Scarletby AC Gaughen
Hardcover, 292 pages
Published February 14, 2012 by Walker Childrens
Have you read this book, yet?! HAVE YOU?!
I knew I wanted to, but there are so many books out there, you know? But... there's Robin Hood and this girl on the cover looks so bad! (As in good) and she's carrying a knife!!
So... yea, I had to read this book!!
After reading a couple chapters I started talking like Scar (what a seriously awesome nickname!!! Scar, short for Scarlet for her ribbons!! but she has this totally significant scar on her face, too!!!)
For example, from Page 44:
"Downstairs, Scar. We need to take care of whatever is cut under all that blood," Rob said sharp.
I nodded, going down the back stair to the underground storeroom. It were cold down there, and I knew why Rob sent me. Tuck had a big water supply he kept in the cold ground, and I fished the rocks out of it and dried them off. I held one to the side of my head. It felt like ice against the pain.
Rob came down with a candle and I looked at my other hand, the one with the busted knuckles. They were torn open and already swollen. I scowled. My aim would be off. (She throws knives!! Yessss!)
Rob didn't say anything. He kept trying to swallow like something were stuck in his pipes while he pressed another rock to my hand. I hissed at the contact. He took a cloth and began to clean off the blood in little dabbing motions.
"It's not mine," I told him quick, taking the cloth and wiping the blood off, rubbing at the dried bits even as it scraped at my cuts.
"Some of it is," he said, his voice low. "Can I take off your hat?"
I bit my lip, chewing on it a moment. Swallowing a breath, I looked down and reached up and pushed it off, pulling my long hair to the side.
My fingers felt something thick and clumpy in my hair, and I frowned and scrubbed at the matted blood with the cloth.
He sighed. "Would you give me that? You're making it worse. I know how to tend a cut, Scar."
I glared at him but handed the cloth over. He began dabbing again, but this time at the cut on my cheek, which were fair awful. Even the dabs made my teeth grind.
"Going to tell me what happened?"
"The sheriff's men went after Amy Cooper. She and her mam came back to their house. One hit Amy."
Rob looked up, his eyebrow raised. "Is the sheriff's man still alive?"
"They both are. I cut one behind the knee and the other's hand. He broke my knife," I said, bitter.
"So, you punched him?"
I nodded.
So... I emailed AC totally curious if she were talkin' funny while she wrote this, 'cause I was already saying "were" instead of "was" and thinking of my throat as "pipes" and stuff... and she wrote me back:
The same thing totally happened to me, while writing it--I started talking like Scar and I felt like I was LOSING MY MIND, haha!I took advantage of her being so kind to respond and all, and sent her some Interview Questions in case she found some time. She did us one better by answering my questions AND offering a T-Shirt to giveaway - she's got size small or extra-large, so find someone who wants to wear one of those sizes before entering!!
The t-shirts say:
DON'T GET ON THE WRONG SIDE OF A LADY THIEF
Lol. How awesome is that?!
With no further ado... I bring you AC Gaughen!!What inspired you to write Scarlet?
Two things--on the one hand, I felt totally compelled to write this book rather than inspired. Scarlet's voice was just totally whole in my head before I ever started writing the book. I knew Scarlet's voice before I knew her setting. So on the other hand, the setting was more inspired, I guess. I LOVE Robin Hood, and it always makes me angry that Maid Marian is such a wuss. I could never see her with Robin, so I...I kind of wrote a cooler girl for Robin's heart.
I'm totally crackin' up. I always felt that way, too, and I'm glad you did something about it!!
What's your favorite scene?
My favorite scene came as a total surprise. During edits, one of the main things my editor encouraged me to do was write more of the backstory, explain more of why Scar and Rob are the way they are. And at first I kind of resisted--I tend to explain less because I like the idea of a negative space that never gets fully explained. But I also looked for opportunities to at least deliver a little more, and I ended up writing this scene where Scarlet is about to run off and try and save a girl from the town on her own without help, and she and Rob physically fight when he tries to stop her. When they stop fighting Scarlet and Rob have this really cool moment where they connect and they open up. It very quickly became my favorite scene!
Oh, man... I gotta say I seriously love their arguments. You had me in tears more than a few times, oblivious to the world around me, when those two battled things out. I love how you used the negative space, too. Totally loud in it's silence!!
Please share something personal!!
Hmm..well something I love to talk about is my involvement in Boston GLOW--Girls Leadership and Organized Women. I run their Girls' Leadership programming, which has been this really amazing chance for me to connect to teen girls in Boston and start a pretty cool conversation about what leadership really means and how the definition of being a strong role model is changing all the time. We actually just had our planning session for the next year of programming and I am like flip out excited about it. It's going to be so so cool!! To check out more you can go to bostonglow.org!
Super-huge thanks to AC for stopping by!!
I'll be posting my review SOON as I finished reading Scarlet while on my Road Trip - I think there was this connection between the beautiful mountain passes and Rob & Scar's arguments that'll be combined forever in my memory. I only wish neither the book nor the road ended!!!
Available to WIN:
One awesome t-shirt in S or XL:
Giveaway Scoop:
International entries Ok as long as you don't live in the far-off marshes of Mars, as usual. Must be 13 to enter, must fill out the Rafflecopter. See all my rules under About Me. This giveaway is offered by AC* and neither she nor I nor anyone else is liable for mishaps.
*It's a good thing AC** is offering this giveaway, 'cause this would be one time I would have to say the XL is all mine and y'all could fight over the S. But that's the sweetness of giveaways... I like to give away stuff I'd actually like to win. So if you see me entering my own giveaways... JK.***
**AC does not stand for Accuweather. I read that HERE.
***Do you text JK for Just Kidding? I only learned the term this past weekend and I'm curious. No... I don't enter my own giveaways. Sheesh.
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