Guest Post: Victoria Foyt

Today I have a Guest Post from Victoria Foyt!

Raised in Coral Gables, Florida, Victoria attended the University of Miami and received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and French with a double minor in German and business. Later, she studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles, private acting classes with Geraldine Baron and many UCLA Extension film courses. She cites her primary literary influence as Ernest Hemingway, and counts Don Quixote and Gone with the Wind as two of her favorite books. Victoria currently lives in Santa Monica, California with her two children and a lot of books.





Victoria's Latest release is the first in an exciting new series - 'Save The Pearls' Part One: Revealing Eden.

Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%? In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe. Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land. Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.

Guest Post
 

Unhip but True: I Love Books

             By Victoria Foyt

I considered the release of my latest novel, Revealing Eden (Save The Pearls Part One), as an e-book with a mixture of fascination and trepidation. I know it’s the fashionable thing to do, the environmentally correct thing. And maybe, it’s a generational gap, but I really don’t get the appeal.

The truth is that I love real books. I love the heft of them, the look of them, and the quiet, intimate experience that they provide. 

I imagine that the disadvantages of e-reading outweigh the possible benefits. I’ll have to charge yet another device, will be unable to use one of my favorite worn bookmarks, and lose membership in that secret club I’ve been a member of all my life, addicted readers, sitting at a café, airport, or doctor’s office, quietly showing each other the title of the book we’re currently reading.

I may be wrong—my boyfriend says I am whenever he sits beside me reading on his iPad.

The love of books is deeply ingrained in me. When I was a young girl, my mother took my siblings and I to the local library in Coral Gables, Florida, every two weeks. I felt a quiet thrill each time I walked through the large wooden double doors, past the coral walls and into this veritable treasure chest. What gems would I pick today? I would leave excited to devour the neat stack of books in my arms.

Look, I’m no Luddite. I had a cell phone and email way before most of my crowd. I even created a character called Ajna-Mac in my first novel, The Virtual Life of Lexie Diamond, a coming-of-age, supernatural mystery. The word ajna is Sanskrit for the third eye, and mac is short for the Macintosh computer that socially awkward Lexie Diamond considers to be her best friend. (I tried to interest Apple in cross-promotion but they never responded.)

In fact, I also love my Mac computer. I must because I spend copious amounts of time using them. And yet, I draw the line when it comes to reading e-books. 

Can you possibly imagine the thrill I had when my editor at HarperCollins sent me an advanced copy of Lexie Diamond? The dust jacket alone sent me into paroxysms of ecstasy, the graphic for each chapter heading, a fascination. So deep was this thrill that when I opened the package I didn’t scream or run, I simply stared at it, overcome with emotion.

My reaction to seeing the hardcopy of Revealing Eden was no less profound. If anything, it doubled. I still wonder if the e-version can contain its heady themes of racial oppression and environmental loss mixed with romance and self-discovery: In a post-apocalyptic world where resistance to an overheated environment defines class and beauty, Eden Newman’s white skin brands her as a member of the lowest social class, the weak and ugly Pearls. Doomed unless she mates soon, Eden hopes a Coal from the dark-skinned ruling class will save her. But when she unwittingly compromises her father’s secret biological experiment, perhaps mankind’s only hope, Eden is cast out—into the last patch of rainforest and also the arms of a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction to him. To survive, Eden must change—but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty—and of love. Along the way, she receives some beautiful insight from her virtually adopted aunt Emily Dickinson.

I’d love to hear your opinion. You can contact me at VictoriaFoyt.com or http://www.facebook.com/SaveThePearls.

You can buy Revealing Eden at SaveThePearls.com, or on any online bookseller such as http://www.amazon.com/Revealing-Eden-Save-Pearls-Part/dp/0983650322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324060654&sr=8-1. 

 

My Review

Title: Revealing Eden
Author: Victoria Foyt
Series: Save The Pearls (part 1)

Publisher: Sand Dollar Press Inc (US)
Release Date: 10 Feb 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0983650324

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Save The Pearls – Revealing Eden is a Dystopian novel which came across as a mixture of ‘Nought’s & Crosses’, ‘Matched’, ‘Divergent’, ‘Beauty & The Beast’ and ‘Romeo & Juliet’, all great books and it made for a good read.

Eden is a ‘Pearl’ the name for White people, in a post apocalyptic sort of setting, there aren’t many white people left and those that are around are viewed as low class, practically worthless. In this society, the darker your skin – the more respect you have.

Eden’s father, although a Pearl, has a high positioned job because he his a scientific genius and he is just about to discover a genetic modification that could change the future of the world.

When the world Eden knows comes under threat, and the people she thought she could trust turn on her she has to decide whether to follow her heart and save herself or end up fighting to save the future of humanity.

I liked Eden as a character; she’s strong willed and can fight her own corner but also has her weaknesses. In fact she starts out a little bit whiney but that means you get to see her grow and adapt and I enjoyed going on the journey with her.

I couldn’t stand her father, he was so self absorbed, I wanted to reach into the pages and slap him, shouting ‘pay attention!’ but I think that is what the author was trying to convey and she did a fabulous job.

Bramford is intriguing, he’s one of those who your never really sure what side he is on, but I really liked him, even as a bad-guy I felt a connection, so I knew what I hoped he would turn out to be.

 The plot is fast paced and exciting, there are a lot of unexpected twists and turns. I finished this in one day; I just couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can’t wait for book 2. I hope it’s out soon.

Exciting start to a great new series.

My Rating

 

Check out the book and website now!
Thanks for featuring on my blog Victoria!