Postcard For Reader

Guest Post: Dawn Metcalf

Swinging by today is Dawn Metcalf, author of Luminous, to talk about her favorite books!

As reality slips and time stands still, Consuela finds herself thrust into the world of the Flow. Removed from all she loves into this shifting world overlapping our own, Consuela quickly discovers she has the power to step out of her earthly skin and cloak herself in new ones-skins made from the world around her, crafted from water, fire, air. She is joined by other teens with extraordinary abilities, bound together to safeguard a world they can affect, but where they no longer belong.

When murder threatens to undo the Flow, the Watcher charges Consuela and elusive, attractive V to stop the killer. But the psychopath who threatens her new world may also hold the only key to Consuela's way home.

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I Love Stories.
I love stories, which shouldn't be a surprise, but the stories I love best are the ones that make me think, that make me question the way things are and make me consider life at a completely new angle. Whether television, movies, or a really good book, the ones that hurt my head are usually my top faves! Beloved books from my shelf include Spider Robinson's Mindkiller, William Gibson's Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and Diamond Age, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and American Gods and his latest, The Graveyard Book, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke (which reminded me a lot of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!) and, of course, J.K.R.'s HARRY POTTER books.

Since I am a genre geek with a huge love of cult classics, I tend towards TV shows by J. Michael Straczynski and Joss Whedon, films by Tim Burton, Monty Python, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet; basically, the ones that make you say "What?!?" (often with lots of neat dialogue and twisty, unexpected endings.) Top picks would be LABYRINTH, BUCKAROO BONZAI, DONNY DARKO, THE GAME, DELICATESSEN, A FISH CALLED WANDA, SNEAKERS, AMELIE, BIG FISH, SIXTH SENSE, THE THOMAS CROWNE AFFAIR, MEMENTO, and INCEPTION. I also enjoy quirky like Kevin Smith and Terry Gilliam and as far as I'm concerned, Piers Brosnan and Johnny Depp can do no wrong! There are gorgeous period pieces, both snarky and sinister, from SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE to ORLANDO and DANGEROUS LIAISONS, to historical epics like ELIZABETH and LADY JANE (with a very young, dashing Cary Elwes who later starred in another fave movie classic, THE PRINCESS BRIDE). I'm also a sucker for animation, claymation, miniatures, and puppets which means anything by Nick Park or the Jim Henson Company has a place in my heart. But perhaps the epic that tops it all, beyond star treks and wars and spoofs of same, is Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, which had all my favorite elements in excruciating, loving detail. (Oddly enough, this same visionary that made my favorite movie also made the one I hate most...but I'll forgive him for it since I adored DISTRICT 9!)

Essentially, if you read this huge list and thought, "What?!?" you are either on the same page as me or think I'm insane. In either case, I hope you enjoy my book! It was born from a love of such head-twistiness as this.