They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with young adult author A.M. Rose, whose debut, The Road to Eugenica, is out today from Entangled Teen!
What does A.M. Rose love when she’s not drinking too much coffee or writing romantic YA novels? Spoiler alert: monster hunting with Mom, fearless female leaders, charitable beauty, rocking reds, and a certain blue shapeshifter. Curious? Read on for more!
The thing is, I like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens so when I was asked to come up with only five of my favorite things I almost fell over. Okay, maybe I didn’t fall over, but I did blindly stare at a blank page on my computer for an unmeasurable amount of time. How could I ever choose? But alas, after pondering, debating, and flipping a few coins I’ve come up with my list. So here it goes.
Picking out my favorite book probably should be a difficult task, but really, I fell in love with The Awesome by Eva Darrows the first time I read it. To look at the cover with its creepy florescent skull, you’d think it’d normally be something I’d be afraid to read, since I don’t love to be scared. But my friend recommended it, and I found it for sale at this amazing little indie store in San Francisco, and I couldn’t resist those black edges on the pages. The main character Maggie is this snarky monster hunter. Yes, you read that right, she hunts monsters. With her mom. Which BTW is one of my favorite relationships in the book. Their back-and-forth banter is LOL amazing. And there’s this thing about her being able to hunt vampires that made me spit my juice out while reading. No spoilers. If you haven’t read it, you should. You won’t be disappointed. I also recently found out that Eva Darrows is a pen name for Hillary Monahan, and I’m looking forward to reading some of her other novels. (Although I’m still hoping for more of Maggie’s story.)
Unlike picking my favorite book, choosing my favorite cartoon wasn’t as easy. With kids ages nine and eleven I watch my fair share of them. Some of them are great. Some… not so much. But when it comes down to it, I think my favorite has to be Phineas and Ferb. It’s so witty, with humor both kids and adults can enjoy. Isabella Garcia Shapiro is my favorite character of them all. She’s this super smart, fearless leader of The Fireside Girls. She always has big ideas and is known to save Phineas and Ferb a few times. Is she a strong female character? Yes, yes she is. Which is just another reason why I adore her so much. If I was a kid watching this show she would be the girl I’d want to be.
Now after a long day of dealing with two very active boys, this girl needs some relaxing time, and for that I turn to my favorite shop LUSH. If you’ve never been or never heard of it (first crawl out from under that rock), it’s this great shop that carries handmade bath and beauty products made from all organic ingredients sourced from raw materials. They are 100% against animal testing and are charitable with one of their products, the Charity pot (this really great lotion): 100% of the purchase price (minus tax of course since Uncle Sam wants his) goes to support humanitarian, animal rights, and environmental causes around the globe. (Hello, this is like a Road to Eugenica dream product.) Their bath bombs are some of my favorites. It’s like a color explosion in the tub that leaves my skin soft and smelling amazing. Sometimes I don’t use them right away and keep them in my dresser drawers so my clothes will absorb some of those delicious scents. They have this amazing exfoliating lotion bar you put on in the shower, which sounds weird, but is incredibly moisturizing. Seriously, if you haven’t been to their store, go. They will pamper you while you shop.
To go along with this, my favorite geeky beauty product right now has to be Kat Von D’s Everlasting liquid lipstick in Nahz Fur Atoo, a deep blood red color. (Two points if you can guess why it’s named that. Give up?) It’s named after the 1920s silent film, Nosferatu. Which roughly means, you guessed it, vampire. Blood red — vampire. Clever, right? Who doesn’t love sexy red vampire lips? It goes on smooth and dries matte.The best part is, it does last long without having to reapply (which in my book is a huge bonus). Whenever I wear it, it makes me feel tough and powerful, and gives me this don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
Speaking of people not to mess with, it brings me to my favorite superhero, and this hands down was the easiest choice out of all of these. Mystique from the Marvel universe is my all-time favorite. She’s the very definition of badass and takes don’t-mess-with-me to an entirely different level. It doesn’t hurt that she also has my favorite superpower. If I found a genie in a lamp, my first wish would be to become a shapeshifter. Who needs millions of dollars when you can literally turn into anyone you want? Talk about walking a day in someone else’s shoes. I think she’s absolutely gorgeous, and the fact that Jennifer Lawrence plays her in the X-Men movies makes it even better. (Another all-time favorite.)
So there you go. It was tough, but I was able to narrow down some of my favorite things that didn’t include rainbow-butterfly-unicorn-kittens (which is still a top contender). Do you have a favorite geeky makeup, book, superhero, or cartoon? I’d love to hear about about them, so comment below.
A.M. Rose is the author of Road to Eugenica and writer of young adult novels of all genres as long as they have a hint of romance; drinker of too much coffee (with way too much coconut creamer), and lover of all carbohydrates. Currently, she lives in Houston, TX with her three boys (yes, her husband is in that count) and three cats. When she isn’t writing, she is an avid reader, critiquer (is that even a word?), literary agent intern, and trampoline enthusiast. She’s a graduate from San Diego State University with a BA in Communication and a minor in underwater basket weaving. (Okay, maybe not the basket weaving part.)
Author photo by Alberto Moretta.
A.M., thanks for joining us! This list was a lot of fun, especially on the cosmetics/beauty product side. I rather love the geeky naming of things, and you’ve got me curious to try that lipstick! And indeed, the cover to The Awesome is very awesome. 🙂
Congrats on your debut!
Mmmmm, Kat Von D lipstick. She’s one of the few makeup brands that has really kickass colors! I use one of her electric blue and dark green lip liners – and you should check out her Glimmer Veil liquid lipsticks! Those are a m a z i n g!