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ABOUT FANG GIRL
by Helen Keeble
Published by HarperTeen
September 11th, 2012
Things That Are Destroying Jane Greene’s Undead Social Life Before It Can Even Begin:
1) A twelve-year-old brother who’s convinced she’s a zombie.2) Parents who are begging her to turn them into vampires.3) The pet goldfish she accidentally turns instead.4) Weird superpowers that let her rip the heads off of every other vampire she meets.(Sounds cool, but it doesn’t win you many friends.)5) A pyschotic vampire creator who’s using her to carry out a plan for world domination.
And finally:6) A seriously ripped vampire hunter who either wants to stake her or make out with her. Not sure which.
Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn’t quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined....
Helen Keeble’s riotous debut novel combines the humor of Vladimir Tod with Ally Carter’s spot-on teen voice. With a one-of-a-kind vampire mythology and an irresistibly relatable undead heroine, this uproarious page-turner will leave readers bloodthirsty for more.
Purchase it:
ABOUT HELEN KEEBLE
Her first novel, a YA vampire comedy called FANG GIRL, is out 11th Sept 2012, from HarperTeen.
She also has another YA paranormal comedy novel (provisionally titled NO ANGEL) scheduled for Sept 2013.
Helen's Website -- Goodreads -- Twitter
GUEST POST
Fandom,
Family, and FANG GIRL
Guest
Post by Helen Keeble
FANG
GIRL is about two things: fandom and family.
…Okay,
so it's also about a lot of other things, like undead goldfish, vampiric retail
empires, and hot boys in tight leather trousers, but mostly it's about
fandom and family. Let me explain.
I
started writing FANG GIRL because I was immensely irritated (I suspect
irritation is the major cause of novels, actually). It was at the height of
Twilight fever, and it seemed like every day there was a new article in the
newspapers or blogosphere about it. You couldn't click a link or turn on the
radio without finding someone either dismissing all YA paranormal romance fans
as utterly stupid for liking "that trash", or alternatively getting
into a moral panic that these girls were being fundamentally damaged by reading
it.
As
I rather enjoy a good paranormal romance myself, this was irritating. Really
irritating. So irritating I had to spend a year writing a novel to fully
express my irritation.
See,
personally I think that teenagers are a lot smarter and more discriminating
than adults assume. I certainly read an awful lot of fantasy schlock as a teen,
and enjoyed it immensely without ever thinking I was actually going to
fall through a portal and meet the perfect knight-protector, so I don't believe
that all teenage girls are having their relationship expectations warped for
life by Robert Patterson's hair. And in my experience, teen paranormal fans can
be hugely clever and creative -- they dissect their favorite books like
ruthless surgeons, they write their own fanfic versions, they make amazing
music videos with footage from movies or tv shows… it's a far cry from the
stereotype of a wide-eyed, ditzy girl uncritically consuming anything packaged
with a black-and-red cover.
So
I decided to write a paranormal romance about a girl who's a vampire fangirl,
and who is also practical, snarky, and intelligent -- so when she wakes up one
night and discovers she's now a vampire herself, she's got the knowledge and
wits to deal with it.
But
of course, vampires are rather ridiculous creatures -- seriously, you're
angsty because you're eternally young and beautiful? Seriously? I mean,
the first thing I'd do is camp out in New York Public Library and read every
book ever -- so I also wanted to poke fun at some paranormal romance
cliches. The much older vampire hero who inexplicably falls in love with the
heroine, eternal angst-filled passion, the inevitable brooding rival, the
terribly glamorous vampire lifestyle… in my book, the vampires are quite aware
of all these tropes, and are willing to use them to try to influence my heroine
Jane. But the vampires are -- like all those columnists and bloggers --
assuming that teenage vampire fangirls actually believe all this stuff…
which turns out to be a big mistake.
The
other trend I'd noticed in paranormal romances is that usually the heroine's
family are barely present (especially not both parents). She might have endless
conversations with vampires and werewolves and bears, oh my, but parents seem
to stay mostly off-page. Now, I'm not saying that I never fought with my
parents when I was a teen, but mostly we got along, and my family were
definitely a big influence in my life. And I think that's true for a lot of
teens. So I wanted my protagonist's family to be a major part of the story. And
really, if you're a girl who wakes up unexpectedly dead one night, what are you
going to do? Run off alone and try to survive on the contents of your pockets
(most people don't get buried with credit cards, you know), or go back home
where there's bed, broadband, and people who love you even if you do now seem
to have fangs? No contest!
So
that's FANG GIRL: one part fandom, one part family, blended together with
creamy comedy goodness and baked in the oven of righteous irritation. Can I
tempt you to a bite?
GIVEAWAY
Below is the Rafflecopter code for the prize pack giveaway that you may share on your post. The Rafflecopter has an entry for blog following. It's open internationally, and the last day to enter is December 25th.
The prize pack includes:
- one signed copy of Fang Girl (can be personalised)
- a voucher for an ARC of Helen's next book NO ANGEL as soon as they are available (likely to be Spring/Summer 2013)
- a cheerful vampire goldfish paperclip
- Fang Girl stickers featuring the cover and quotes from the book - a voucher for an ARC of Helen's next book NO ANGEL as soon as they are available (likely to be Spring/Summer 2013)
- a cheerful vampire goldfish paperclip
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posts
Oh I adore this post, I've already checked out a few tour stops for this book and it's becoming obviously apparent that I need to read this book. I too had a rough time with paranormal reads thinking they were the same old same old, but paranomal reads which combine snarky characters with tons of humour are definitely my type of books! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, this book sounds hilarious :D I really like this blog tour, thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
Omg, a vamp fish sounds hilarious to me. Definitely wanting to check this out soon!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book so much! And Helen is hilarious. I think it was such a good idea for a book like this and as she said, the timing was right. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLol I love how Twilight irritation motivated this book! Helen rocks and her and her book are hilarious!!
ReplyDeleteLOVED this guest post! I couldn't agree more, I think teenage readers aren't given enough credit. I think they're more than able to realize what's fiction and what's reality and are able to love paranormal romance without it shaping their entire lives. I've been following this tour a bit and this book just sounds better and better every time I see it. Can't wait to give it a try:)
ReplyDeleteI definitely really like the guest post! Teenagers are smarter than some people assume. I say this as a teenager myself, haha. I'd like to think I have a realistic perspective on love and life, despite the books I read. Love the post!
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ReplyDelete