Liars, Inc. Black Friday Sale Blitz!!

Hello there guys!!

First of all: Happy Thanksgiving!!
We don't celebrate it over here in Spain, but I have plenty of friends in the US that do, so I hope you lot are enjoying the day and the food coma!

And after Thanksgiving comes Black Friday with the insanity and the massive sales, and that for some reason has now arrived overseas here. I'm not a fan of crazy insane multitudes, so I'll be doing some online shopping only, because I love me some sales! 

And because I love me book and sales, I'm taking part on the Liars, Inc Black Friday Sale Blitz! I read and loved this book as an ARC (and re-read and loved the finished copy!) so I want to push this book on anyone and everyone, and what better way to do it than when it is super cheap, right? Right!

 Liars, Inc by Paula Stokes       
 

“This is one exciting ride.” –ALA Booklist

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money. So with the help of his friend Preston and his girlfriend, Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something, and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative? 

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn't think twice about it. But then Preston never comes home. And the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead to Preston's body.
Terrifying clues that point to Max as the killer….

 




And now over to Paula herself!!

Paula: I was super-thrilled to see that HarperTeen put the Liars, Inc. ebook back on sale for Black Friday, this time across multiple digital platforms. You can score an e-copy all week for the low price of $1.99 from Amazon, Amazon Canada, B&N and iTunes!

I'm a girl who will buy almost anything if it feels like a mega-deal, but I realize that some people are a little more discriminating when they buy books. Therefore, I've designed a handy decision-making tree to help you determine if Liars, Inc. is right for you!

Paula: If you started to cry while reading the above chart, it's possible that you, like me, are a person who struggles to make decisions. It's okay. Some of us need additional information. Click here to read the first chapter of Liars, Inc. It's a great example of what you might be getting yourself into :)

JUST FOR FUN:  Check out the top ten things I would bring with me if I had to go on the run from the feds.Includes essentials like Chapstick, chocolate, and flash bangs. If you leave a comment, tell me the top 3 things you'd pack if you went on the lam.

And hey, just for stopping by, you can enter to win a $25 gift card to B&N (U.S.) or your choice of any book from The Book Depository up to $20 value (INT) 

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There you go guys! Get yourself a copy of Liars, INC in time to read while the rest of the family goes nuts about (American) football or you digest the food coma, avoid the Black Friday insane lines and multitudes and continue eating the many leftovers, so many times improved by a good book!!

Meet Parvati from Liars INC: Guest post with Paula Stokes & Giveaway!!!

Hiya there guys!! Happy Monday!!

Today I'm more than happy to welcome to the blog one of those very special authors to me because not only I love her books but I also think she's just plain AWESOME!

And so do Dylan, Mini-maug and Morrigan! I'm actually afraid the dragons will smuggle themselves out with her because they want to read her books before anyone else! Check your pockets Paula!

And today Paula doesn't come to the blog alone, she brings Parvati, one of the liars from Liars INC so we can get to know her better! Give them both a proper welcome!! Thank you so much for coming Paula!!


Hi! Thanks to Pili and her dragon and sheep friends for having Parvati and me on the blog. The response to Parvati’s character by people who read Liars, Inc. was fairly mixed. Some didn’t like her because she did thoughtless and reckless things. Some liked her a lot because she did those things without being apologetic. I personally love her. She’s not what you’d call a nice person, but she’s tough and smart and self-sufficient and brave. And she learns from her mistakes, which is probably the #1 thing I look for in a character—how do they grow and change? 


A lot of you know I was hoping to write a companion novel from Parvati’s point-of-view. As of right now that isn’t on the table for 2017, though my publisher is willing to consider it for the future. So don’t lose hope completely if you want to read more Parvati. And in the meantime, you’ll probably like Winter from Vicarious (Tor Teen 2016), who shares many qualities with Parvati, but also manages to be a nice person, if a little bit distant. 


I have undergraduate degrees in psychology and nursing and a nursing graduate degree, and I use this background to analyze my characters as I write. It’s important for me to know why they do what they do. So today I’m sharing a mini-interview I did with Parvati in order to figure out more about what makes her tick. 


Paula: Describe yourself in five words.
Parvati: Ambitious, intelligent, spontaneous, manipulative, lonely 


Paula: You have friends and a boyfriend and parents who love you. But you still feel lonely?
Parvati: Yeah. Tragic, huh? I guess it’s because I hide who I am from people most of the time. I spend a lot of time in my own head. 


Paula: Is there anyone you feel like you can be yourself around?
Parvati: Preston. And Max, for the most part. 


Paula: Tell me about the day you met Preston.
Parvati: I met him the first week of freshman year. We both went to the same private school and there was this big orientation for freshmen. Every night we had a different activity. The first time I saw Pres was on the football field. He was playing in a pick-up game and was really good. Everyone wanted to be on his team. Later in the week there was a dance competition, and then a movie night. Everywhere Pres went, this cloud of people swarmed around him, like satellites orbiting a planet. Normally I would hate someone like that, but then we ended up in the same English class. We were writing poetry and Preston wrote this dark stuff about feeling like an alien and living in his own private hell. It was incongruous with the laid-back popular boy I saw that first week. I figured maybe he felt the same way I did. 


Paula: So then the two of you struck up a friendship?
Parvati: Basically. It turned out I was right. Preston was mostly pretending for his parents’ sake. Playing the dutiful senator’s son. Smart. Athletic. Popular. But inside he was messed up, just like me. Misery really does love company. 


Paula: What about Max?
Parvati: Max is messed up too, but in a better way. He’s a really good guy. Decent. Trustworthy. Loyal. I don’t feel like I have to impress him, which is nice. But at the same time, I feel like if he knew everything there was to know about me that he might not want to be with me anymore. 


Paula: Do you love him?
Parvati: I think so. At first I worried my feelings weren’t about him, that they were just about the way he made me feel. I can be selfish like that sometimes. But now that we’ve spent more time together, I know that I like him for who he is. I wish I were more like him. It sounds cliché, but Max makes me want to be better, you know? I do fewer stupid things now that I’m with Max. 


Paula: What do you mean by stupid things?
Parvati: Well, there was this girl at school I didn’t like—I don’t even remember what it was about her, you know how some people just rub you the wrong way? One day I just got sick of listening to her brag about everything—her perfect GPA, her perfect family, her perfect boyfriend. I did some research on her boyfriend and found out he was a math tutor. I paid to tutor me even though I’m great at math. It took a few weeks but I wore him down and eventually we hooked up. He felt guilty about it but I convinced him it was no big deal—it’d be our secret. We talked about it over email and I then I forwarded the emails to her. They broke up. 


Paula: How did that make you feel?
Parvati: I know I should say it made me feel terrible—that girl had done nothing to me specifically and neither had the guy. Afterward, the few female friends I had kind of pulled away. But honestly, even though I knew what I did was wrong, I just felt kind of numb about it. I think that was the first time I realized there was something wrong with me. 


Paula: What do you think is wrong with you?
Parvati: I don’t know. It’s almost like I have this handful of people that I care about, but other people, whatever, I mess with them because I can. Sometimes just to see if I can. I know that’s screwed up, but that’s what I mean about Max. He started out as one of those strangers I didn’t care about and now I’d basically do anything for him. So maybe I’m getting better…but I’m not sure.


So that ends my mini-interview with Parvati. Fun fact—I actually have a narrative for her and Max outlined through five novels, and both Parvati’s emotional well-being and her relationship with Max have ups and downs and setbacks. They’re definitely an interesting couple to me, but both of them have enough issues that I’m not certain they’d be able to make it last. Hopefully I’ll be able to further explore their dynamic in additional books someday :-) 

And now for a giveaway! One lucky person is going to win a hardcover of Liars, Inc. If the winner has a U.S. mailing address, they’ll win a signed book mailed by me. If int’l address, the winner wins a copy of the book from The Book Depository (please check to see if they ship to your country) + signed bookplate mailed by me. Be sure to drop by my blog all month for more chances to win mystery books written by friends of mine, and join my mailing list to stay up on all my upcoming giveaways for Girl Against the Universe and Vicarious. 


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Liars INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

For more info, check out the official Liars, Inc. website.

About Paula: 

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of THE ART OF LAINEY, INFINITE REPEAT, LIARS INC., and several other forthcoming YA novels. When she's not writing, she's kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. Paula loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.

Liars INC | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook



 

Celebrating Diversity with Liars INC by Paula Stokes! Parvati and sarees!

Hi there guys!

Welcome to another scheduled post while I'm on hiatus and actually driving one of my besties to the airport for her honeymoon and freaking out like there's no tomorrow about going to BEA since I'll be flying tomorrow!!

Today I am gonna do a lil bit of a random post that I was inspired for while reading Liars INC by Paula Stokes! Not only I loved the plot and the mystery but I also LOVED Parvati, the half-Indian third of the Liars! And once I read about her wearing a white saree at the funeral (nope, not telling you whose funeral) I knew I wanted to talk about about sarees and how to wear them on the blog!


Being with an Indian guy for 7 years means I've learn a thing or two about what to wear for a shaadi (Indian wedding) and a few ways of draping a saree (thank Youtube for tutorials!).

Sarees are traditional and have been worn for thousands of years, but they continue to be worn either for special occasions only or every day and for every occasion. Depending on the woman's preference or how traditional their upbringing and where they live is. Given that Parvati is half Indian and she wants to keep her heritage but not let it define who she is, I'm sure she'd love to wear sarees for special occasions, both joyful and sad.

There are two main colours that are very traditional in India, red (or reddish shades, even orange and pink can work) for a bride on her wedding (for the main ceremonial day with the actual marriage taking place) and then white for mourning and funerals. Black is not a colour to be worn at either occasion, but it's perfectly fine for receptions or other events! Wearing red to a wedding is a big NO-NO unless you are close family of the bride or groom.

For weddings and events, sarees ought to be silk, net or a similarly luxurious fabric and the more embroidery and bling, the better! For funerals and mourning sarees should be white, plain and without much embellishment if any.

And now I'll show you a few pics! Too much writing in this post so far!!

As you can see, there are many colours and fabrics when it comes to sarees and according to Wikipedia, about 80 ways recorded of draping them! Sarees can be more traditional or more sexy and once you get the hang of putting them on, they can be even more comfy to wear for events than usual western formal wear!

Now, some more pics, these will be sort of a tutorial on how to wear a saree! You'll see me putting the saree on one of my besties! ;)

First of all, you put on the blouse & petticoat (underskirt)

The petticoat needs to be tied tightly (my friend Esther was complaining about that) but you don't want the saree fabric to slip off because it's too lose and whoops, lost your saree!

You tuck in the saree fabric around so the border barely touches the ground (remember to wear the shoes)

You grab the loose fabric, pleat it and throw it over your shoulder, till it hits knee lenght, then grab the rest of the loose fabric in front.

 You pin the fabric and then do the pleating (that's always the hardest part to learn to do) and then tuck it in front and pin it again!

Then you grab the pallu and let it fall from the shoulder onto the arm, and pin it again on the back so it doesn't fall off!

And you're good to go!

Namaste!

I'll show you now a few video tutorials for how to wear a saree in a few different ways! They're fun and easy to follow! And explain it much better than I did with the photos, I'm sure!

Nivi Style - it's the more typical, traditional way to wear a saree, and you can never go wrong for wearing a saree this way for any and all events!



Hourglass/Mermaid style - this is a more modern way to wearing a saree is fantastic to wear a net saree and still hide the tummy a bit but go less traditional. It's also great to move around without worrying about the pallu of the saree!



Siren/Variation of Nivi style - Very similar to the Nivi style but again a lil more modern and comfy to dance and move around, a lil more revealing too. Perfect for receptions and parties!




And oh boy, I think that's all! This has ended up being a massively BIG post and if any of you guys have read till the end... THANK YOU!!

Liars INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

Saturday Pages: ARC Review of LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes!!!

Hey again guys!

Today as my second Saturday Pages entry I have a book and a author that are specially dear to me. This is one of those special books that I got as an ARC and that I owe big thanks to both my dear friend Sarah and to the author herself, because on my trip to Chicago I got my hands on a physical (and slightly annotated) ARC! I loved it so much that I just cannot wait for my preorder to arrive and re-read it!

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was very lucky to read this book well in advance, but given the fact that there were a few changes made into the finished copy from the ARC, I'm absolutely dying to get my preorder so I can re-read it again!

I'm quite a big fan of murder mysteries and I've devoured every Agatha Christie book out there, and although that doesn't make me an absolute expert, it does make me rather good at seeing patterns and trying to identify what might be going on and where the twists might lead us.

Another thing that you need to know is that I read this one during my trip to the US last October and I was suffering an acute case of jet lag that turned me into a morning person, meaning that I was up at 4 or 5 am and conking off at 8 pm at the latest. Why would that be relevant you may ask? Well, the day I got this book I stayed up reading, passing pages like a madwoman and only stopped for a quick dinner break and didn't go to sleep till I finished the book at midnight! That ought to tell you something about the gripping pacing and how intriguing the plot was!

Liars INC, is the story of Max and his two friends, Preston and Parvati, the murder of Preston, Max being accused of it and Parvati trying to help Max prove his innocence. But who would trust you when you've made lying your business?

Not only the pacing was absolutely addicting and make you want to keep on turning page after page, in the beginning learning all about the Liars and who they are and then following Max's escape and the investigation and all the things we discover about the characters too. Seems that the Liars are really good at lying to others and to themselves too! The plot was very tightly woven and although it seemed rather straight forward at first, we kept on getting a few twists here and there that I didn't see coming AT ALL! None of my initial theories were right, and although I got my suspicions about something, it was too vague on my part to really think I guessed right!

Max was a fantastic character with a genuine boy voice. He wasn't a jerk per se, but he has his rough edges and also his vulnerabilities that he keeps really tucked close, and has some real trouble with showing off his affection and even more with his family. I loved the diversity that you can find in this book, presented like the most natural thing in the world. Max is adopted and has two Korean baby sisters, his family is lower middle class and he lived on the streets for a while as a kid.

Parvati, other of the Liars is half Indian and she seems to both embrace her heritage but refuse to be defined by it. She is also prickly and difficult to straight away like. But she ended up being my favourite character of the lot. She's very capable and totally trained to kick arse, good at flaunting rules and has some mental health issues that can tweak her perception of circumstances and the way she reacts to them. I just need a book all about Parvati, she's such a fascinating character!

Preston... well, Preston is also quite a box of surprises, because once he gets offed, we do learn so many unexpected things about him and how there's much more to him than just the "poor white rich boy" and his problems.

If you are looking for a different kind of read, a very compelling and intriguing YA thriller with a twisty murder mystery, a very genuine male voice and a lot of very welcome diversity... YOU NEED TO GRAB THIS ONE NOW!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars to this one!



View all my reviews

Mystery Twitter Theater!!

Guys, guys you're not going to believe this!

I just found out I'm a suspect in a crime. Noted YA blogger Ensconced in Lit was murdered yesterday and her body has been found on Twitter. Yep, you read that right--Twitter! Apparently the killer made off with a super-epic LIARS, INC. prize pack and now everyone thinks maybe it was me. Well guess what, it wasn't me because I was completely absorbed reading Shadow Study at this new coffee shop that opens till late and has some amazing chai tea!

Will you help prove my innocence? Head over to Paula Stokes's blog for all the information about the crime. If you can figure out who the real killer is and how they did the deed, Paula is going to award YOU the super-epic LIARS, INC. prize pack, which includes a hand-painted tote, a signed book, a deluxe swag pack, and additional mystery prizes. Come to think of it, I might just have to do a little investigating myself. After all, that prize pack is kind of to die for.

Or should I say to kill for...

#MysteryTwitterTheater was created to celebrate the release of LIARS, INC. a twisty YA mystery/thriller!

 For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

It's nearly time for LIARS INC! Interview with Paula Stokes!!

Welcome everyone! Today I am extremely pleased to be part of the celebration for Liars INC by Paula Stokes!

I was extremely lucky to read LIARS, INC early and it kept me up reading till I was done with the book, even when I had a biiig case of jet lag! And today I'm once again lucky to have Paula over in the blog for an interview!

LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

 About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of THE ART OF LAINEY, INFINITE REPEAT, LIARS INC., and several other forthcoming YA novels. When she's not writing, she's kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. Paula loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.


 Liars INC | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Interview

Today I have the pleasure to welcome to the blog Paula Stokes, fellow nurse (part time) and full time awesome author!
Welcome Paula and thank you so much dropping by for an interview! Never mind the two dragons and sheep fangirling around you, they're (mostly) harmless.

That makes me think of How to Train Your Dragon! *wonders if your dragons ever carry off your sheep and feed them to a big super-dragon* And the interview has taken a dark turn already... ;-)

Oh dear... Morrigan, Mini-maug don't you get ideas!! *stern look at dragons*

- Let's get going. I read and loved Lainey last year and it was a cute & fluffy read with depth to it. How did you come to write such different books? Liars INC is both a thriller and a murder mystery and is as different from Lainey as it comes! Was that a conscious choice or simply something you wanted to write?
I've always been more into darker things. I wrote three work-for-hire historical murder mysteries and I remember telling my Paper Lantern editor I was writing a book with zero dead bodies and she was kind of like, "Why?"
 
Why, indeed! I started out just writing the stories that I most wanted to write, regardless of the reasons. This is the biggest benefit of not having an agent or editor--you literally can write anything you want without worrying about option clauses or branding or the market, etc. I had the idea for LIARS in early 2010, before the idea for LAINEY, but I started LAINEY after a painful breakup and writing her story healed me. Now I feel a like I have a dark audience and a light audience, so I'm going to try to release a book for each of them every year.


- Is there anything that sparked the idea of writing a murder mystery or was it a mash up of things coming together? Also, what came first, the Liars or the murder?

I grew up reading Christopher Pike and Dean Koontz, two guys that really know how to spin some wild tales but make them feel believable enough to be scary. I was definitely inspired by them, but actually the liars came before the murder. I knew what set-up I wanted to use, but it took me a while to figure out what happened to Preston, and more importantly to determine the character motivations behind everything that occurred. I know in the real world people commit all kinds of crimes for seemingly arbitrary reasons, but I think fiction works best if you can look at the actions of all the major players and really understand where they're coming from, whether or not you agree.


- We see a lot of (very welcome) diversity in this book with Parvati being half Indian, Max's adopted twin baby sisters being Korean... how much of it came from a conscious choice to make the book more like life and how much the characters arrived fully formed like that in your mind?

I guess I'm lucky that a wide array of characters naturally appear in my mind, because I'm not sure how organic it would feel if I designed them with a diversity quota in mind. I do believe strongly in diversity, cultural and otherwise, in fiction, but my first loyalty has to be to the story. I generally take the characters as they come and don't change their races, major personality types, etc., unless there's a specific plot need to do so. Obviously if I wrote a book and realized it had no diversity at all I would stop and make some changes, but that hasn't happened to me yet.
 
I did make the conscious choice to make Parvati Indian because one thing that irks me about CIA-related books and movies is their over-reliance on Caucasian characters when the real CIA recruits people of color heavily because they are easier to station in foreign countries. The Korean little sisters are based on two of my students that I taught English to when I lived in Seoul.


- Given that the murder in the book is a high profile one the FBI gets called in and take over the case. Your FBI agents don't seem as much cocky arrogant bastards as they are sometimes portrayed in most tv shows. Did you do a lot of research about FBI agents and procedure/protocols?

I interviewed a Major Case Squad detective who answered a lot of police/legal procedural questions but recommended using FBI agents for the story due to Preston being a senator's son. I hemmed and hawed a bit and made the switch to FBI agents in one of the later drafts, so there are more changes to the finished book that I made after speaking with additional experts while the ARCs were being printed.

The agents are even more professional now--for example Gonzalez doesn't call Max a jackass anymore, he handles the pictures he shows Max with more tact, and McGhee is portrayed as heavy but not quite as obese as he reads in the ARC, as FBI agents have fitness standards that most local detectives don't have. I also got help from a lovely law student who looked up the proper terminology for all the crimes Max commits during this book and critiqued my arraignment proceedings, etc.

My main thing with McGhee and Gonzalez is that I didn't want them to come across as complete nimrods. I'm not a fan of books where the fifteen year old protagonist solves the crime while the adults can't see the clues right in front of their faces. That doesn't feel real to me. These FBI agents aren't perfect, but you get the idea they know how to do their jobs and would eventually solve this case on their own.


- I felt like Max was written so very well and with such a genuine voice, how hard/easy was it to write a male teen POV? Was it harder or easier than writing Lainey or say Micah?

I've always been a tomboy. I grew up following around my older brother, rock climbing and playing Dungeons & Dragons. In my twenties, I spent six years working as a line cook/kitchen supervisor in a restaurant kitchen. Most of the cooks were boys like Max--just regular guys that you have to get to know to see what makes them special. A lot of people would have seen "high school dropouts" or "slackers" or even "thugs." Maybe that's what I saw when I first started working there, but not once I spent time with them. They were all so unique and worth knowing.

Being the only girl in a group of almost all guys was really informative once I convinced them they didn't have to censor themselves around me, and I definitely channeled a lot of my coworkers for both Max and Micah. But I also gave the LIARS manuscript to several guys to read. My Y-chromosome betas helped me weed out the occasional girly phrase and pointed out places where Max was being too dramatic or introspective. Random funny: The original draft had Max mentioning Parvati's "platform ankle boots." Yeah that got cut quickly once I got my "boy notes" back.

I wouldn't say Max was easier or harder to write than Lainey--just different. He was probably easier to write than Micah, because Micah is such a fan favorite that I was really worried I might mess up his voice in INFINITE REPEAT.


- Although Liars INC feels like a finished and contained story on its own, given how everything is resolved, I feel like I'd love to read more about this characters, specially Parvati since I must say she's probably my favourite. Can we expect more about them? Like novellas or companion novels or any sort of extras? *crosses fingers*

Well I made the mistake of putting Parvati's Guide to Lying up on Goodreads, so I guess I have to write that now ;-) That's just going to be a fun 20-page booklet where P talks about how, when, and where to lie, as well as pointing out the times you should probably never lie. You'll be able to read it free on Wattpad.

A companion book that takes place after LIARS, INC. and features Parvati as the main character alongside a cast of diverse teens is outlined and partially written. Think Homeland meets Nikita meets Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Naturals books. I'd say there's a 95% chance I'll finish writing that, even if I can't sell it to a traditional publisher, but I do have two books under contract I *should* write first >_>

And that's all folks! Thank you so much Paula for answering all the questions and not freaking out when Morrigan almost set your hair on fire, she's also a big Parvati fan and got excited thinking about more Parvati stories!

Eek! I thought I smelled burnt hair. Wouldn't be the first time, or the second time, but those are stories for another day :-) Thanks for having me on your lovely site, Pili! *eats cupcake* *tucks second cupcake into purse for later*

Nerd Blast: Liars INC by Paula Stokes!!!

Hello guys!!

Welcome to this week's long Nerd Blast organized by Book Nerd Tours for Liars, INC by Paula Stokes!

LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes

Publisher: Harper Teen
Format: Hardback | 368 pages
Publication date: 24 March 2015
ISBN 10: 0062323288
ISBN 13: 9780062323286

 For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

For more information, check out THE OFFICIAL LIARS, INC. WEBSITE.

  

       

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of several YA novels, most recently Liars, Inc. and The Art of Lainey. Her writing has been translated into nine foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands She also loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.

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2 Signed Copies of Liars, INC. by Paula Stokes.2 Mini Swag Packs. Includes (2 Signed Bookmarks, 1 Magnet, 1 Signed Bookplate).

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