Poll: Choose An Outfit for Ridley

March 31, 2010     /     7 Comments

I looked up some outfits that I thought might fit Ridley’s personality.  Which one would you choose for Ridley?

Kami talks publishing with the YA Rebels

March 30, 2010     /     0 Comments

First, let me say that I adore the YA Rebels. The 7 of them do a weekly round of Questions, topics, and surprises. Like today’s video that features the lovely and talented, and favorite author of ours, Kami Garcia!

See what she has to say about publishing and make sure you leave a comment ON HER VIDEO. Yeah, over there… see it? OK!

Sometimes Good Girls Wear Black

March 29, 2010     /     1 Comments

When Yvette asked me if I’d like to write a post for Caster Girls, I immediately responded, “Yes.”  And by immediately I mean as soon as I stopped squeeing and doing my happy dance.  But then I needed to come up with a topic.  Yikes!  What could I write about that wouldn’t sound ridiculous (i.e. Post idea 1:  I like Beautiful Creatures.  Do you?) or crazy (i.e. Post idea 2: How the reference of Antigone relates to the overall theme of family and death and the importance of rituals and remembrance in BC.  Discuss.  *crickets chirping*).

Then it occurred to me that there are a whole lot of unresolved issues in this book.  This is a good thing, since there are another three books in the making.  But it’s also a good thing for me, because that’s an open area I can speculate on.  And I thought I’d start off with the idea of Dark Casters and Ridley in particular.  But before I delve into that I just want to warn you that if you haven’t read the book, there are some spoilers mentioned below, so proceed with that in mind.

Image Courtesy of VLC Photo

Ridley is a complex character.  She was Lena’s best and only friend for most of her life, they were raised like sisters and she’s the person Lena was the most open with emotionally as she grew up.  Then Ridley was Claimed.  For Dark.  And just like that the rug is pulled out from under their relationship and Ridley’s gone, out of Lena’s life forever.  Or so Lena thinks.  But then she shows up again.  At a family get together.  On Ethan’s arm.  A-W-K-W-A-R-D!!

Just when I’m thinking that Ridley’s going to be our boilerplate Dark Caster for the book, she does some things that surprise me.  Like stick up for Lena at the school dance when the in-crowd girls ruin Lena’s night.  Like seeming to have genuine affection for Link.  Like declining to kill Ethan’s father, even though that’s what she’s been instructed to do.  And while all of these things can be explained away as personal whim, and indeed she does try to pass them off that way at the end of the book, there’s something that doesn’t ring true to me about that.

All of which makes me ask the question:  is Ridley truly Dark?  Can there be some sort of halfway?  And if not, can a Caster be a good person and still be Dark?  While I feel like the curse on Lena’s family is absolutely in effect when it comes to Ridley and that she is truly Dark, I can’t help but hope that the Claiming only goes so far and some part of the girl Lena grew up with and knew is still inside Ridley, somewhere.  We’re given some hope for this to be the case when at the end of 2.11 Lollipop Girl she turns to Link ruefully and says, “Maybe I’m just drawn that way.”

Whether my guess is right or wrong, this topic is something I’m really hoping gets explored more thoroughly in the upcoming books, especially since it has so much bearing on Lena and the choices she’s being forced to make.  But while we all wait for Beautiful Darkness to come out this fall, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.  So I’ve opened a thread in the forum, here, to explore just that.  Stop by and let me know what you think!

Newest Addition to our US Fansite

March 29, 2010     /     2 Comments

Today I have someone to introduce.  Her name is Heather and she is the newest addition to the Caster Girls & Boys team and will be helping out with the forum.  I also have another helper on the way but at the moment she is busy with midterms. ;)  So to familiarize you with Heather I had her write a mini bio about herself.  You will be seeing a lot of her around our site so please welcome her!

Hi, I’m Heather known to some around the blogosphere as One Pushy Fox.  I love to read and discuss books, and I have fallen in love with the world that Kami and Margi created in Beautiful Creatures.

In addition to being a total fan of Kami, Margie and all things BC, I am a mother of three small tots (a set of almost 4-year-old twins and a 18 month old girl) who loves to read fiction of all types, especially romantic or historical.  Also, I love a good cup of coffee (or a good pot of coffee if I’m being completely honest), mint chocolate chip ice cream and Mexican food (not necessarily in the same meal of course).

I live in the same city I was born in (go, Chicago!), attended the same college as Kami (but I’m pretty sure not at the same time) and got a degree in Art in order to become a Graphic Designer, then a Computer Programmer and most recently a stay-at-home mom.  I write for fun and can be found at my own blog in addition to a few others as a guest blogger.

I’m thrilled to be writing about the Caster Chronicles and look forward to chatting with all of you in the forum.

Thank you to Heather for helping us out and being part of our team!  I will be publishing Heather’s post here on the Caster Girls site later on, so stay tuned.

Beautiful Creatures on Facebook

March 26, 2010     /     1 Comments

You can now add Lena, Ethan and even Genevieve onto your friends list on Facebook. Here are the links to their pages, request them as friends and see what happens.

Genevieve

Lena

Ethan

Sixteen Moons Music Video

March 26, 2010     /     3 Comments

Check this out!  A music video was made for Sixteen Moons and it’s rad!  Let us know what you think.