Guest Post: Angela Morrison

Angela Morrison is the author of two Young Adult novels recently published by Razorbill, Taken By Storm and Sing Me To Sleep. (I am particularly looking forward to read both, which I hope to be very soon!) And today, as she was kind enough to accept my request, we have Angela guest posting about SUMMER and BOOKS.

One of my best summer memories ended up in my debut novel, TAKEN BY STORM. Leesie takes Michael for a drive to her family's spot on Windy Bay, Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It's October and cold--starts to get stormy while they are out on the dark water in Leesie's canoe. The heady scent of pine trees permeates the scene. Michael has a flashback to the storm that killed his parents.

My memories of Windy Bay are a bit sunnier. Unlike Leesie who got tangled up in lake week when she was a child and is afraid of the water, I loved to swim, despite running into patches of "lake weed" every now and then. When we went to the lake, as soon as the car stopped moving, I'd be out the door, running down the path to the tiny beach our dad remade every year, across the dock and onto the sailboat--where it was finally deep enough for me to dive in.

The water stayed ice cold all summer. The only way to get in was to jump in all at once. I remember icy tingles all over my body, swimming to stay warm, but still going numb pretty fast. I used to be so tough. I've gotten spoiled living in the steamy desert.

Summer in Arizona is hot, hot, hot. We try to find cool places to vacation. My husband and I just got back from a misty week driving around the Scottish Highlands. We started our trip in Edinburgh where we stayed out by the harbor and ate exquisite sea food. Fresh and sweet.

One evening as we left the restaurant, we watched a group of teen age boys jumping off a high sea wall into freezing saltwater. We were amazed that they would do that, but then I remembered jumping into icy water many, many times myself.

You asked me to recommend good summer reading. Of course, my books are great summer reads, but while you wait for them to come out in Brazil (say a prayer that they will!) see if you can find Mary Stewart's old romantic suspense novels. I have a battered row of them on my bookshelf. They are so fun to read. I love them all. My favorites are MY BROTHER MICHAEL and MOONSPINNERS. Pioneering YA author, Norma Fox Mazer, passed away this year. Her novels are good reads anytime. Start with SILVER and AFTER THE RAIN. You'll also enjoy Ron Koertge's books. He was my first mentor and taught me so much. Start with his classic STONER AND SPAZ.

I hope to add another book to the list before the summer is out. UNBROKEN CONNECTION, the sequel to TAKEN BY STORM, will be out as an ebook this month. A print version will follow shortly. That will be a fantastic summer read!

Thanks so much for hosting me, Raila. Have a great summer and keep reading!

I want to thank Angela for taking her time to write this awesome guest post! Why don't you check out her website? It's full of awesomeness, especially for those who have already read her books. For those who haven't, it's a great chance to know more about, and (who knows?) purchase them to read. Angela has also guest posted on Girls Without A Booshelf, so why don't you check it out, too? Don't miss it!