“This summer’s juiciest beach read. . . . Carter winds up this disarmingly moving tale with not one but many surprises, in which both Davie and you will win.” (Essence )

After seven days of nominations and seven days of votes cast…Mocha Girls Read August’s book selection winner is 32 Candles by Mocha Girl Ernessa T. Carter. Take a minute to see what this book and the author are all about.

Synopsis

32 Candles is the slightly twisted, utterly romantic, and deftly wry story of Davie Jones, who, if she doesn’t stand in her own way, just might get the man of her dreams.

Davie—an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi—is positive her life couldn’t be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and on top of that, she’s pretty sure she’s ugly. Just when she’s resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life—Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn’t imitate art. Tormented endlessly in school with the nickname “Monkey Night,” and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, James Farrell, Davie finds that it is bittersweet to dream of Molly Ringwald endings. When a cruel school prank goes too far, Davie leaves the life she knows and reinvents herself in the glittery world of Hollywood—as a beautiful and successful lounge singer in a swanky nightclub.

Davie is finally a million miles from where she started—until she bumps into her former obsession, James Farrell. To Davie’s astonishment, James doesn’t recognize her, and she can’t bring herself to end the fantasy. She lets him fall as deeply in love with her as she once was with him. But is life ever that simple? Just as they’re about to ride off into the sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to crush Davie’s dreams—and break her heart again.

With wholly original characters and a cinematic storyline, 32 Candles introduces Ernessa T. Carter, a new voice in fiction with smarts, attitude, and sassiness to spare.

Author Bio

Ernessa T. Carter has worked as an ESL teacher in Japan, a music journalist in Pittsburgh, a payroll administrator in Burbank, and a radio writer for American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest in Hollywood. Carter’s also a retired L.A. Derby Doll (roller derby). A graduate of Smith College and Carnegie Mellon University’s MFA program, and 32 Candles is her first novel. Find out more about the book and read her blog at www.32candles.com.

Author’s Website

Congratulations to Mocha Girl Ernessa T. Carter for becoming Mocha Girls Read book for the month for August 2012.

Feel free to leave comments and thoughts here as you are reading the book. I’m looking forward to reading this book and hearing what everyone thinks of it.

Keep the pages turning!

♥Mocha Girl Alysia♥

Today I wanted to introduce to you a new book by a Mocha Girl called Tangi’s Teardrops. Take a look and let me know what you think. It’s not often a YA fantasy book has a Mocha Girl in it.

Book Description

Title: Tangi’s Teardrops
Author: LIz Grace Davis
Genre: YA Fantasy

When Tangi’s father dies, he leaves her nothing but three empty bottles. A kind uncle takes the poverty-stricken girl and her stepsisters in, and for a time life gets better on his farm. But Tangi remains a lonely outsider; her stepsisters tease her for her crippled leg, and the housekeepers use her like a servant.

Just before her thirteenth birthday, Tangi learns the truth about her father’s strange legacy: the three bottles aren’t empty any more. They’re filled with all the tears she’s cried since her father died, and her tears are enchanted. She must use them to travel to Rosevine, the world of her dead mother. Tangi not only belongs there but is necessary to keep Rosevine alive.

Tangi’s tears will save Rosevine, and Rosevine will save Tangi from a cruelty-filled life, except for one thing: Tangi’s lost the bottles.

Author Bio

Liz Grace Davis grew up in Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Germany. She now lives with her husband in Vienna, Austria.

Growing up, Liz spent most her days in libraries, diving into the world of books. In her spare time she reads a lot, travels, creates jewelry and designs digital scrapbooks. That’s of course when she’s not weaving stories. She’s in her element whenever she is doing anything that requires creativity.

Liz is the author of a young adult fantasy novel, Tangi’s Teardrops, and a romantic women’s fiction novel, Chocolate Aftertaste.

Interview

Mocha Girl Liz has graciously taken a few minutes to spend with us on her busy book tour. Welcome to Mocha Girls Read, Liz! We are so happy you are here!

MGR: So tell us about your book

LGD: Tangi’s Teardrops is a young adult fantasy (fairy tale) inspired by a painful part of my childhood. Tangi is a twelve year old disabled girl who is surrounded by people who hurt her for no given reason. All she ever wants is for others to look at her and not see her imperfections. But they do and they use them to weaken her both physically and emotionally. In short, Tangi’s Teardrops is about a little girl who dreams of becoming something bigger than herself, who craves acceptance and love. This is a story of suffering and pain, hope, love and of course dreams coming true.

MGR: What was the inspiration for this book?

LGD: The novel is based on my childhood. If you want to find out more about the story behind the story, here’s the link: http://bit.ly/Mh8Q4T

MGR: What were some of the obstacles you encountered with this book?

LGD: While writing Tangi’s story, I had to face some painful memories from my past. That made it hard to write sometimes. Although emotionally draining at times, Tangi’s Teardrops was a pretty easy book to write. It started off as a 14,000 word children’s book. But when I got to editing it, I realized the story was not over yet. One month later it was a 40,000 word novel and had gone YA.

MGR: WOW! And what are you working on now? Can we get a sneak peek?

LGD: Honeysuckle & Jasmine, a women’s fiction novel which is also inspired by a true story. It will be published in autumn. In a nutshell the story is about two African Au-Pairs (from different backgrounds) who meet in German and embark on a journey that leads them to the true meaning of friendship. Together they laugh, they live, they grow. And then everything changes. Suddenly their carefree days are over and the struggles that come with living in a foreign country begin. The only thing that can hold them together, when everything falls apart, is their friendship.You can get a sneak peek at the cover I designed for the novel here: http://bit.ly/Nku67x

MGR: I just peaked over to the link and saw the cover. Great work! (And by the way I love the polk a dot dress! To die for. You rocked it!)

LGD: One more thing. Since most people who read Tangi‘s Teardrops kept asking for a sequel, I finally got started on one. It feels great to be able to keep Tangi alive.

MGR: What are you reading now?

LGD: Notes To Self by Avery Sawyer.

MGR: I am just curious, how did your family react to your title of published author?

LGD: My husband was really proud of me but it took me quite a while to feel like a published author. In fact, I’m still not quite there yet. Tangi’s Teardrops is dedicated to my mother but the novel was published in January and she only found out about it on her birthday in April. It was really really hard for me to keep it from her. I’m the type of person who has to buy birthday and Christmas presents very close to the dates because I’m often very tempted to hand over the presents before it is time. So it helped a lot that my mother lives in Namibia and my husband and I live in Austria.

MGR: I understand. Especially if you know it is something they want too!

LGD: There’s something I’d like to share with you. On the dedication page of Tangi’s Teardrops there’s a sentence that reads, “You’ll always be my pleasure at home.” Once upon a time I hardly spoke a word of English. Two years ago my mother gave me a stack of letters I wrote her when I was a small girl (from age 9 to 13), using the little English I knew at the time (often mixed with words from my mother tongue, Oshiwambo). The line in the dedication came from one of those letters. My mum cried when she read it in the novel.

MGR: AAWWWW! That is so beautiful. Your mom keep them all! My mom just kept my Barbies. LOL! What do you do for fun?

LGD: I read and I also design a lot in Photoshop (digital scrapbooks and book covers).

MGR: What’s your guilty pleasure?

LGD: Sitting on my favorite spot on the couch (I really only ever sit on one spot) with a great book and a bowl of cherries. My spot on the couch is so worn-out, it gives the rest of the couch a bad reputation. We might need to buy a new one soonJ.

MGR: Do you have a favorite line from a book?

LGD: Sorry but I’ll have to give you three sentences because they belong together. The following is the first few sentences from Jodi Picoult’s novel, Handle With Care. “Things break all the time. Glass, and dishes, and fingernails. Cars and contracts and potato chips”

MGR: Let’s not talk about nails breaking. Lord! Finish this sentence…When I was a kid I wanted to be a(n)

LGD: Honestly, I can’t remember. I went through a lot as a child. So, I guess, I was just living one day at a time. The future seemed so far away.

MGR: 5 years from now I…

LGD: I want to be working as a full time author with a few more published novels.

MGR: If you could vacation/holiday anywhere, where and why?

LGD: Maldives. White beaches, blue/green waters, salty sea breeze…heaven. Need I say more?

MGR: Your a girl after my own heart! Any Pet Peeves?

LGD: I know I have a few but now that you ask, I can’t think of any. My mind is completely blank. Give me a moment. Oh, I got one. It really annoys me when people chew loudly. I know some people can’t help it and I am really understanding, but the sound drives me crazy.

MGR: HAHAAA!!! I always say potato chips are great when you are eating them but as soon as someone starts chomping on them they become the loudest food on the planet. Are you Mac or PC?

LGD: PC and I have come a long way togetherJ

MGR: Thank you Mocha Girl Liz for hanging out with us today. Before you go would you like to give a Shout Out!

LGD: The first one goes out to you. Thank you so much for hosting me today. It’s an honor being a guest on this blog. The next shout out goes to the readers of my novels. I want to thank you dear readers for allowing me to do what I love. I hope to never let you down.