Review of IN A HANDFUL OF DUST by Mindy McGinnis

Okay, so it's time for another book review! This time I got to read an early copy of IN A HANDFUL OF DUST by fellow Leaguer, Mindy McGinnis. This is a companion novel to Mindy's first book, NOT A DROP TO DRINK. And I'm a real fan of companion novels, having written two myself.

With DUST, we get to follow Lucy, who was a child in the first book. Her caretaker and stand-in mother is Lynn, who was the teen narrator in DRINK. If you liked the format of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH and it's companion THE DEAD TOSSED WAVES, you'll enjoy the companion style of DUST to DRINK.

About NOT A DROP TO DRINK: Sixteen-year-old Lynn will do anything to protect her valuable water source, but the arrival of new neighbors forces her to reconsider her attitudes. With evocative, spare language, and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author McGinnis depicts one girl's unwavering efforts to survive in a harsh frontier-like future.

"A high-quality survivalist story for readers who enjoy internal story arcs as well as external dangers." (Kirkus Reviews)

About IN A HANDFUL OF DUST: In a Handful of Dust is set ten years after the first novel, Not a Drop to Drink, as a dangerous disease strikes the community where teenage Lucy lives. When her adoptive mother, Lynn, takes Lucy away from their home and friends in order to protect her, Lucy struggles to figure out what home means. During their journey west to find a new life, the two face nature's challenges, including hunger, mountains, and deserts.

Why You Should Read It:
1. If you're a fan of dystopian novels, this series has a fresh twist, taking us back to the frontier times. I just read a historical novel set in the harsh climate of Montana, and DUST and DRINK has this distinct feel of the harshness of a "wild land" where anything goes and there's no law.

So it's unique. There's no oppressive government. There's not a "utopian" feel that a lot of other dystopian novels/series have. So if you haven't picked these novels up yet, you should! You'll get something fresh and different.

2. IN A HANDFUL OF DUST is a continuation of the story started in DRINK, but it has a story arc of it's own. So don't feel like you need to start with the first book. Mindy does a great job of letting readers know what's happened without dragging down the current plot.

3. The premise of the series is that there's hardly any water. Being a lover of the ocean, I really identified with Lucy, who wants to go to California, where she's heard there are desalination plants. Lynn--the older, more seasoned woman--decides to accompany her, but really this is Lucy's fight in the wilderness. And there were some pretty terrible situations--betrayals from a friend, gun fights, people wanting Lucy for her ability, treacherous mountains to climb (literally!), and reaching a city that doesn't have any more water than they had back home--that Lucy had to overcome in her quest to get to California.

I think most of us have had our own "mountains to climb" from time to time in our lives, and this adventure story of a cross-country trip in pursuit of a dream (even if that dream is simply having clean water to drink!) is appealing.

So be sure to buy these books today! Here's where you can find IN A HANDFUL OF DUST:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Indiebound

Book Depository

Why everyone should read NOT A DROP TO DRINK by Mindy McGinnis

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Mindy McGinnis's NOT A DROP TO DRINK (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books) at ALA this summer, and even though I read the story months ago, it stuck with me. The characters, the mood, the setting--everything. In my opinion, this survival tale will resonate with all kinds of readers: male or female, young or old. So to celebrate the book's release last Tuesday, here's my list of reasons why everyone should read NOT A DROP TO DRINK.

1)  Because the story is reminiscent of one of those awesome old western movies, where the gunslinger is forced to make a final stand and protect his homestead--only, in this case, the setting is futuristic and the gunslinger is a young girl (DOUBLE WIN).

2)  Because Lynn, the main character, is a badass, but not in the conventional, superhero way. She's believably tough and determined, since she learns the tools necessary for surviving under the direst of circumstances. Hunt for food? Check. Defend her home? Check. Do everything she can to protect her loved ones? You bet.  But it's not just her badassery that's admirable--it's also that ultimately, she's got enough heart and inner strength to learn to let other people in, despite being taught to shoot first and ask questions later.

3) Because it's a surefire way to make you feel better about your own crappy situation. I mean, think your life is rough? Wait until you experience Lynn's.

4) Because this book doesn't pull any punches. There's no wimping out, no skirting the tough choices. The author remains true to the bleak circumstances of the story, which means Lynn and the characters around her suffer, greatly, as they try to make it in a very scary environment.

5) Because this is not a romance masquerading as a survival story--not even close. NOT A DROP TO DRINK is a survival story with heart.

6) Because you can't help but hum Beyonce's "I'm a Survivor" as you flip the pages... (okay, maybe that's just me)

7) And finally, because Mindy is awesome and hilarious, she can skin a deer, and she gives good arm. Blue arm, that is. (sorry, I just had to work that in. Vlog reference here)

Now, go out and pick up your own copy of NOT A DROP TO DRINK and enjoy! Also, tell us--
besides Lynn, who are some of your favorite survivors from books, TVs or movies?

Why Not A Drop to Drink should be your next read

On Tuesday, Mindy's editor tweeted a challenge. We were supposed to guess what Mindy sent to Harper to celebrate the release of NOT A DROP TO DRINK. Most guessed some sort of baked good (because that would be normal), but I've met Mindy, and I know that Mindy goes all in. I guessed "deer meat" (it is in the book, so not as weird of a guess as you might think) and the answer was "venison steaks" so close enough.

I tell this anecdote only to illustrate how dedicated Mindy is to the world that she's built in her debut novel. (And maybe to brag a bit for getting the right answer - ha!). A world where water is more precious than gold is brutal indeed and Lynn is absolutely a product of such an environment. Lynn is the type who shoots first and asks questions later, and after this novel, she shot to the top of my "survive the apocalypse dream team."

So yeah, if you enjoy strong female characters, you'll love NOT A DROP TO DRINK. But what makes the novel incredibly effective is Lynn slowly discovering the difference between merely surviving and really living. Mindy sets this up perfectly, introducing a rich family from the city who is not cut out to live in the wild. The way that Lynn builds a relationship with them is a thing of beauty.

I am generally not a crier, but Mindy made me care so much about these characters, I was a sobbing mess by the end.  And that's why NOT A DROP TO DRINK gets the Zombie Chicken Merit Badge for writing as well as a place on my favorites shelf. (See index of all my dystopian reviews on my personal blog Presenting Lenore)

And now - who wants a venison steak?

NOT A DROP TO DRINK Release!

I'm so excited for the release of NOT A DROP TO DRINK by our League member, Mindy McGinnis. Why?

1. Authenticity. I'm a sucker for a good survival story. The details are so crisp and true that you can practically taste the canned vegetables and the smell the gunpowder in the air. It's like you're there, only you're SO glad you're not, since living in Lynn's world would be awful. Because I like daily showers and not having to worry about coyotes attacking me.

2. Thirst & Hunger. You will be thirsty reading this. I mean, really thirsty. And hungry. And any book that makes you say "I need water or I'm going to die reading the next ten pages" or "smoked deer sounds pretty good right now" is a book that you should read. Immediately.

3. The Turn. You know what I'm talking about. You learn about a character; their lives change, and somewhere along the line, they change too, in a profound way. But that metamorphosis, when done well, is often the one thing that makes me remember a book forever.

4. It made me do this:

Yes, I canned home made spaghetti sauce just in case, you know, water becomes scarce and I have to live off the land (aka my 5 foot vegetable garden plot.) Mindy's book has got me training for the end of the world. See what this book has done to me?

*runs off to make Korean BBQ beef jerky*

About NOT A DROP TO DRINK:

Fans of classic frontier survival stories as well as readers of dystopian literature will enjoy this futuristic story where water is worth more than gold.

Teenage Lynn has been taught to defend her pond against every threat: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most important, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. But when strangers appear, the mysterious footprints by the pond, the nighttime threats, and the gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won't stop until they get it. . . .

New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant says Not a Drop to Drink is a debut "not to be missed." With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl's journey in a frontierlike world not so different from our own.

****

Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound

Follow Mindy on Twitter, find her book on Goodreads,  and check out her website!

All The Stories Have Been Told... Even The Dialogue

I love being a media consumer. And man, do I consume. If media had calories I'd be in a circus somewhere. I read about 80 books a year (not counting manuscripts I read for critique partners) I binge watch cable shows when they come out on DVD because I won't pay for television, and the number at the bottom of my iTunes library screen is really, really big. And while I fully believe that reading, watching, and listening is only one step behind actually putting your fingers to the keys and writing, there is a downside.

And that downside is that I always know what's going to happen.

I've been told for years that all the stories are exhausted, we're just recasting them in a new mold. When I was younger I didn't believe that, but now I see that's only because I hadn't been exposed to many of the already-manufactured stories in existence. Now that my horizons have expanded I can see it's pretty much the case.

I know. I always know. My brain has devoured so many plot lines, characters, story arcs, and fake conversations that it's almost impossible for me to get the same enjoyment out of books, movies, and TV shows that I could when I was younger. I'm at the disgusting point where I can predict dialogue. The boyfriend and I went to see World War Z (which, coincidentally, I totally enjoyed) and there were three different points where I turned to him and said the next line of dialogue before it happened.

I'm really annoying to go to the movies with, by the way.

There are benefits though - I know what people expect when they're reading my stories, so I veer off somewhere else. I recently met Michael Grant (GONE) at ALA. He blurbed my book for me (I'm still in shock) and when we met he told me one of the things that hooked him was that NOT A DROP TO DRINK surprised him. He said he thought he knew where it was going and then... it didn't. This was one of the happier moments in my life, by the way.

And another up side is that when I'm reading and someone knocks me back - it recently happened with Kate Karyus Quinn's ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE and Stephanie Kuehn's CHARM & STRANGE - I take a hard look at what they did that broke the mold... and then I try to figure out how to do that, in my own way.

Pros & Cons of Drinking Your Own Pee

One of the difficulties facing me when I started writing NOT A DROP TO DRINK was how to make the world believable. I think that's a huge leaping off point for any writer of Sci-Fi or Spec-Fic. How do we sell the world we pop our characters into? In my case, it wasn't one of those things where I could lackadaisically describe some trees (although trees are awesome) because the entire plot is based on the environment.

So, in a world where water is scarce and most of the water that does exist is cholera-ridden, how the hell is my character surviving? Well, I'm the biggest nerd you've ever met. So I researched my butt off in regards to H2O. I read about the history of water, I read about water ethics, and I read about water purification methods.

Yes, we can get salt out of water - good tip...
        ... but my character doesn't live near the sea.

Yes, you can drink your own pee...
        ... but not on a long term basis. Also, I wasn't sure I wanted DRINK to be identified as "that book where the chick drinks her own pee all the time."

Which left me with this - how is my character going to conceivably drink pond water in a world where I slashed the population down with cholera? Luckily, I'm a very invested nerd and I read National Geographic, where I discovered the SODIS method.

Yes! Science to the rescue! In short, the SODIS method involves putting water in clear plastic bottles and exposing them to at least six hours of sunlight. The UV-A rays in sunlight do the work, killing off viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

Gee, thanks sun. You rock.

A Slightly-Less-Awesome-Than-The-Book Vlog of MILA 2.0

I'm helping to celebrate this week's release of MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza by making a vlog highlighting some of the memorable moments in the book - don't worry, it's spoiler free!

It's also not quite as awesome as the book.

But I did my best.

Who Am I & Why Am I Here?

Common sense might lead you to believe that you, the reader, are the one asking that question of me, but no -- I'm actually asking that of myself. I'm not a big fan of being common, and being sensical is quite boring, so I decided to turn that little phrase on its head.

Q: Who am I? 

I keep having to double check, that I am in fact, still me. Surely some kind of body-hopping is suspect when a librarian from the Midwest spends a weekend walking around NYC with Katherine Tegen, and then checks her email to find an invitation from Beth Revis to join The League of Extraordinary Writers. 

I checked. I'm me. The mirror doesn't lie. (Although, I wouldn't mind it being a little less harsh with the honesty as I get a older, ahem. Mirror - you've been warned).

A: I'm Mindy McGinnis. 

A minor note - in NYC I introduce myself as Mindy McGinnis. At home in Ohio, I still introduce myself as my farmer-father's daughter. It carries more weight.

Q: Why Am I Here?

I wrote a book called NOT A DROP TO DRINK, a post-apocalyptic survival tale set in a world where freshwater is almost non-existent. But that's not the first book I've written. I've been writing, querying, and failing fantastically for about ten years, so you'll understand the degree of non-belief I've had to apply to my recent happiness. 

A: I'm not actually here. This is happening to someone else.

It's surprisingly easy to believe this. In my normal life I go to work, scoop cat litter, drive a decade-old car I rarely wash, and eat food that is really, really bad for me. Surely someone who can persevere through ten years of form rejections has the self-control to not pop Cadbury eggs like Tic-Tacs, right?

Apparently not.

So until reality comes along and bops me firmly on the head, Little Bunny Foo-Foo style, I'm going to continue to believe that I'm actually two people. 

That's healthy, right?