Welcome to my stop on the Sacred blog tour. This tour is hosted by JeanBookNerd. My stop includes a guest post with Elana K. Arnold and a spotlight as well. To follow the tour, click here.
Title: Sacred
Author: Elana K. Arnold
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication: November13th, 2012
Pages: 368
Synopsis
Growing up on Catalina Island, off the California coast,
Scarlett Wenderoth has led a fairly isolated life. After her brother dies, her
isolation deepens as she withdraws into herself, shutting out her friends and
boyfriend. Her parents, shattered by their own sorrow, fail to notice
Scarlett's pain and sudden alarming thinness. Scarlett finds pleasure only on
her horse, escaping to the heart of the island on long, solitary rides. One
day, as she races around a bend, Scarlett is startled by a boy who raises his
hand in warning and says one word: "Stop."
The boy—intense, beautiful—is Will Cohen, a newcomer to the island. For reasons he can't or won't explain, he's drawn to Scarlett and feels compelled to keep her safe. To keep her from wasting away. His meddling irritates Scarlett, though she can't deny her attraction to him. As their relationship blossoms into love, Scarlett's body slowly awakens at Will's touch. But just when her grief begins to ebb, she makes a startling discovery about Will, a discovery he's been grappling with himself. A discovery that threatens to force them apart. And if it does, Scarlett fears she will unravel all over again.
The boy—intense, beautiful—is Will Cohen, a newcomer to the island. For reasons he can't or won't explain, he's drawn to Scarlett and feels compelled to keep her safe. To keep her from wasting away. His meddling irritates Scarlett, though she can't deny her attraction to him. As their relationship blossoms into love, Scarlett's body slowly awakens at Will's touch. But just when her grief begins to ebb, she makes a startling discovery about Will, a discovery he's been grappling with himself. A discovery that threatens to force them apart. And if it does, Scarlett fears she will unravel all over again.
Guest Post with Elana K Arnold
(“What fiction most influenced your
childhood, and what effect did those stories have on Sacred?”)
All my life I’ve read everything I come across,
hungrily and indiscriminately. As a pre-teen I had a particular taste for
fiction—I loved historical bodice rippers, and I loved Agatha Christie.
Especially I loved the “other-time-ness” of these books—the damp old Anglo
Saxon castles, the heaths of England, the social niceties (with rippling
undercurrents) around afternoon tea parties.
I
loved that plot mattered, and (in the best of these books), character did, too.
But the sensation of place—though I
didn’t notice at the time how important that was, it resonated with me and
reappeared in my own writing, in Sacred,
in Scarlett’s island home and her family’s Victorian-era Bed and Breakfast in
the small village of Avalon. The way the island reflects the tone of the
book—and Scarlett’s sadness—is a reflection of the impact all those books had
on me.
And
the romance of them—not just romance
in the way we think of it today, with soul-deep yearning and at-last kisses
(though Sacred has much of that,
too), but romance in its classic sense, with the incorporation of the
marvelous, chivalric love, and a web of stories—not just the protagonist’s—this
worked its way into Sacred, as well.
As
a teenager I fell in love with Fitzgerald; I loved the gilded quality of his
writing, the opulence of some of his characters—both their material wealth and
their richness of living, their giantness of character. Scarlett’s best friend
Lily Adams is a girl of this tradition, and her family home is the Catalina
Island version of Gatsby’s mansion, in a way.
In
college I stumbled onto magical realism. I was fortunate enough to earn a
scholarship to the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and my housemate was
Aimee Bender, who was just beginning the Fiction program at UC Irvine. Each
evening we read stories aloud around the dinner table, and I fell into the web
she wove and left hungry for more. I think some elements of that genre—of
seeking out the magical among the mundane—infuses Sacred, as well.
Upcoming releases by Elana K Arnold
Ben:
Having just graduated from high school, Ben is set to leave Gypsum,
Nevada. It's good timing since the gypsum mine that is the lifeblood of
the area is closing, shutting the whole town down with it. Ben is lucky:
he's headed to San Diego, where he's got a track scholarship at the
University of California. But his best friends, Pete and Hog Boy, don't
have college to look forward to, so to make them happy, Ben goes with
them to check out the hot chick parked on the side of Highway 447.
Lala:
She and her Gypsy family earn money by telling fortunes. Some customers
choose Tarot cards; others have their palms read. The thousands of
people attending the nearby Burning Man festival spend lots of
cash--especially as Lala gives uncanny readings. But lately Lala's been
questioning whether there might be more to life than her upcoming
arranged marriage. And the day she reads Ben's cards is the day that
everything changes for her. . . and for him.
The passionate romance that began in Sacred concludes in Splendor.
Scarlett loves the touch of her boyfriend, Will. But when he leaves Catalina Island to start college on the East Coast, she wonders whether their passion can survive a long-distance relationship—and whether she can face the home front on her own. Scarlett's senior year should be a breeze, but her parents have recently separated, and her already-wild best friend, Lily, is becoming involved with a dangerous boy named Gunner . . . a boy Scarlett is also attracted to. A boy she doesn't want to be—and shouldn't be—attracted to.
To take her mind off her troubles, Scarlett focuses on caring for her newly pregnant mare and delving deeper into the Kabbalah. Her religious exploration offers a way to stay connected to Will, who is a Kabbalah mystic, and a key to understanding her disturbing dreams about him. But as she gets wrapped up in her mare, her Kabbalah studies, and her conflicting feelings for Will and Gunner, Scarlett misses the warning signs that lead to a heartbreaking loss.
Scarlett loves the touch of her boyfriend, Will. But when he leaves Catalina Island to start college on the East Coast, she wonders whether their passion can survive a long-distance relationship—and whether she can face the home front on her own. Scarlett's senior year should be a breeze, but her parents have recently separated, and her already-wild best friend, Lily, is becoming involved with a dangerous boy named Gunner . . . a boy Scarlett is also attracted to. A boy she doesn't want to be—and shouldn't be—attracted to.
To take her mind off her troubles, Scarlett focuses on caring for her newly pregnant mare and delving deeper into the Kabbalah. Her religious exploration offers a way to stay connected to Will, who is a Kabbalah mystic, and a key to understanding her disturbing dreams about him. But as she gets wrapped up in her mare, her Kabbalah studies, and her conflicting feelings for Will and Gunner, Scarlett misses the warning signs that lead to a heartbreaking loss.
ELANA K. ARNOLD completed
her M.A. in Creative Writing/Fiction at the University of California, Davis.
She grew up in Southern California, where she was lucky enough to have her own
horse--a gorgeous mare named Rainbow--and a family who let her read as many
books as she wanted. She lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, two
children, and a menagerie of animals. She is represented by Rubin Pfeffer of
the East/West Literary Agency. Sacred is her debut novel.
LINKS:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElanaKArnold
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElanaKArnold
Giveaway!!!!
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