Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway - The Invention of Sophie Carter by Samantha Hastings

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The Invention of Sophie Carter by Samantha Hastings
(Swoon Reads)
Publication date: July 14th 2020
Genres: Historical Romance, Young Adult

Identical twin sisters take turns swapping places over the course of a summer in order to pursue their secret ambitions in Samantha Hastings’ Victorian YA romance.

1851. Bounced from one begrudging relative to another their whole lives, orphaned identical twins Sophie and Mariah Carter have always relied on each other for love and support, even though the sisters couldn’t be more different.

Brash Sophie wants to be an inventor, and demure Mariah wants to be an artist. Both long to visit London for the summer—Sophie to see the Queen’s Great Exhibition and Mariah to study the world’s finest collection of paintings. But when their cantankerous aunt answers their letter pleading for a place to stay, she insists she only has time and room to spare for one of them.

So, Mariah and Sophie hatch a clever scheme: They will travel to London together and take turns playing the part of “Sophie”.

At first the plan runs like clockwork. But as the girls avoid getting caught by increasingly narrow margins and two handsome gentlemen—both of whom think they’re falling in love with the real Sophie Carter—enter the equation, the sisters find they don’t have the situation quite as under control as they thought.

With all sorts of delightful Parent Trap-style identical twin hijinks, The Invention of Sophie Carter is the perfect light-and-sweet palate cleanser.

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10 Cool Things About the Great Exhibition of 1851 That You Didn’t Know

1. The Exhibition had the first public toilets. They were called “Monkey Closets” and cost one penny to use. 

2. The largest diamond in the world, the Koh-i-noor diamond, was on display. But it wasn’t cut well so it didn’t sparkle and was a bit of disappointment to most viewers.

3. The Exhibition was housed in a building called the Crystal Palace, which was made up of glass and iron. It was built to encase two already existing trees without harming them.

4. Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, and Henry Cole were the creators of the Exhibition. 

5. There were over 100,000 objects on display and an official catalogue by Messrs. Spicer and Clowes.

6. The largest exhibit was a hydraulic press. Each tube weighed 1,144 tons; but it was operated by only one man.

7. Messrs. Schweppes sold refreshments: 60,698 cottage loaves, 68,428 pound cakes, 934,691 bath buns, 1,046 gallons of pickles, and 33 tons of hams.

8. No alcohol was allowed, so they sold 33,432 quarts of milk; and 1,092,337 bottles of Schweppes’ soda water, lemonade, and ginger.

9. 6 million people visited the Great Exhibition (6,039,195 to be precise).

10. Queen Victoria opened the Exhibition and wrote in her diary that it had, ‘every conceivable invention’.

Author Bio

 

Samantha Hastings has degrees from Brigham Young University, the University of Reading (Berkshire, England), and the University of North Texas. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, and chasing her kids. She is the author of THE LAST WORD, THE INVENTION OF SOPHIE CARTER, and A ROYAL CHRISTMAS QUANDARY.

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Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway - The Last Word by Samantha Hastings

Find the tour schedule here.
 

 

The Last Word by Samantha Hastings
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: July 9th 2019
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult

Set against the smoky, gaslit allure of Victorian London, this sweetly romantic historical debut is full of humor and stars a whip-smart female heroine ahead of her time.
Where one story ends, another begins.

1861. Miss Lucinda Leavitt is shocked when she learns the author of her favorite serialized novel has died before completing the story. Determined to learn how it ends, Lucinda reluctantly enlists the help of her father’s young business partner, Mr. David Randall, to track down the reclusive author’s former whereabouts.

David is a successful young businessman, but is overwhelmed by his workload. He wants to prove himself to his late father, as well as to himself. He doesn’t have the time, nor the interest, for this endeavor, but Lucinda is not the type to take no for an answer.

Their search for the elusive Mrs. Smith and the rightful ending to her novel leads Lucinda and David around the country, but the truths they discover about themselves—and each other—are anything but fictional.

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, The Last Word by debut author Samantha Hastings is a fun yet intellectual romp through Victorian London—the perfect book for book-lovers.

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10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

1. The opening line should invite the reader into your story. Does your opening line capture the tone of your story? Does it have a hook or something unexpected to grab the reader’s attention? If not, get out a Welcome mat and start working on making that first sentence the best in your book. 

2. Show don’t tell. Telling: summarizes, names emotion, names a sense, and names an action. Showing: dramatizes like a movie scene, uses dialogue, sensory language, and the details to help the reader experience the same feeling. 

3. Make proactive characters. Does your character act or only react? Give your character goals and motivations. Make sure they have plenty of obstacles to use their wits and skills. And remember that failure allows for great character development. 

4. Make your antagonist as interesting as your protagonist. They need to be a worthy foe. You need to know their beliefs, loyalties, traits, and emotions. What are they willing to sacrifice to accomplish their goal? Your antagonist should also show character growth—even if it’s darker growth. 

5. Raise the stakes, both internally and externally for your character. To do this you need to be able to answer these following questions: What is the foundational stone of your character’s belief system? How much can the character withstand before abandoning their beliefs? What sacrifices does your character make for the goal? 

6. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Whether you’re a plotter who uses an outline to create a structure for your story, or a panster who discovers the story while they write it, make sure that you evaluate your overall plotting. Is it too slow in some places? Does it sag in the middle? Is the end satisfying? I highly recommend watching Dan Well’s Youtube videos about story structure. 

7. Does your book have a theme? Use the Rule of Three to find out: if a symbol is used once it’s interesting, twice it’s a pattern, and three times it’s a theme. You can use call backs to previous scenes, echoes, and mirrors to help your reader remember your theme.

8. Take out any dialogue tags that you don’t need. Only use a dialogue tag if the identity of the speaker is unclear. 

9. Variety is the spice of reading. Watch out for words that you use too many times and take them out; replacing them with synonyms or just get rid of them. Vary your sentence lengths (make some shorter and some longer). Change up the structure of your sentences (if you start with a noun at the beginning of every sentence it’s really boring for the reader). Use different paragraph lengths (this will also help keep your reader’s interest). 

10. Read your entire novel—by just reading the first and last line of every chapter. Do you have mini-cliff hangers that keep the reader turning to the next chapter? Are your best sentences in the most effective positions?

 

Author Bio

Samantha Hastings has degrees from Brigham Young University, the University of Reading (Berkshire, England), and the University of North Texas. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, and chasing her kids. The Last Word is her debut novel.

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