Totally Random Tour: Dream Literary Dinner Party Guestlist with Emma Pass, Amy McCulloch & Karen Mahoney

Emma Pass's Dream Literary Dinner Party Guest List.

I like small, intimate gatherings, where you don’t have to shout across the table to make yourself heard, or get exhausted trying to make time to talk to everyone. So my dream literary dinner party guest list isn’t a long one, but I think it would make for a fun evening.

First of all, I’d have to invite…

Stephen King: SK is my all-time favourite author. I discovered him when I was 13 with the epic IT, and have been addicted to his novels ever since. Not only does he have the most incredible imagination, but I love his writing style, his dark sense of humour, and the way he manages to create such rich and interesting characters. I think he’d be a lot of fun to talk to!

And then…

SE Hinton: A pull-no-punches look at life on the wrong side of the tracks from the point of view of ‘Greaser’ Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. S.E. Hinton was only 16 when she wrote the book, and 18 when it was published. I’d love to talk to her about her inspiration, and what it felt like to be published at such a young age.

Emily Byrd Starr: I like the Anne of Green Gables books, but I’ve always found Anne Shirley a little too good to be true. Emily of the Emily of New Moon books, on the other hand, is a girl after my own heart: feisty, independent, a daydreamer who spends every spare moment she has scribbling stories… I reckon we’d get on like a house on fire.

Finally…

Lyra Belacqua: The His Dark Materials books are in my all-time reading top ten. Hearing from Lyra about her adventures would be amazing (and I’d love to meet a real, live daemon!).

Amy McCulloch's Dream Literary Dinner Party Guestlist.

My dream literary dinner party would have to start with the perfect venue. I’d want it to be properly inspiring and surrounded by books – so I’m thinking the Beast’s library from Beauty and the Beast? Then we would have the benefit of Lumiere’s kitchen to provide the catering, too!

First up on my guest-list would be J.K. Rowling: apart from wanting to just get a chance to tell her how much her work means to me, I’d want to hear from her first hand what it was like to go from scribbling notes on a napkin to a reading on what might be the world’s largest stage - the Olympic opening ceremony.

Next up, I’d invite Roald Dahl, because he had such a long and varied career – plus he’s funny. I’d definitely bring Neil Gaiman, because apart from being one of my favourite authors, he’s an excellent conversationalist and I’d want to pick his brains about the future of storytelling. I’d invite Jane Austen next, because I’d really love to discuss with her how Pride and Prejudice has influenced modern literature. And then I’d invite all the Lucky 13s (authors who are debuting in 2013) so that we could grill the famous authors at the table and see how publishing has changed throughout the years!

Karen Mahoney's Dream Literary Dinner Party Guest list

1) Charlotte Brontë – because I’ve always been obsessed with her books. Jane Eyre is a favourite, but I also love Villette. I used to be a member of the Brontë Society (don’t laugh) and once upon a time, many years ago, I actually had the chance to hold the handwritten manuscript of Jane Eyre in my hands! That’s a totally true story. It was awesome.

2) William Moulton Marston – because he created Wonder Woman back in the early 1940s. Need I say more? :)

3) Neil Gaiman – because I’ve never met him, and his Sandman comics inspired me to really dig deep into folklore and mythology. I think he’d be the perfect dinner party guest.

4) Holly Black – because I love her work, have never met her (and would love to), and think she’d be super fun to talk to. I’d ask her lots of questions about faeries...

5) Daphne du Maurier – because her books are wonderfully gothic and atmospheric, and many of them I’ve read over and over. I’ve read biographies about du Maurier’s life, and she always seemed like such an interesting woman. She also wrote one of my favourite romances of all time: Frenchman’s Creek. (In fact, Donna in The Iron Witch books is partly named after the heroine of Frenchman’s Creek.)
Here's where we'll be and what we'll be doing:

Totally Random Tour Schedule;

WEEK ONE

Mon 27th May – “Our Top 5 writing tips!” – MOVELLAS

Tue 28th May – “Book Reviews” – SUGARSCAPE

Wed 29th May – “If I wasn’t a writer, I would be…” – CHICKLISH

Thurs 30th May – “Dream Cast” – BOOKS FOR COMPANY

Fri 31st May – “Group Discussion” – GOODREADS 6pm-7pm

WEEK TWO

Mon 3rd June – “Dream literary dinner party guestlist” – BOOK PASSION FOR LIFE

Tue 4th June – “Places that inspire your writing” – SABLE CAUGHT

Wed 5th June – “Webchat” – TOTALLY RANDOM FACEBOOK (5-6pm)

Thurs 6th June – “Soundtrack to your writing” – WONDROUS READS

Fri 7th June – “Group interview” – TOTALLY RANDOM BOOKS 

A review for The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Posted by Donna

Published Date: January 20th, 2011
Finished Date: March 28th, 2011
The Blurb: Freak. That's what they call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood at Ironbridge High School. A horrific fey attack that killed her father when she was just a child left Donna branded with iron tattoos that cover her hands and arms - and magically enhanced strength, that she now does all she can to hide.


Now, after ten years of wishing for a normal life, Donna finally accepts her role in the centuries-old war against the darkest outcasts of Faerie - the dark elves. Aided by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout, Donna must save her best friend's life - and that means betraying one of the world's greatest secrets and confronting the very thing that destroyed her family.


The Review: The Iron Witch is the first book to a new series by author Karen Mahoney. This is another book for me, that I had for while but didn't fancy reading it but eventually when I picked it up, I did enjoy it.


Donna Underwood is a seventeen year old girl, who was attacked by Fey at the age of seven, leaving her with horrific injuries to her hands and arms. The only way to help Donna, was to heal her hands with magic, by infusing iron and silver into her skin leaving her with iron like tattoo's. When Donna accidentally reveals her world to her best friend Navin Sharma, he is kidnapped by the fey queen and the only person that can help her save him is Xan, a boy that she has more in common with than she ever could imagine.


After seeing so many bad reviews about this book, I was little weary to start, and although I didn't think it was great, it was a good read. I especially enjoyed all the characters. Donna for me, was a great character who was strong and determined through out the story. I really liked the journal entries and that we go to know her character that little bit more. I'll be honest and say I wasn't too keen on Navin, yes, I enjoyed his banter but I found him to be a tad boring and I'm really hoping that Navin is not hiding a secret love for Donna. I did find it confusing when Donna was trying to explain to Navin about her and the alchemists. I kept having to re-read the pages to make sure I fully understood.


Now, Xan! Xan is awesome and hot! I'm so glad he was brought into the story, otherwise I don't think I would of enjoyed it as much as I did. He's also another strong character and I loved his back story. It wasn't one I was expecting but I really enjoyed it and I really hope we get to see more on him in the future. 


Overall, this story is was a good read. There's still a few unanswered questions but with two more books to be released, I look forward to finding out more.