Tuesday 19 February 2013

Speechless Blog Tour

Hi!
It's my stop on the blog tour for the wonderful Speechless by Hannah Harrington, which is very exciting!
Speechless is Hannah's second novel and is a fantastic read exploring the issues surrounding the consequences of gossiping and bullying and how damaging it can really be...

"Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself"

Here's the trailer for the book as well:


As part of the tour I've managed to grab some Q&As from Hannah about Speechless, giving a real insight into writing about the issues in the novel.

1. Are you a gossiper?
I admit I really love celebrity gossip. I keep up with a lot of those blogs. I find it entertaining, and at least there’s a distance there compared to gossiping about people in my real life.


2. The book deals with very emotional subjects- was it an emotionally tough novel to write?
The most emotional aspect for me was the incorporation of Noah and Andy’s story. It was important to me to hit the right notes and do justice to, since that is a subject close to me. But honestly, even though a lot of people have discussed Speechless as dealing with heavy issues—and it does—it felt like a nice break after writing Saving June, which was much heavier and more personal for me. I wrote about some serious topics in Speechless, but I felt like there was also a lot of lightness to it that helped keep readers—and me!—from being too bogged down by it all.

3. There are many instances of bullying in Speechless. Have you witnessed or experienced bullying?
I think anyone who has experienced middle school has witnessed or experienced some form of bullying. Those were hard years for me. I moved to a new town for high school, but before then I’d grown up in a very small town, and I never really fit in. Most kids had money, and I was poor, and just sort of awkward. I’d sit alone at lunch just writing in a notebook and have people come up to me to mock me about it, or be forced to do partner projects alone because I didn’t have friends. I’d be harassed, teased, excluded. There was a point where a certain group of kids targeted me so badly that the administration had to intervene. It was very painful at the time.

4. Do you ever speak before you’ve thought about what you’re going to say?
I’m pretty sure that happens to the best of us sometimes! I know sometimes I’ve gotten in arguments with people, things get heated, and I’ve said something I knew I’d regret. I try to be mindful of that behavior and not act so thoughtlessly. It can cause a lot of hurt.

5. Who is your favourite character in Speechless?
This may come as a surprise to people, but my favorite character is Andy. I felt like he was one of the most vital characters, even if his role isn’t the biggest. He really gives Chelsea a needed dose of reality, and he doesn’t sanitize her actions. I always find it fun to write the character who doesn’t parse words and is more blunt about things. Not only is it entertaining, but I think it’s a voice that the reader needs to and wants to hear.

And lastly (for a bit of fun).
6. If you were stranded on a desert island for a year and could only take three books, what would you take?
Oh man, this is a tough one! Okay. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, for the laughs; The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood since I’ve read it at least five times and love it more every time; War and Peace, which I have not read, but it’s really long and that’d keep me occupied for a while, right?



Another exciting thing that is surrounding Speechless at the moment is that Mira Ink have teamed up with Movellas for a writing competition!

All you have to do is take something from Speechless, be it the themes, characters or plot and 'make something wonderful' and you could win signed copies Saving June and Speechless as well as 5 other books from Mira Ink. It sounds like a fantastic opportunity, not only to take a really great read, but to adapt it into your own story/poem/epic, however you want it to be. The stage is yours!

You can check out the full competition page here:
http://www.movellas.com/competition/show/201301231634108128/silence-secrets-a-speechless-contest

Has anyone entered, or going to? How did you find it, was it easy to come up with something - did the ideas flow when you were reading the book?

Last but no means least... I thought I would get into the swing of things properly, not only with the blog tour but with the competition theme and host my very own, very first Mira Ink giveaway!!
I mean, what blog is truly complete without a first giveaway?

I have 5 wonderful, shiny new copies of Speechless to giveaway this week courtesy of Mira Ink and all I want you to do is leave me a comment answering this:

Which books have left you speechless?

The giveaway will close midnight Sunday 24th February and 5 winners will be picked from the comments. It can only count as one entry per person but feel free to tell all your friends/fellow bloggers and stay tuned until next week when I will announce the winners.
Follow Mira Ink on Twitter and Facebook for some drumrolls (and other things) leading up to the announcements!

Have a great week and I hope you've liked this (slightly mammoth) post!

Emily x

29 comments:

  1. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. Hands down, flat out, and as the book's hero Noah would say, damn straight!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So many books have left me speechless but some include the ending of Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen, Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines and so many more!

    Thank you for the giveaway :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, thank goodness we can pick more than one. :) I wouldn't have been able to narrow it down to just one, there were so many books that left me speechless.

    The most recent one is S.J. Bolton's Now You See Me, but I felt the same way about Agatha Christie's classic, And Then There Were None, Tana French's In The Woods and Ciara Geraghty's Lifesaving for Beginners. And many more!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I've read it twice now and both times I've just stared at the book after finishing it not knowing what to say!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Right now it's Bag of Bones by Stephen King... and I don't even know how it's going to end yet!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Most recently Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer - a brilliant ending to a wonderful trilogy. Another one that stands out in my mind is actually Hannah Harrington's Saving June. It's so moving.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jellicoe Road, A Monster Calls, The Fault in Our Stars, Chaos Walking trilogy, The Sea of Tranquility and just recently, Me Before You. Yes, I LOVE emotionally draining and healing books ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice Q&A with Hannah! There are a lot of books that left me speechless! Delirium Trilogy, The Fault In Our Stars, Slammed & Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Something Like Normal, Pushing the Limits, The Sea of Tranquility and Dear John are on the top of my list! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I know this is a very unconventional choice but the book that has left me completely and utterly speechless is The S Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. Such a beautiful book with amazing writing skills and Tolkien wrote it in such way that each page was a new adventure. The amount of heartbreak and treachery in its pages is unbelievable and by the time I'd finished I was an emotional wreck.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Definitely warm bodies by Isaac Marion, The fault in our stars by John Green and last but not least; delirium by Lauren Oliver. Such great books..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the Q&A! Looking back, there were quite a handful of bullying going on in my primary school years. I hadn't understood back then that is was bullying or being bullied. :/

    Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta left me absolutely speechless.

    twitter: @kuro_rin01

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cinder by Marissa Meyer. The writing was so incredible I kept squealing but was unable to speak much after I was done with it. She's such an amazing writer and the book is very good.
    I also felt the same way with Katie McGarry's writing, I felt 'speechless' reading both Pushing The Limits and Dare You To, such incredible reads!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wooow so many books left me speechless. I'm gonna go with Deity and Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout... hmmm what else...Oooh Eleanor and Park , Morganville Vampires series basically all books of the series has left me speechless. And Pushing the Limits.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Fault in our stars by John Green,Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma,The Sea of Tranquility,Saving June,Slammed by Colleen Hoover and Katie McGarry's Dare You to!
    These books were incredible and they are some of the books that I wouldn't mind reading a bazillion times.

    @nbookaholic on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Host by Stephenie Meyer will definitely top on those books that left me speechless. Followed by Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter, Opal by Jennifer Armentrout and Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi. The last one is a novella, but it still counts since that novella left me at lost with words.


    Twitter: @operativealyssa


    ReplyDelete
  16. The Pretty Little Liars.It was just amazing.I expected to be cute but i didn't expected to love it that much.I can't wait to read all the serie^^.And Divergent.Absolut perfect.
    Facebook:Pixie Fawn L

    ReplyDelete
  17. If I Stay by Gayle Forman, The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson & Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The GONE series by Michael Grant. So many twist and turns and every book comes loaded with action and suspense, not to mention uber cool superpowers.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Most recently Pivot Point by Kasie West. Such an amazing book!

    @whollybooks on twitter

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonder by R.J. Palacio really was great and left me speechless and crying

    twitter @aliaslucia
    Facebook Lucia Pannacci

    ReplyDelete
  21. 50 shades of grey! made me laugh too but reading it on the beach probably wasnt the best idea lol i couldnt stop blushing and laughing through the first one

    ReplyDelete
  22. Bared To You by Sylvia Day. I knew that it was steamy and someone said 'straight to the point'. But was surprised at how far the author went in some parts

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.

    graceongkx[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Host by Stephanie Meyer and
    The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano

    Loved that series!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
    Essay about blindness by J.Saramago
    The women of the sands by Kobo Abe
    Norwegian wood by H.Murakami
    Rebelious angels by Pavel Corut
    Live in style 80/20 by Richard Koch
    The stranger by A.Camus
    The highway by Cortazar.

    email:anastacie93@yahoo.com
    twiter:nastya96218208
    fb:pauna oana

    ReplyDelete
  26. So many good books. Before I Die by Jenny Downham had me speechless but in tears. Beautiful book. Divergent by Veronica Roth is another WOW!
    But my ultimate is Pushing the Limits and Dare You To by Katie McGarry. Intense and awesome series. :D <3

    ReplyDelete
  27. The Edge of Never by J,A Redmerski, Ten tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker and Hopeless by Colleen Hoover .Amazing books.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans, it is a truly beautiful book that is superbly written and so touching. I started and finished the book in a day and could not put it down. I have re-read it a few times, definitely pulls at the heartstrings.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ow there's soo many books that left me speechless for weeks.

    There's The Fault in Our Stars, If I stay,Where She Went, Reason to Breathe and many more which I think I forgot.hehehe :))

    thanks for the giveaway!

    maryanngacayan at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete