It’s bonus reward point day on the TFC tour. You’ll get two Noras for the price of one.
Today I’m hosting the fabulous Bettina Restrepo here as part of my Memento Nora launch tour—AND as part of her own launch tour for Illegal (Harper Collins- Katherine Tegen Books). Her book comes March 11, 2011. So this means you’ll be able to enter TWO contests by commenting below.
A little about Illegal.
Nora is on a desperate journey far from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora fights to make sense of her loss while waiting for her father’s return and a better day. When the letters and the money from her father stop coming, Nora decides she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a harrowing experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place called Houston. Now, Nora figures out how to survive while still aching for small comforts: friends, a new school and a quinceaña to mark her fifteenth birthday.
As you can tell, we both have great taste in naming our characters. To learn more about her excellent Nora, check out the trailer, reviews, discussion guide, and resources on www.bettinarestrepo.com.
The Illegal contest deets:
Comment below and you’ll be entered into the drawing to win 5 autographed copies of Illegal. Bettina will announce the winner on April 2 via her Facebook fan page.
Now on to my Nora!
In Nora James’ world, if you’re haunted by a bad memory, all you have to do is walk into a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic (TFC), pop a pill, and go on like nothing ever happened–sans that particular memory. And you earn frequent forgetting points for every visit. However, Nora James spits out her pill and holds on to the memory. That’s when things get unglossy for her. But, along the way, she does find new friends who don’t believe in forgetting either.
When I asked a few of my friends to share some spit-worthy memories, here’s what Bettina shot back.
I got my first cell phone in 1994. It was a monstrously heavy thing. I travel a lot for business, mostly by car, and I had been in a few precarious positions really desperate for a phone (like on a lonely highway have way between Laredo and San Antonio with a flat tire and no idea how to change it.)
That evening when I showed my ill-fitted boyfriend my new acquisition, he complained bitterly. “Why didn’t you get me one so we could talk to each other.”
I realized, I didn’t want to talk to him. I wanted to feel safe and secure. The phone made me feel that way – not him. Within two months, I broke up with him. I don’t remember really using that phone too often except to make funny phone calls like “Hey, I’m calling you from my car… the bathroom… the drive thru.” It didn’t have good reception and the battery always seemed dead.
But I do remember feeling like I had made a major discovery. I could go anywhere and be whoever I wanted to be because I was safe.
I will never erase that memory.
Thanks for sharing, Bett!
Memento Nora contest deets:
Simple. Leave a comment, and you’ll be entered to win a glossy prize pack that includes:
Signed copy of Memento Nora
Temporary tattoos and stickers
Bookmarks
Your very own supply of forgetting pills. (Ok, they’re really Jelly Belly’s.)
Anda glossy charm bracelet.
I’ll announce the winner on my blog April 7th.
I got my first cell phone in 1994. It was a monstrously heavy thing. I travel a lot for business, mostly by car, and I had been in a few precarious positions really desperate for a phone (like on a lonely highway have way between Laredo and San Antonio with a flat tire and no idea how to change it.)
That evening when I showed my ill-fitted boyfriend my new acquisition, he complained bitterly. “Why didn’t you get me one so we could talk to each other.”
I realized, I didn’t want to talk to him. I wanted to feel safe and secure. The phone made me feel that way – not him. Within two months, I broke up with him. I don’t remember really using that phone too often except to make funny phone calls like “Hey, I’m calling you from my car… the bathroom… the drive thru.” It didn’t have good reception and the battery always seemed dead.
But I do remember feeling like I had made a major discovery. I could go anywhere and be whoever I wanted to be because I was safe.
I will never erase that memory. I got my first cell phone in 1994. It was a monstrously heavy thing. I travel a lot for business, mostly by car, and I had been in a few precarious positions really desperate for a phone (like on a lonely highway have way between Laredo and San Antonio with a flat tire and no idea how to change it.)
That evening when I showed my ill-fitted boyfriend my new acquisition, he complained bitterly. “Why didn’t you get me one so we could talk to each other.”
I realized, I didn’t want to talk to him. I wanted to feel safe and secure. The phone made me feel that way – not him. Within two months, I broke up with him. I don’t remember really using that phone too often except to make funny phone calls like “Hey, I’m calling you from my car… the bathroom… the drive thru.” It didn’t have good reception and the battery always seemed dead.
But I do remember feeling like I had made a major discovery. I could go anywhere and be whoever I wanted to be because I was safe.
I will never erase that memory.
