We have winners! Congrats to Alex and Tanya! Thanks for playing everyone.

To celebrate my novel Freaksville going on Kindle, I am offering a Free (yep, Free kindle ebook copy of my novel. All you have do do is comment on the blog to win. Easy as pie. I will draw the lucky winner at the end of April and email a link to you to pick up your copy. Please spread the word. And be sure to check out my short story Death Becomes Her in the Spirited Anthology. It came out in paperback in March and is also on Kindle as an ebook.

Whoot! First blogger review of SECOND SKIN is out!

TAKING A WICKED LEAP FOR LITERACY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Leap Books digs the importance of literacy – and they’ve unearthed 13 haunting tales to help spread the word. After all, there’s no rest for the wicked.

More than a dozen young adult paranormal fiction authors are contributing to Spirited, a collection of steampunk, cyberpunk and downright spooky stories guaranteed to get your heart racing. Proceeds from the anthology will be donated to National 826, a literacy-based charity.

“Leap Books tends to lean towards the eccentric and snarky, so when we found an organization that’s a little off-the-wall and dovetails with our goals – reading and writing – we couldn’t resist,” says Spirited editor, Kat O’Shea. “One of our goals is to get teens excited about books. What better way to do that than to offer stories by some of their favorite authors?”

The anthology features supernatural tales by bestselling writers such as Maria V. Snyder, Candace Havens, Shannon Delany, Linda Joy Singleton, Heather Kenealy and more.

“I was amazed at how many well-known authors were willing to carve time out of their hectic schedules to benefit charity,” says O’Shea.

For bestselling author and leading entertainment journalist Candace Havens, Charmed & Dangerous (Berkley), the chance to be a part of Spirited was a no-brainer. Trying her hand at a ghost story was something she’s wanted to do for a long time, and as the emcee for several literacy charity events, she hears amazing stories of literacy inspiration all the time.

“When my firs

Kitty and I are thrilled to be participating in the second annual Crossroads Blog Tour, which brings 15 YA paranormal authors together in one freak-a-thon of Halloween-inspired goodness. Don't miss out on chances to win SWAG, signed ARCs, learn more about NY Times Best-selling and debut paranormal authors, as well as freaking CHAT with them....LIVE!

Writing By The Seat of My Pants...

When I first heard the words scene and sequel…I cringed. Because I didn’t write that way. I didn’t plot. I just sat down at the computer and typed. That was many years ago. Ahem…I have binders full of unfinished manuscripts.

I’m Kitty and I’m a Pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. Yep, I said it. I confessed. Now what? Is there a twelve step program to join? Support groups? Do I get a shinny pin? Nope. Darn!

The good news is Pantsers can plot and still keep their edge. Really?

I’ve learned what background information I needed to have ahead of time. I will never sit down and write out a forty page outline or twelve pages of notes on each character. It’s not me. And I’m not knocking those that do. I admire them, truly.

So here’s one take on plotting from a die-hard Pantser. (As I am a Pantser, any major amount of planning causes adverse affects. I promise to keep this short. And yes, I’m sort of winging it.)

Back to those two words SCENE and SEQUEL. (See in bold type they seem ominous don’t they? Wahhhaaaaa. They’re not once you have the tools to slay the beast.)


Let’s start with SCENE:

What’s a scene? What should it contain? (Okay, tiny beads of sweat are forming at my forehead as I write this. Must continue… gripping mouse harder. BREATHE. EXHALE, INHALE)

The best book I ever found that described scenes was written by the late Jack M. Bickhman. He wrote, “What is a scene? It’s a segment of the story action, written moment-by-moment, without summary, presented onstage in the story “now.” It is not something that goes on inside the character’s head; it is physical. It could be put on the theatre stage and acted out.” SCENE AND STRUCTURE, ISBN 0-89879-906-6, Chapter 4, page 26.

Wow that’s pretty easy, right? Clear. Scenes are action. They are not summary. They happen in the story now. There are three things all scenes should have and this dare I say, this is where the plotting comes in. Big Gulp.

GOAL,CONFLICT, DISASTER (OMG! I’m so want to head for the hills right about now. Someone hold my hand. Spoiler alert! Big scary words ahead.)

First big scary word…Goal.

All characters must have a goal. Something they want. Ray Bradbury wrote, “First find out what your hero wants; then just follow him.” The goal is why the story is. Your hero wants something.

Second big scary word…Conflict.

This is actually my favorite. Conflict drives your story. Conflict makes it interesting. Without conflict your story would be about as exciting as a grocery list. Conflict can be from the hero himself, from nature, or from another character…the villain. Everyone boo and hiss. The more conflict you have the more interesting. But, conflict needs to have a purpose. It needs to drive the story forward. Random acts of conflict is just that, random.

The third big scary word…Disaster.

Dunt dunt dunt dunt….shark! Disaster is the failure of the character meeting his goal. It’s what makes us turn the page and read the next chapter with the next scene.

Okay so that’s pretty easy right? Just think of each scene as cause and effect. Cover the five W’s… who, what, when, why, and where. Have your dialogue crisp, natural and have a point. And the scene should have a reason. Yep. That about covers it. Not really. But it’s a start. And remember I’m a Pantser. Too much information will make my head explode. I try to keep all of this organized in my thoughts. Mostly though, I think of the major three, Goal, Conflict, Disaster.


Okay cringe, big scary word, again… Sequel.

I thought a sequel was something after the first Lord of the Rings movie, the second movie, part two. In a way, I was right. A sequel follows a scene. WARNING. Doctrine alert! This is where people differ on opinion. I’m going to share what works for me.

When Judith and I started Wolfy Chicks nearly three years ago we were new at everything. Being published authors blogging the works. One of the most joyous things about this journey has been our followers and supporters. Awhile back we had the pleasure of featuring Shannon Delany, who was one of our first Wolfy Chick Followers. She is now a sensational YA author with her 13 to Life werewolf series. We have yet another opportunity to share another talented author that has been very supportive of our journey. Heather McCorkle debut novel just came out this month. Please give her a Wolfy Chicks howl and welcome her!


What projects are you working on / have published?
My debut novel, a young adult urban fantasy titled The Secret of Spruce Knoll, just released this August (it feels totally surreal to say that :). I'm currently working on editing the sequel which is due out next spring.

What's your "road to publication" story?
It has been a rocky road for me, as with many people in this changing industry. I've had two agents and two different manuscripts that failed in the editorial submission rounds. This last one felt it was all about timing and the tumultuous state of the market though. We parted ways because he was downsizing like so many others lately. I never stopped writing and improving though, and I started submitting to editors of publishing houses myself. A few interested houses later I finally found my path to success.


Why YA?
I took my adult fantasy novel to a writer's retreat where I met YA authors Aprilynne Pike and Sarah Rees Brennan. They showed me that YA wasn't what I thought it was. It was fun, quirky, daring, and very cutting edge. I realized it was what I was meant to write.

Best writing advice you've heard?Keep writing even when you've landed an agent and you're manuscript is on editor submission. That advice is why I'm published today.

What inspires you?
Life! LOL, I know that's a bit vague. I'm an active outdoor person and my surroundings are very inspiring to me. So are people, animals, movies, great books, art.

Did you write stories as a teen? If yes what has/hasn’t changed?
Definitely! I've been writing novel length work since I was twelve. My writing is better but still carries a lot of the same tone and atmosphere it had when I was a teen writer. I think that helps make it something they can relate to.

Describe your office/workspace/writer’s cave.
I don't have an office yet, but I hope to soon! In the meantime my work space is the kitchen table, the end next to the bookshelf with all my necessities on it. ;)

Who is your favorite character in your work? Why?
Oh no, you're making me choose favorites! Well alright, but only if you don't tell the others. That is so hard, I love them all so much. I would have to say Aiden though since he had such a challenging childhood it made him very interesting and deep to write. I love characters that push m

I've joined my husband (a high school social studies teacher), 22 grade 10-12 students, 1 parent and 4 teacher supervisors for a Commemorating Canada tour of France/Belgium/Germany. We've visited key WWI and WWII sites in which Canadian soldiers played a prominent role. While I enjoyed the military history aspects of the tour, my focus had been scouring each country for folklore references, the supernatural, or the fantastical.

Take Belgium for instance. When we first arrived in Ypres, my heart was captured by the amazing medieval / gothic architecture. As I began to take photos I noticed sculptures of cats crawling up buildings, cat shaped chocolates in shop windows, as well as cat sculptures guarding store windows. I asked our lovely tour guide, Christine, why all the cats?

Of course, there was a supernatural element to her explanation that I quickly recorded for future investigation and this is what I discovered. The town and surrounding Flanders area is home to many WWI memorials and also hosts a rather unusual festival every three years. The next one will be held on May 13, 2012.

The Cat Festival has been celebrated for over 40 years. Townspeople dress in cat costumes and there’s a parade with medieval and modern representations of cats (Garfield is the highlight) and even throw toy cats from the church. Witches are also featured, a mock burning is held in the town square. The festival pays tribute to the burning times of the 18th century and the legend that cats were seen as witches familiars and thus tossed from the church’s bell tower.

From these macabre origins, today the people of Ypres embrace all that is feline.

I found this blog post which has a bevy of photos from one of the festivals: http://www.catcollectors.com/ieper.html

My husband is a high school social studies teacher and his love of military history knows no bounds - it's been a dream of his to go to major WWI and WWII sites in which Canadian soldiers fought and died.

I didn’t have HBO last year so I missed my one of my guilty pleasures, TRUEBLOOD. I was excited to see it out on DVD and quickly snatched it up. I finished watching the last episode yesterday. I’m torn. I absolutely adore the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I enjoyed the first two seasons and I liked the third but, I felt it deviated a bit farther from the original books. The third season was well written and chocked full of the witty retorts, blood and vampy drama. It focused more on Eric the hunky Viking whom I absolutely adore. So I haven’t been able to put my finger on what was missing for me. Perhaps it’s because I devour her books and the plot thread moved into darker waters for one of my favorite character, Sam Merlotte.Spoiler Alert*** if you don’t want to know skip this part***I didn’t really like the fact that Sam who has always been a hero was shown doing some very un-hero-like things like robbery and gulp… even murder.End of spoiler***This brings me to my own work. I’ve made some changes to a character who was the hero in FREAKSVILLE. He will be showing more anti-hero qualities in book two, FURRY & FREAKED. I am trusting my gut, that I’ve built up enough motivations and reasons for this change that the readers will follow me through his character arc.I suppose what bothers me so much about TRUEBLLOD’s Sam, was the way it just seemed to happen overnight, with no hint it was heading that way. Perhaps, if they built it up more slowly? Or perhaps it’s my admiration for Sam that has me feeling betrayed. I’m not giving up on the series though, I’m eagerly awaiting season four. Maybe Sam will redeem himself. I hope so.The thought for the day is can readers adapt and forgive plot changes? I supposed I will find out this fall.Kitty

A few months ago I got on a classic 80s horror flick kick and purchased as many DVDs or iTunes movie downloads as I could find. Creapshow, The Craft...and I downloaded one of my favs, Fright Night onto my ipod and watched the film in a few chunks while walking (that's a whole other kind of chunky...lol...). Nothing like a few scream queen films to keep your pace up on the treadmill from hell.

Okay so I’ve done something really crazy. I moved to Indiana. That’s not the crazy part, maybe to some people it is. (I do say this last week had some pretty freaky high winds and tornados…it had me wondering if I made the right decision. I think I have.)
Nope, I just bought a historic building (1840’s) that needs a little work. Er, okay a bit of an understatement. It needs A LOT of work. It’s basically four walls and a roof. It needs HVAC, electric, drywall, plumbing…floors in some parts. Yep, floors.
I am truly crazy.
I can see the building true potential, its beauty in the ruins. I used to do this for a living before I was published I was an interior designer. (Kasey’s mom in Freaksville is an Interior Designer, but that’s where the similarity stops. I’m not anal, really.)
But here’s where it gets even zanier.
I plan to open an Independent Bookstore and coffeehouse. A real brick and mortar store! There's alot of contruction that needs to be done, so I think it will be open in the Fall of 2011 or at least that's my plans.
Little happy dance.
I have an architect.
I have a plan.
I’m just crossing my fingers and toes and this point. I’m scared to death. But in life if we don’t take chances, we truly aren’t living at all. I took a leap, the first step on this journey. And it was hard, scary and a lot of fun.
But, if you want to share this crazy journey of mine you can follow my blog,
discoversomethingwondefrul.blogspot.com
I plan on posting construction updates and other tidbits along the way.

I’m still writing. I just turned in a heavy batch of edits on Furry & Freaked. It’s so different from Freaksville. I love it! I am excited about Kasey’s arc and how much she has grown. I can’t wait until I can share it with all of you. It’s a bit darker than Freaksville. I didn’t use as much humor as I did in Freaksville.

Kitty

Well, what a productive month April has been....and I've still got a few days to produce Second Skin. I feel like the little writer who thought she could....I think I can...I think I can - No, I KNOW I can. With the aide of chocolate, of course.

I know we at Wolfy Chicks tend to lend on the side of paranormal...but every now and then, something that has nothing do to with the supernatural, but is still extremely well, supernatural comes along. We have the great pleasure to introduce to you YA author, Bettina Restrepo. She part of the Class of 2k11 with her debut novel Illegal.
(Check out her page here: www.classof2k11.com)





Hi, Bettina Thanks for joining us!

1. What projects are you working on/have published?

My next novel is called Telenovela. A telenovela is a Latin flavored soap opera. Usually it’s over dramatic, a bit sexy, and lasts about 180 episodes. This YA novel follows Mercedes, a Colombian foreign exchange student, as she come to Texas. The novel has a an actual telenovela script set within the novel.

2. What's your road to publication story?

9 years with my butt-in-chair writing. A ton of rejections. Endless writing conferences and about a bazillion drafts.

3. Why YA?

My voice always turns back to myself at 15. I think I tortured myself a lot during those years.

4. Best writing advice you've heard?

Don’t publish fast. Publish well. – Cynthia Leitch Smith told me this over Chinese food in 2003.

5. What inspires you?

Life and people. A crack in the sidewalk, a funny expression, a mournful glance, stirring gray clouds.

6. Did you write stories as a teen? If yes, what has/hasn't changed?

No, but I told a lot of lies – which is great practice for writing. An effective liar should be a writer – if that doesn’t work out, the liar can become a lawyer or a contractor. 

7. Describe your office/workspace/writer's cave.

I like order. I have labeled files. I prefer to scan in what I think I’ll keep, and I throw away a lot. But, I write everywhere – while driving, while standing in line, while watching TV.

8. Who is your favorite character in your work and why?


Nora. Because she has been with me the longest and I’ve watched her change the most. Originally, when ILLEGAL was a picture book about a girl who lost a library book and was afraid she would be kicked out of school. She was 9 when I started and fourteen when I ended. I was afraid if I didn’t get published soon, Nora would end up in menopause.

Here's a blurb about Bettina's debut novel...

Harper Collins- Katherine Tegen Books, March 11, 2011

ISBN: 9780061953422

Nora is on a desperate journey far from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora fights to make sense of her loss while waiting for her father’s return and a better day. When the letters and the money from her father stop coming, Nora decides she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a harrowing experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place called Houston. Now, Nora figures out how to survive while still aching for small comforts: friends, a new school and a quinceaña to mark her fifteenth birthday.

We are all immigrants.

Bettina Restrepo’s powerful and deeply hopeful debut novel captures the challenges of one girl’s unique yet universal immigrant experience.


For more information on Illegal and to get to know Bettina please check out her website.
www.bettinarestrepo.com

Thanks fo

Greg Fishbone, the founder of the Class of 2k program (of which I was a member of Class of 2k10), an author collective specifically to promote debut YA and MG authors, has once again banded authors together. This time in fundraising efforts to aid victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami.

kidlit4japan consists of children’s authors and illustrators auctioning up copies of their books, critiques, Skype visits, etc…”For three weeks, beginning on March 21st, Kidlit4Japan will feature a children’s and YA literature auction to benefit the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. A Daily Auction Preview will appear each weekday morning at 8AM EDT. New items will appear at least hourly from 9AM to 4PM. Items include signed books, advance reader copies, artwork, critiquing services, book-related swag, author visits, or the chance to name a character in an upcoming book.