FOR IT IS VALENTINE’S!

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR! Hearts are in eyes, flowers are sent, singing Valentines (heh, my school. Best idea ever. If only all my friends were in my 4th period. Alas.) are performed, and there are winged babies flying around and shooting everyone.

I’m sorry, why do we do this again?

Oh that’s right. BECAUSE HEARTS AND FLOWERS AND CANDY AND all that girly stuff I actually really like. Staph judging me. I’m girly through and through. (Y’all HAVE noticed the intense amount of pink around my blog, right? Whoops.) As a fan of using CAPS LOCK and !!!!! and <3 <3 <3  and *tackle hugs* a lot, I kind of really adore this holiday.

And if this is the sucky holiday for you, well I’ve got GREAT news for you. And by news I mean…

What’s the most exciting/amazing thing that’s happened to you on Valentine’s?
Last year, my fiancé and I spent Valentine’s Day at an animal rescue organization visiting with the kitties. I was heartbroken because we’d lost our 13-year-old cat Satchmo to cancer the day before, and we were trying to cheer ourselves up. We ended up coming home with Penelope Scout Finch, a 7-month-old polydactyl kitten with the biggest mitten paws I’ve ever seen. This past year has been a tough one (I lost my mom in August), but Scout has come in and made herself right at home with us and with our other two kitties, Lulu and Rumi. She’s so weird and funny, and I’m grateful every day that we found her.

What’s the worst? 
Being broken up with on Valentine’s Day by my 5^th grade boyfriend. (We’d only been going together a week—whatever “going together” means in fifth grade terms—but I was sure I was going to marry him.)

How would Violet and Finch have celebrated Valentine’s?
They would have wandered someplace like Wabash, Indiana, the first electrically lighted city in the world. (On March 31, 1880, inventor Charles F. Brush chose to light the Wabash Courthouse dome to test his invention of electric brush lights. The population of Wabash was then 320, but over 10,000 people witnessed the event.) I can imagine Finch telling Violet, “You make me feel as bright and lit up as Wabash, Indiana, on a March day in 1880.”

Finch would think what about all this romantic hullaballoo? (I’m so happy I just used that word)
He would absolutely think it was hullaballoo (such a good word), but he would have embraced it in an over-the-top, larger-than-life kind of way because of his feelings for Violet.

Violet’s thoughts on it? 
She’s a romantic at heart, so I think she would love it, especially if she got to spend it with Finch.

What are YOUR opinions on Valentine’s? Hate it, love it?
I’ve always loved Valentine’s, but then I’m a kind of a hopeless romantic too.

What is your favorite scene between our starcrossed lovers?
I love it when Finch brings Violet spring (aka flowers from the nursery he runs across outside of Indianapolis).

What characters in another book do you ship the most?
Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.

If you were a conversation heart what would you say?
Make it lovely.

What would Violet’s say?
Finch.

Finch’s?
Violet.

The most romantic thing you could possibly think of?
Bringing someone spring during winter (a la Finch and the flowers).

Your Top Five Must-Dos W/ a Special Someone list?
Anything is a must-do if you’re with the right person, but here are a few specifics: 1) an ocean walk or mountain hike, hand in hand, followed by a picnic; 2) tangoing in the streets of Argentina (or any street for that matter); 3) climbing to the top of your town’s tallest building and enjoying the view, just the two of you; 4) read a book together and talk about what it means to you, or share your favorite book/movie/song with each other; 5) get in the car and go wandering to find all your own bright places.

Favorite YA romance?
Does Jane Eyre count?

All the Bright Places

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

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