The Adventures of Austin Girl by Carrie Crain

Yes, I'm back with another blog tour! Recently (I can't remember when or how), I heard about Buy the Book Tours, which sounded really fun. So of course, I signed up, and now, here's my first blog tour from them, The Adventures of Austin Girl by Carrie Crain. It's a "Page Turner Bonanza", so be prepared for lots of information.

Let's start with the review first

The book begins with the warning "I listen to disco". Personally, I think it's a fair warning, because the book is very, um, loud, and uh, basically, it's how I imagine Disco is.

First off, if you're used to spare prose (like Hemmingway, I hear his prose is very sparse), then reading The Adventures of Austin Girl might give you a shock. The prose is loud and chaotic and if you like this sort of thing, very fun. I can totally imagine a kid with a tiny attention span reading the whole book because of all the details thrown at you. You might get confused, but you won't get bored.

Second, there are the characters. I'm still trying to decide if Austin Girl is a Mary-Sue, but I don't think she is. There are some Mary Sue moments though. But the rest of the characters, especially Diablo, are just wacky. This is so obviously made-up, so suspend your dis-belief and hang on.

But, I would say that the Geisha was quite annoying. She didn't seem wise or Japanese in any way. I did wonder if she was there for the token wise Asian character, but since the book seems to be making fun of everyone, from the main character to the villian, I can still ignore this.

At the back of the book, there's also a useful character list (I wish I saw it earlier), and some interesting facts about the book (like how the word "eyeballs" appeared only once).

In order to enjoy this book, you have to be able to handle large-amounts of "O.O" and accept everything as it goes.

Disclaimer: I got a copy of this book from Buy the Book Tours in exchange for a free and honest review.

So, here's the Media Page

Author Information:

Carrie Crain received her bachelor of arts in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma and studied graduate-level screenwriting and creative writing in fiction at UCLA. She is a housewife and writer who is challenged by bipolar, anticipatory stress, and generalized anxiety.

 Her debut tween novel, The Adventures of Austin Girl and the Legend of Diablo will be published by Two Crain Teen, an imprint of Two Crain Publishing, LLC in October 2012 and available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony Reader Store, and iTunes for ebook readers, Kindle, iPad, and Nook. Also available as a paperback online and at select indie bookstores. 

If you’re on Goodreads, follow her there, now. She plans on doing some kind of #LegendofDiabloBookClub.

 Crain wrapped up her first independent short she wrote and produced called Sould, which was filmed in Oklahoma last summer and included local talent as well as a Hollywood comedian and LA director. The story is about a zany film director desperate to enter a film competition and reluctantly picks a screenplay about a woman who sells her soul. The short will be entered in film competitions both in the States as well as abroad. For more information about her short, visit the Facebook Fan Page at ww.facebook.com/souldshort and follow along on Twitter @SouldShort.

 Crain is currently penning her memoir, a collection of humorous essays, Sould: Memoir of Bipolar to be published in 2014, and is the story of a middle-aged housewife’s adventures with bipolar as she struggles to write the next Great American Novel.

 She has been a freelance writer for Austin Monthly Magazine and was a contributing writer at Crazytownblog. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three dogs. For speaking engagements or book inquiries, please e-mail: wildcatterswife@gmail.com or tweet her @CarrieCrain. Creative Influences: Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Tim Burton, and Wes Anderson

You can buy The Adventures of Austin Girl at the following places:
Amazon (Ebook, Paperback)
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords