yr old has a boyfriend (and I - my shotgun), and the 13 yr old is freaking out over switching schools next year.

And we move on ...

I know WWW Wednesdays are ... well ... for Wednesdays, however, yesterday I post my belated Valentine's gifts for my - you - lovies, which should have been done on Tuesday. So today I am posting my Wednesday post on Thurday which is usually my Zombie day post but that would have been yesterdays posts. (Hope you got that). I might be a day late - everyday - this week but hey - I'm consistant.

WWW Wednesdays (#2)

WWW Wednesdays - discovered at Musings of a Write-aholic by Megan Curd author of Bridger, Traitor, and Forbidden

To play along, you need to answer the following three (3) questions...

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What are you currently reading?

The Vampire Warden by S.J. Wright

• What did you recently finish reading?
What Our Eyes Have Witnessed by Stant Litore

• What do you think you’ll read next?

Awakened by Jason Tesar

Walking Dead Valentine

Ok, so, if you don't know me by now (you will never never never know me). Oops sorry, got cought up in a song. Anyways, yesterday was the mother-load of all that's golden in the world - hearts, flowers, and love making, right?!? Well I decided to save my Valentines Day festivities until today. Why? Because today is Wednesday and what do "they" say about Wednesday? Hump Day! Get it? I know, I know - bad joke.

Yesterday I went to my Facebook page and low and behold there's a Valentines card from one of my fellow Walking Dead alumni. What did the card say...

Sweetest thing I heard all day, if I do say so myself.

So in return (cause you always return the favor) I sent her...

I mean - who couldn't love that face?

But don't fret my zombie lovin' friends, their are two more I'm sending to all of you...

Now some of you might be thinking - What a freak!
Or maybe - That's my kind of girl!
Or - Where is my unfollow button!
But in all fairness I am adorable!

I am suprised however that I'm not walking around with a name tag that says...

Because most men probably wouldn't stay with a girl that requested this for Valentines...

But lucky for me - he loves The Walking Dead and zombies as much as I do. Well maybe he doesn't love them, but I'd like to think he does.
Hope all of you have a wonderful - Post Valentine's Day - day.

Chow!

Memorable Monday #2

Welcome to the first ever Memorable Monday meme at Escape In A Book! To celebrate this; they are giving away a book to one of this weeks participants.

Want to know more about this meme? Check out this post!

My quote this week! Too bad I'm a day late...

A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. – Graham Greene, The End of the Affair

Blogspiration #5

Blogspiration is a brand-new weekly meme hosted by GrowingUpYA and Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers and writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video  is posted weekly, on the day of the author's choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation or just a little SOMETHING.






This weeks blogspiration is coming a few days late but when you're right in the middle of moving and planning a Spring Break vacation to Myrtle Beach, life kinda wins --> WINNING!

A book really just takes over my life. I'd love to be in a book right now!

Tag Your It! - Twice (11 Q's Style)

Besides the fact that I am late to all of these parties; I wanted to post them anyways. I made a commitment and I plan to stick with them.

First up I was tagged not once but twice by two beautiful and talented bloggers; Emily and Miri.

 

THE RULES

1.      You must post the rules.

2.      Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.

3.      Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.

4.      Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Emily is up first...

1. What is the strangest talent you have?

I can lie on my stomach bending my legs at the knees and pull them directly to the ground so that my whole body lays flat. I’m double jointed at the knees. Ask my mom.

2. Have you ever had a poem or song written about you? (If the answer is yes you totally have to give more details)

I have. Although it’s not the pleasant thing to think about now, it’s true. My ex-husband was in a band and he wrote me a song and performed it many times, even singing it at our wedding.

3. What your strangest phobia?

I gag every time someone blows there nose, picks it, if I see snot or boogers. Dis. Gust. Ing!

4. What your favorite, non-computer related, time waster?

Reading a book of course!

5. What do you miss most about being five-years-old?

My brother.

6. You know that time you called in sick to work, but not because you were sick, because you wanted to do something awesome? What was the awesome thing you did?

I went to see Live in concert.

7. Do you find inspirational quotes, posters, etc inspiring or annoying?

50/50. It depends on if it speaks to me or not.

8. Are you more likely to watch a video blog or real article?

Hmmm, this ones tough. I guess it would have to depend on how I stumbled upon it. If I see something that interests whether it’s a video blog or a real article; I’ll probably watch or read about it. I’m an equal opportunity kind of girl.

9. What’s your favorite book?

Oh gosh, there’s tons. My favorite genre is Horror… but book would have to be… The Angels Are The Reapers by Alden Bell.

10. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Food wise would have to PIZZA! I can eat a whole pie by myself. No shit!

11. Two guys walk into a bar. What happens?

            Is my husband with me? – If so, I casually check them out, silently rating them on a scale of 1-10 and go about my business. If it’s me and my bestie, we rate them on the same scale as above. If their blah, we go about or business and wait for our next victims. If their hot well we nonchalantly stare longer.

Now Miri's tag...

1.      Which book have you reread most often and what is your favorite thing about this book?

I’ve read the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld three times a piece. They held the perfect amount of technology, love, deceit, and turmoil.

2.      Which is the latest book you bought?

I purchased Tommy Nightmare by JL Bryan on my Kindle Fire.

3.      Do you prefer tea or coffee?

Neither – YUCK!

4.      Do you like borrowing books (e. g. from a library) or do you want to own every book you read?

I would love to own every book but it’s impossible. Sometimes I just have to breakdown and return that book to the library.

5.      What is your favorite first sentence and from what book is it?

A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. – Graham Greene, The End of the Affair

6.      Do you prefer physical copys or ebooks?

Physical copys – I like to turn the pages. However, I’m getting used to my Kindle.

7.      What is your favorite non-fictional book? And if you don't have one, why don't you like non-fictional books?

I’m not a fan of non-fiction – it bores me – to death.

8.      What is your favorite kind of chocolate?

Milk chocolate – any kind – any form - anywhere

9.      How do you organize your books? In shelves? In boxes? And then - title, genre, size?

On shelves – by author – by order of book written

10.  If you could live in any fictional world/country (e. g. Narnia, Harry Potter, Inkworld...) where would you live and why would you like to live there?

Definitely Harry Potter! I mean – come one!

11.  Why did you decide to write your own blog?

MY QUESTIONS

1. What character from a novel (fiction or non-fiction) do you most want to be?

2. Name one thing on your bucket list.

3. Who is your favorite author?

4. What’s your top two favorite tv series?

5. Which animal would you want to be?

6. What superhero or power would you want to wield?

7. Which two book series would you recommend?

8. What standalone novel do you covet?

9. Is there a book series or standalone novel you wish you thought of first? What is it?

10. Give me your best creative ending to this sentence --> This dog came into the store today …

11. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

1. Kristin @ GrowingUp YA

2. Sarah @ sas101

3. Melissa @ Have You Heard

4. Kelly @ Dandelion Dreams

5. Jani @ Life Debatable

6. Lyla @ Lyla Writes

7. Jackie @ Bouquet of Books

8. Shantel @ Booknerds Are Pretty Too

9. Gizelle @ Xpresso Reads

10. Tasha @ Tasha Seegmiller

11. Jennifer @ Reading & Writing Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance