Reviews and Interviews « luisaplaja.co.uk

Video interview with Luisa Plaja

April 11th, 2012

I was thrilled to be interviewed at Newton Abbot College by a student called Natalia, who asked me some great questions about my books and about writing life. Huge thanks to Natalia and also to Ms Slade and Mr Abiks.

Watch the interview below.

Luisa Plaja at Newton Abbot College from I Abiks on Vimeo.

Filmed & edited by Ivor Abiks

New reviews and posts...

March 17th, 2012

There’s a lovely review of Kiss Date Love Hate written by a young reader in the Guardian: Guardian teen book reviews.

“It is so unique, and such an amazing plot, that I was gripped throughout the whole book…”

And Booktrust has reviewed Swapped by a Kiss and Kiss Date Love Hate.

“Exciting, funny and filled with great characters, Swapped By a Kiss will keep you entertained right until the very last page.”

[Kiss Date Love Hate] “…a revealing and poignant story about individuality, trust and friendship.”

Thank you very much to Booktrust and the Guardian!

Meanwhile, I’ve been posting at the Random House blog about my book signing, and telling Girls Heart Books all about my computer nightmare.

Kiss Date Love Hate is out!

February 1st, 2012

Kiss Date Love Hate is now available in WHSmith and Waterstone’s, and it’s shipping from Amazon and The Book Depository. Look out for its pinkness!

The Kindle e-book and all other e-book formats including Kobo e-book are available right now, and the audiobook has just been released on CD.

I’ve been busy writing guest posts and answering interview questions…

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Here’s a roundup of the posts and interviews so far:

Fluttering Butterflies asked me about bad boys, nerdiness and more – read my answers
Bookster Reviews interviewed me – read my answers to Cliona’s great questions here
Daisy Chain Book Reviews – guest post about teen books featuring film and filmmaking
Books For Company – guest post about some of my movie influences
I Want To Read That – guest post about Kiss Date Love Hate’s original title and what it means to me
Book Angel Booktopia – Musical Moments: my playlist for Kiss Date Love Hate
Serendipity Reviews – Fantasy Dinner party post – find out who I’m inviting!
Nayu’s Reading Corner – guest post about magical trees
Page-Turner – Beth interviewed me for her Valentine’s Day Special
Also see Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Book Reviews’ wonderful aqua bead cover characters. (And my daughter’s Hama bead recreations are pictured above!)

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Kiss Date Love Hate reviews:

I Want To Read That – “Another brilliant, funny, sweet and magical story from Luisa Plaja. I completely fell in love with it!” Read the full review at I Want To Read That.”
So Many Books, So Little Time – “Kiss Date Love Hate is funny, fresh and smart…” Read the full review at So Many Books, So Little Time.
The Beaucoup Review – “…this book was amazing.” Read the full review at The Beaucoup Review.
Books, Bonnets and Full-Frontal Blogging – “Romantic comedy + cool sci-fi idea + a touch of seriousness to make you think = about a million thumbs up from me.” Read the review and more at Liz Bankes’s blog.
Jess Hearts Books – “I loved this tale of finding love where you least expect it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who appreciates warm, funny, contemporary romance for teens.” Read the full review at Jess Hearts Books.
Books4Teens “…characters so full of life that I felt like they could start walking off the page and start talking to me…. a fast paced, addictive read…” Read the full review at Books4Teens.
Juniper’s Jungle – “I’m going to be recommending it to anyone who’ll listen.” Read the full review at Juniper’s Jungle.
Book Angel Booktopia – “Luisa has a knack of creating utterly realistic and believable characters…” Read the full review at Book Angel Booktopia.
Cicely Loves Books – “Kiss Date Love Hate was an adorable, slightly nerdy, lovely book full of laughs and love and a properly realistic British teen narrative.” Read the full review at Cicely Loves Books.
Readaraptor – “Kiss, Date, Love, Hate is a book which will make people laugh out loud, shout out loud and love forever…” Read the full review at Readaraptor.
Serendipity Reviews – “…funny, warm and extremely entertaining…” Read the full review at Serendipity Reviews.
Fluttering Butterflies – “I loved every minute I spent with this book and had a huge grin on my face throughout.” Read the full review at Fluttering Butterflies.

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Thank you to all the wonderful people who have hosted me on their blogs and taken the time to read and write about my book, I appreciate it so much!

I’ll be updating this post with more links as they come in. Please check back!

Booktrust - my tips on book reviewing and blogging

November 30th, 2011

Booktrust have revamped their excellent site to provide even greater resources for readers of all ages, including writing tips for teenagers. They kindly invited me to give tips on book reviewing and blogging, and you can now read these on the site.

Tips for Starting a Book Blog

Tips for Writing Book Reviews

Booktrust main page

Bookhi interviews me

September 14th, 2011

Huge thanks to Zoe from Bookhi for asking me lots of great questions!

Read my full interview with Bookhi.

Max the dog interviews me

June 28th, 2011

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, I was interviewed by M@x the dog from Devon Libraries.

Read the full interview here.

And you can find out more about the Teenage Flicks book club, which I help with every month, here.

A couple of new reviews

June 26th, 2011

The lovely Raimy at Readaraptor reviews Split by a Kiss. “I think it’s fair to say that as far as contemporary fiction goes Luisa Plaja is one of the queens. I loved this book and think she got teenage life down to a tee; I really can’t wait to see what else she has in store!” Full review.

And wonderful Evellyn at Hey Evellyn! in Brazil writes an in-depth review (complete with translated quotes) of Cool Cats and Melted Kisses, my short story from Truth & Dare. The review in Portuguese is here, or you can see it through an English translation filter… “Great entertainment!”

Thanks very, very much, brilliant bloggers!

Girls Heart Books

May 1st, 2011

With huge thanks to Jo Cotterill, Susie Day, Keris Stainton and a whole lot of other wonderful authors (full list below), a joint book blog called Girls Heart Books has launched today!

There will be a new blog post every day.

Check it out!

Contributing authors:

Anna Carey, Anne-Marie Conway, Cathy Cassidy, Cathy Hopkins, Diane Messidoro, Fiona Dunbar, Griselda Gifford, Hilary Freeman, Jo Cotterill, Joan Lennon, Joanna Nadin, Judi Curtin, Julie Sykes, Karen King, Karen McCombie, Kate Maryon, Kay Woodward, Keris Stainton, Leila Rasheed, Linda Chapman, Lisa Clark, Liz Kessler, Luisa Plaja, Maggi Gibson, Rosalie Warren, Sarah Webb, Sophia Bennett, Sue Mongredien, Susie Day, Tamsyn Murray, Wendy Meddour.

Swapped by a Kiss reviewed by Bookhi

February 27th, 2011

There’s a wonderful review of Swapped by a Kiss written by 13-year-old Zoe at Bookhi. “To sum up this book in one word it would be . . . funtasticious! I recommend this book for all girl teenagers 11+.”

Thank you very much, Zoe!

Read the full review.

Fluttering Butterflies reviews Swapped by a Kiss – plus giveaway!

February 18th, 2011

Love Month continues on the fabulous book blog Fluttering Butterflies with a lovely review of Swapped by a Kiss. Clover writes, “I really and truly loved these characters, so very real and vulnerable.”

Read the full review.

The site is also giving away a signed copy of Swapped by a Kiss, open to entrants all over the world. The closing date for entries is 28th February 2011.

Enter the giveaway.

Thank you very much to Clover of Fluttering Butterflies!