BLOG TOUR # 10 - CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH JULES FROM AMY PLUM'S REVENANTS SERIES

I would like to welcome the gorgeous, flirtatious lad from Amy Plum's , Revenant series , Jules Marchenoir to Novels On The Run.

Do you know what, I am going to stop everyone right now...pause, scroll down and click on Twenty Girls Ago vid clip , turn the volume down to a reading volume ( wait around 50 secs for David's chat to finish ) and now continue reading this interview. I think it just gives this interview it's own mini soundtrack and the mood.... well, Jules picked the song....

The crew over at REVENANTS CENTRAL  Jayjay and Dea,  have put this tour together

Amy knows that out of all her guys, for some reason you really stood out for me. I have my own 5 words that describe you *wink*

Michelle:  What 5 words would you use to describe yourself?

Jules:  Smart. Talented. Handsome. Dashing. Humble.

LOL!! Handsome, Dashing but humble.....now that is a sandwich.....

Michelle:   What 5 words do you think Ambrose and Vincent would use to describe you?

Jules:  Ladies’ man. Jokester. Suave. Generous. Loyal.

Michelle:   Jules is pronounced ‘zhool’ kind of like jewel. Which is rather pretty and perfect, what type of jewel do you think you would be and why?

Jules:  Tiger’s eye. Why? I don’t know, because it’s the most masculine gem I could think of. *laughs and runs his fingers through his hair, amused*

Michelle: You seemed quite taken by Kate in ‘Die For Me’.

   “I look beautiful,” I said in awe, looking up from the drawing to his serious face.

      “You are beautiful,” he said, leaning over and kissing me softly on the forehead, before turning and striding out of the cafe. ( Die For Me)

 Have you ever been in love? Or are you truly the guy you described yourself as , ‘I have several girlfriends that I see on rotation, just to make sure nothing gets too serious.’

Or is it just too hard to have a relationship with a human girl so this is a coping mechanism, quantity, not quality?

Jules:  I’ve been in love a thousand times. I fall in love with every woman I meet. Doesn’t matter what they look like, women just have this beautiful quality. They’re like the air I breathe—I need their beauty to survive. Why would I limit myself to enjoying only one? But if forced, I would have to admit that...yeah, Kate is pretty special. *looks away* Next question?

I've got to bottle that quote...."They're like the air I breathe - I need their beauty to survive...."

Michelle:   You are a wonderful artist. You have sketched Kate like a Botticelli Venus when you were chatting and errrr....flirting in the cafe. If you were to paint Kate the way you see her, what setting would you want paint her in?

Jules:  Well, thank you. *smiles his most dashing smile* I think Kate standing naked on a seashell clothed only in her long hair is pretty much the perfect setting for her.

*Takes a photo of that most dashing smile*

Michelle:   If you were to paint her the way Vincent sees her, what would the setting be?  

Jules:  Well, I know Vincent is a great admirer of Modigliani’s reclining nudes. *smiles mischievously* But he’s so chivalrous with Kate, I could see him picturing her as the medieval lady to his valiant knight. Maybe on horseback. Nude. Just kidding.

A non nude example of his work

Modigliani's muse : Jeanne Hébuterne 

Michelle:  What is the funniest thing you have ever done while possessing Ambrose?

Jules:  Well, I only possessed Ambrose once after he was stabbed by some numa near Denfert. But your asking me that question is giving me some great ideas! *rubs hands together*  

hehe!

Michelle:   Your reanimation allows you to live a youthful life in appearance. What is the funniest joke you have come across in your Revenant life time?

Jules:  I’ll tell you, but you won’t be able to print it on your website.

...just whisper it to me, I have the best sense of humor...really.

Michelle:   What song would you think describes Kate and Vincent’s relationship in Die For Me?

Jules:  Say Yes by Elliott Smith

I love asking authors/characters the song question,

I hear such wonderful music I would never have found.

Michelle:   What song best describes yourself?

Jules:  Twenty Girls Ago by David Mead (plus it’s a good song to slow-dance to)

See now, this is why I ask for songs in my interviews.......I just want to dance.

I could so see this on the soundtrack of a Revenants movie........

............ Jules , would you like to dance..........?

Michelle:   What song best describes Ambrose?

Jules:  Zombie by the Cranberries. Just kidding. Ambrose loves jazz, so anytime I hear a Louis Armstrong song I think of him.

You mentioned it, I put it in..hehe!!

A little Louis down below

Louis Armstrong - C'est si bon (1962)

A little French tune.........my hips are swinging......
my leg is tapping.....

http://youtu.be/OFCS7kZwxug

Michelle:    I look forward to reading about you and the rest of the guys in ‘Until I Die’, due for release 8th May 2012. Can you give us one of your flirtatious quotes just to tie me over until I can read ‘Until I Die’?

Jules:  “I’ve got my priorities,” he said, running his fingers through his hair in a debonair gesture. “And keeping you alive, Kates, is a bit higher up on my list than a late date with a pretty signorina.”

 Thankyou Jules for spending the time with Novels On The Run, I think my crush just got deeper....*sigh*

All my reviews/interviews etc on Amy Plums work

NEXT ON TOUR - READARAPTOR 27TH MARCH 2012

Michelle

RANDOM POSTING #10 - Amy Plum, Vegemite & Michelle

AMY PLUM......VEGEMITE......AND OUR MICHELLE !!!

WOOT HOO!!!!  For those that haven't found this You Tube snippet...... Amy Plum, author of Die For Me, tried Vegemite for the first time in honor of all the great bloggers from Down Under !!!  and yes......Michelle gets a mention - WOOT HOO!!!!  

Amy's reaction to Vegemite is interesting....as a total lover of Vegemite I was a little let down that we do not have a new convert!!!  Maybe she put too much butter on it??

ENJOY!

MARISSA

INTERVIEW WITH AMY PLUM AUTHOR OF 'DIE FOR ME'

I would like to welcome Amy Plum to Novels On The Run and thank her for taking the time to answer some questions and for writing such a gorgeous book with a lot of heart and soul.

Amy's debut novel 'Die For Me' ( Revenants # 1) will be released May 10th 2011. I highly recommend it. I had a great time chatting with Amy, she is very sweet and approachable and look forward to reading more of her work. Currently there will be 3 books in the series.

INTERVIEW

Michelle: Congratulations Amy on your debut novel , ‘Die For Me’.
Where is the first place you will go on May 10th to see your book on the shelf for sale to the public?

Amy: Well, if I drive 45 minutes from my house, there is 1 English bookstore in Tours, but it’s teensy-tiny and I doubt they will have it. So I could drive 3 hours to Paris and go to W.H. Smith to see it. And if I get inspired, I might just do that. But I think I’ll have a Parisian friend send me a photo instead!


Michelle: How will you celebrate on the day it is released?


Amy: I had thought about going to Paris ahead of time and shooting a homemade video that I will put on the Internet the day of the release. That way all of my family and friends and readers all over the world can celebrate with me!

Michelle: All the boys in your book are gorgeous. Jules stands out as he is so unashamedly flirtatious. If you could go on a date with flirtatious Jules, where do you think he would take you?

Amy: Jules would probably take me to an art opening. The exhibition of some new, hot artist in a trendy gallery with a crowd of beautiful people—half of whom he has probably already dated.


Michelle: Will you keep a scrapbook of your debut for your family to reflect on their mum ‘living her dream’?

Amy: *laughs/blushes* Living my dream. Well, that’s definitely what I’m doing right now. But I have actually already lived a lot of dreams in my life. I keep a record through my writing, though, not really through objects. Ever since my mom’s death, things...objects...have seemed very impermanent (and unimportant) to me.


I keep scrapbooks of my kids’ stuff just so they’ll have something from their childhood when I’m gone. I have the baby book that my mom made for me, and it’s the only link I have with my early childhood.


But I fully expect my kids to achieve more than I do. To have lives that are so exciting and creative and productive that my own achievements will pale in comparison.


That said, I have kept one of each of my ARCs, the first run of the American cover, and other memorabilia for when I’m sitting there pinching myself thinking, “Is this all real?” Which happens pretty often.

Michelle: By now you would have met via twitter or blogs or other media, passionate fans of your book. I think I was in there somewhere..lol!!
How does is feel to meet the more passionate fans?

Amy: It feels great! To know that other people love my characters as much as I do. To see people getting swept away by a story that I wrote. And then to see that story take on a life of its own, with people writing what they think about it, making videos about it, discussing it with other people. Knowing that something that I wrote is entertaining so many people—making them react and respond—it’s truly an incredible feeling.


Michelle: What 5 words describe how it feels to call yourself a published author?

Amy: I feel...Awestruck. Grateful. Honored. Ecstatic. Inspired (to do more!)

Michelle: What is one piece of advice you would tell an aspiring author.

Amy: Read a lot. Write a lot. Get critiques from several people of diverse backgrounds. Do not despair. (That’s 4 pieces of advice, but there you go.)

Michelle: I really enjoyed Die For Me and can’t help thinking I would love a spinoff of Ambrose. Leaping forward 3 books and a couple years, is a spinoff a possibility as you really laid the foundations for all your characters, making me personally want to know more about them at some stage. I picked Ambrose as I hope he gets together with Charlotte. ( the matchmaker in me)

Amy: That would be so much fun. In my mind, I know all about the characters, where they came from, what they were like. I know their past, but I don’t know their future (beyond Book 3). So it would be fun to do historical spin-offs, leading up to the present. Ambrose’s past is incredible – what a hero.

Michelle: Thank you Amy for such a wonderful story, so beautifully written and for taking the time to chat and just quietly I do hope it gets made into a movie as it will be visually breathtaking..... oh err...the scenery will be too...hee..hee

Amy: Thank you for inviting me to interview, Michelle! And who knows if a film will be made. But, as a cinephile, it would be amazing to see my characters brought to life on film. I have already seen it all in my head. Viewing it on screen would be incredible.


We wish Amy all the success with her debut novel. It has been added to my list of favouriteYA books.
 To read more about Amy click on this link and it will take you to her page. She has lots of  'cool' stuff you can click on and learn more about her characters and FAQ's. http://www.amyplumbooks.com/
Click on Die For Me on side bar of Novels On The Run to read book review.

Michelle

BOOK REVIEW - DIE FOR ME by AMY PLUM - REVENANTS # 1

US cover UK cover

By: Amy Plum
Published By : ATOM, HARPER TEEN
Released : MAY 10TH 2011
Details : NETGALLEY ARC EBOOK , 259 Pages

RATING : 6 !! GORGEOUS VINCENT, JULES & AMBROSE STARS OUT OF 5!!!  ( oh yeah I went there)

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

DIE FOR ME is the first of three books about Kate, a sixteen-year-old American who moves to Paris after the death of her parents. It introduces a new version of the undead with revenants, beings who are fated to sacrifice themselves over and over again to save others’ lives. Kate finds herself falling for Vincent, who she discovers is not the typical French teenager he appears: he is something else entirely.


DIE FOR ME presents a new supernatural mythology presented in a city where dreams are sometimes the same as reality.
 
BOOK REVIEW :
 

I  devoured and absolutely adored , 'Die For Me' . I was speaking to Amy as I was reading the ARC ebook , with many thanks to Netgalley and HarperTeen . When I 'feel' , passionate about a book I have to have mini rants. This is when I discovered that the original cover for US release was being swapped for above cover on left. The boat cover is no longer . It did make me a tad sad ,but I will not go into it in this review as I said my piece to Amy , respectfully of course. All the book covers are of course beautiful!!!
 
Here is original cover I just had to give it one last hoorah!!  Moving along.....
 
I read this book in one sitting and finished this morning at 2.48am!!. I just could not stop reading it. I playfully give it 6 stars as I am still uber excited about it.
 
'Die For Me' has a gorgeous recipe, the ingredients will keep you hungry for more:
 
2 Cups of originality.
 
1 Cup of well fleshed out characters. You get great 3 dimensional characters.

1 Cup of beautiful boys, Vincent, Ambrose and Jules. Oh cheeky , flirtatious Jules.
 
1 Cup of great female lead, Kate. So sensible but brave.

1 Cup of danger and excitement.
 
1 Cup of romance.....sigh!
 
4 Tablespoons of humour.
 
3 Tablespoons of gorgeous scenery,  Paris, gorgeously written.

 
3 Tablespoons of blushing.
 
1 Tablespoon of teen angst, Kate and Georgia ( sister) .
 
4 Teaspoons of  'ewwwwwww' scenes. ( a tad messy)
 
 
I can't wait for book 2 in this 3 book series.  What I liked was that Amy wasn't afraid to have Kate be an intelligent , 16 yr old that really looked at the big picture before she gave her heart away. Georgia her sister was more into having a good time and worry about the consequences later and there are consequences. Vincent and Kate's characters really fit well. 
 
Amy really gives depth to all aspects of her storyline. I feel such brotherly love from Ambrose,  and Jules,  well,  he is my cheeky boy who could easily be a love interest of Kate's. Vincent is her boy but he has to earn his stripes as it is a very complicated life he errr... lives.
 
Charlotte is a wonderful character. I think Charlotte needs some girlfriend time, amongst all the boy time. Not that I would be complaining..nudge..nudge. 
 
I loved how Amy showed us around Paris in her storytelling. Her words painted a beautiful picture in my mind. I loved how art and museums were woven into the storyline.
 
This is a wonderfully paced read, something always happening around the corner. I appreciated Amy explaining to the reader , through her characters , the whole complicated and possibly overwhelming story of the Revenants,  in chapters. Nicely paced as it is very detailed and you could feel,  if you were Kate,  how overwhelming it would be , to be given all the information in one conversation. Amy used her characters playful nature to help the reader take in what it was to be a Revenant and the history . Where there is good , there must be the balance of evil. It is the way.
 
Such a wonderful YA book that I could read again and again, just to feel like I was walking around Paris, reading a book in a cafe, the Seine river and its many bridges and those stolen kisses  ......and those beautiful boys. I have a fictional crush on them all...lol!!!

I could very easily see Charlotte, Ambrose and Jules getting their own spin off series. Amy's depth she gives for each of the characters leaves you wanting to know more about their lives individually. I do hope Ambrose wakes up to himself with a certain someone. They would be a great couple.
 
I just want to talk about my fave scenes,  as there were many,  but it would make for spoilers and I want the reader to enjoy it unspoilt like I did and discover this awesome , original read, you will be pleasantly surprised at the originality:D

I wish Amy all the success with this book as she deserves it:)

Some FAQ's are at this link, I found it very interesting:)
http://www.amyplumbooks.com/faq/

 
FAVE QUOTE :
 
"Well, spit on my empty grave- if it ain't attack of the Disney princesses ! " he snarled, annoyed....

Michelle