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I'm back from Dallas, and wow! I've never been to a convention that huge or that full of energy. There were fabulous workshops and bookish events. I got to embarrass myself at the YA slumber party in my pajamas. I met some die hard Eight fans, and hopefully created some new ones-- interacting with readers is always so much fun and one of my favorite things about being a writer. Plus I got to fangirl over some of my favorite authors and discover that they were the BEST people in person.
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| The AMAZING and gorgeous Brenda Drake, who was in one of our early First Five Pages workshops, went on to start Pitch Wars and get a fantastic pub deal. SO excited for all her success -- and she's the loveliest person ever. |
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With Mary Lindsey, Bailey Hewlett (ibbookblogging) and Lindsay Cummings,
and all of them are incredibly kind and lovely |
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| With Zoraida Cordova, Tara Hudson, J.R. Johansson, Victoria Scott and Bree Despain. Talk about a brilliant and intimidating bunch, but they were all so warm and kind that I could almost forget to be overwhelmed. : ) |
The whole week was crazy, but also incredible. Now I have a year to recover before the next one!
In the meantime, I’ve teamed up with the
YA Chicks and many participating authors on a global campaign to encourage readers, writers, students, and teachers to share pictures all of the places—both ordinary and extraordinary—where they are reading and writing. This is open to all readers/writers of both middle grade and young adult books!
You can also take part in...
A MONSTER GIVEAWAY!
I’ll be giving away a signed hardcover of COMPULSION plus a lovely bunch of swag plus a Skype visit.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead—a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn't what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead."Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic charm, you'll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island series." -- #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout
"A fresh twist on the Southern Gothic — haunting, atmospheric, and absorbing.” -- Claudia Gray, New York Times bestselling author of A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU and the Evernight and Spellcaster series
"Compulsion is a stunningly magical debut with a delicious slow burn to be savored. I want to live in this story world!" -- Wendy Higgins, USA Today and NYT bestselling author of the Sweet Evil Trilogy
TONS OF BOOKS TO GIVE AWAY!Every author participating in this
campaign is giving away books, critiques, swag and/or Skype visits.
So are you ready?
Drum roll….
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| If you don't have this book on your TBR, you're going to be missing out! |
Can you guess where I am? (I'll give you the restaurant part, but I actually snuck away to read in the middle of the event for which I'm providing the clues below. Just name the week-long event I recently attended!)
- Home of the Cowboys . . .
- Romance cover models walking around all week . . .
- Over 600 authors attended . . .
- Over 2500 eager readers were there . . .
- Teen day with signings, pizza, and parties with free books galore . . .
Once you’ve figured out where I’m reading, head over to the
YA Chicks site and officially enter the giveaway by inputting each author’s name and your guesses about our locations.
- Every author location you guess correctly increases your chances to win.
- For even more chances, post a picture of yourself reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
For writer prize packs:
- Post pictures of yourself writing in a fun location on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere.
- Follow the directions on the Rafflecopter giveaway to let us know you did it.
For even more chances:
- Gather your writer friends together and post a group shot with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
- And hey, since you're already together, why not host a write-a-thon?
For teacher prize packs:
- Post pictures of your class reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
- Let us know you did it when you enter the Rafflecopter. If you don't have a Twitter or Instagram, you can email your picture directly with the picture pasted directly into the email (no attachments--we won't open them) AND the subject, “Read or Write Anywhere.”
- You can also check out the YA Chicks Read or Write Anywhere lesson plan, available on their site.
Now, what are you waiting for? Get out there and READ OR WRITE ANYWHERE!
#ReadOrWriteAnywhere
BONUS GIVEAWAYS
I've got a hardcover of Sara Raasch's SNOW LIKE ASHES and an ARC of the sequel ICE LIKE FIRE. Are you a fan? Jump in and grab them for yourself. And don't forget to stop by the blog every Monday and Tuesday for lots more giveaways!
I'm in Dallas today and getting ready for the YA Spooky Slumber Party tonight at Romantic Times!
I've got my fuzzy slippers all ready.
And I've got my I HAVE A COMPULSION FOR READING pajama shirt. (Okay, it doubles as a T-shirt, and I'll be giving some of them away tonight, at my Club RT appearances, and at
Teen Day on Saturday, so if you want one, stop by!)
Mainly, I'm looking forward to hanging out with readers and with authors, many of whom I'm going to be fangirling over like crazy. One of those is Kami Garcia, part of the super-dynamic team whose
Beautiful Creatures got me started thinking about Southern Gothics for teens and inspired
Compulsion.
Last year, Kami and Margaret came out with
Dangerous Creatures, a new spin-off series about one of my favorite characters in
Beautiful Creatures, Ridley Duchannes. The sequel,
Dangerous Deception, comes out next week!
Want a sneak peek? Here are a few of Kami's favorite things:- Favorite lollipop flavor? Cherry... of course.
- Favorite band? Black Sabbath & Soundgarden
- Favorite place in New York? Anywhere with good pizza.
- Favorite character in Dangerous Deception or the series? Sampson
- Favorite food in New Orleans? Beignets from Cafe Du Monde & Crawfish Étouffée
This Week's Giveaway
Dangerous Creaturesby Kami GarciaSigned HardcoverLittle, Brown Books for Young ReadersReleased 5/20/2014From the world of Beautiful Creatures-a dangerous new tale of love and magic.Ridley Duchannes is nobody's heroine. She's a Dark Caster, a Siren. She can make you do things. Anything. You can't trust her, or yourself when she's around. And she'll be the first to tell you to stay away-especially if you're going to do something as stupid as fall in love with her.
Lucky for Ridley, her wannabe rocker boyfriend, Wesley "Link" Lincoln, never listens to anyone. Link doesn't care if Rid's no good for him, and he takes her along when he leaves small-town Gatlin to follow his rock-star dream. He teams up with a ragtag group of Dark Casters, and when the band scores a gig at a hot Underground club, it looks like all of Link's dreams are about to come true.
But New York City is a dangerous place for both Casters and Mortals, and soon Ridley realizes that Link's bandmates are keeping secrets. With bad-boy club owner Lennox Gates on her heels, Rid is determined to find out the truth. What she discovers is worse than she could have imagined: Link has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay. With their lives on the line, what's a Siren to do?
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1
New York Times bestselling coauthors of the Beautiful Creatures novels, are back to cast another magical spell. Their signature blend of mystery, suspense, and romance, with a healthy dose of wit and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.
Purchase Dangerous Creatures at AmazonPurchase Dangerous Creatures at IndieBoundView Dangerous Creatures on Goodreads
Dangerous Deceptionby Kami GarciaHardcoverLittle, Brown Books for Young ReadersReleased 5/19/2015From the world of Beautiful Creatures--a dangerous new tale of love and magic continues in the sequel to Dangerous Creatures.
Love is ten kinds a crazy, right?
Let me put it to you this way: If you can get away, run. Don't walk.
Because once you're exposed, you'll never get a Siren outta your head.
Some loves are cursed. Others are...dangerous. Especially the love between wannabe rocker and quarter Incubus, Wesley "Link" Lincoln, and Dark Caster, Siren, and bonafide bad girl, Ridley Duchannes.
But now Ridley is missing, and Link was with her-right up until she vanished. Determined to find her, Link reunites with his New York bandmates and the mysterious Lennox Gates, who wants Rid for himself. Together they travel to the deep south, find the crossroads where blues guitarist Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil, discover a menagerie of Casters locked in cages, and uncover an evil in New Orleans that threatens to destroy them all.
This time, love might not be enough.
Purchase Dangerous Deception at AmazonPurchase Dangerous Deception at IndieBoundView Dangerous Deception on GoodreadsSound great, don't they?
Do you love southern books and characters as much as I do? What do you love most?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I can't believe that it's less than a week before the RT Convention! What is RT, you ask? It's a HUGE book fair with workshops, parties, and book signings. This year, it's in Dallas, TX, and--the best part--there's an enormous Teen Day program.
Want a sneak peek?
11-2pm Giant Book Fair and Author Signing (I'll be in Row 1 with swag--Come find me! : ) )
2-3pm Fierce Reads Pizza Party, including many/most of the authors who will be at Teen Day as well as the Fierce Reads authors. (I'll be there)
3-4:15pm Author Speed Reading (I'll be there)
3-4:15pm Strong Heroines: Writing Fictional Girls Who Can Save Themselves
3-4:15 YA Family Feud: Test your knowledge of YA books!
4:30 - 5:45 Humble Beginnings: YA Authors Share Their Teen Writing
4:30 - 5:45 The Match Game: Authors and Readers Team Up to Answer Lit Questions
4:30 - 5:45 Writing Tips & Techniques
6-7:45 Teen Day Party -- Come hang out with the authors!
What authors will you find?
And if that's not enough, there's TONS more going on all week.
Want to know what I'm looking forward to?Readers. Readers are why I write, and when I get a chance to hear what readers thought while reading
Compulsion, that's an amazing, humbling, gratifying, and uplifting experience for me. I also love connecting with authors (okay, fangirling over them in deeply embarrassing ways) whose work I love. And finally, I allow myself one weeklong craft workshop to focus on improving my writing per year. This is it, so I'm looking forward to attending the workshops, learning, going back to my room and applying what I learned, and hopefully getting stronger as a writer.
Want to know what other authors are looking forward to?
"I love Teen Day. It's a whirlwind of a day, where we get to meet readers in a more casual atmosphere, and this year we're playing games too (I'm play Family Feud!). So basically, I'm super excited about pretty much everything!!:
~Kimberly Derting
"Great clothes, great costumes, amazing writers and wonderful fans!
That's what I found last year, at least, and I'm REALLY yearning for another dose!"
~Tammy Pierce
I got a bonus sneak peak for you, too--something you might hear Marie Rutkoski say in one of her session:
"I'm looking forward to Maggie Stiefvater's last book in the Raven Cycle series (The Raven King), Lindsay Smith's Dreamstrider, Mary Pearson's The Heart of Betrayal, and Becky Albertalli's Simon vs The Homo Sapien Agenda."
~ Marie Rutkoski
"I'm looking forward to meeting readers (always!), and seeing old authors pal (it's been too long!). Oh, and maybe indulging in some giggle-inducing, memory-making, 'I shouldn't have done that' parties with fellow book junkies. I love RT!"
~Victoria Scott
"I'm looking forward to the Teen Day party - nothing like free books and teen fans! Oh, my horror panel on on Thursday!"
~Gretchen McNeil
"I'm looking forward most to the networking: hanging out with other authors, industry professionals, and, most of all, READERS! Bring on the Twitter-worthy shenanigans!"
~Sara Raasch
"I'm most excited about the panels! I love learning about craft and industry--hearing what work for other people, or how they cope with similar problems I face. Or just listening to writers talk about writings--that's PURE BLISS to me!!"
And now for the GIVEAWAY!
How about a mystery box of FIVE books from RT Teen Day authors? (Mix of signed and unsigned)
Before I get to today's post, I have to tell you that Adventures has been honored by Writer's Digest Magazine with a listing in their 101 Best Websites for Writer's issue!
This is the third year in a row, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful team that we have in place here. Lisa Gail Green, Jocelyn Rish, Susan Sipal, Shelly Zevlever, Erin Cashman, and Jan Lewis, thank you all so much for the amazing work you do day in and day out. Thank you also to Alyssa Hamilton, who has unfortunately recently left us to concentrate on her studies, and to all the authors and publicists who provide the wonderful interviews, guest posts, and giveaways, and thank you to all of YOU--the readers. This is the best kind of team effort!
Fearing What You Love -- The Scary Side of the Writing Life
I've wanted to be a writer most of my life, but the word "author" really didn't enter into that equation. Not because I didn't want to be one, but because I had no perspective of what it meant. All I wanted was to get put words on a page and bring characters and ideas to life. Raise a few questions, connect a few thoughts.
Beyond publication, there is a whole world of things that go into being an author. I'm good
ish at some of them. The things that are similar to the business world, those I can handle, and I love, love, love talking books and writing, anytime, anywhere. I love helping people. But the rest?
- Pre-publication publicity and marketing
- Interviews and guest posts
- Getting and navigating reviews
- Pre-order giveaways
- Blog tours
- Launch parties
- Book tours and events
- Engaging with publicists
- Ongoing post-publication publicity and marketing
- Subbing to book festivals or responding to invitation
And that doesn't include writing the next book or editing the current one. Learning to write better books. All at the same time.
It's a lot.
Don't get me wrong, it's a mind-blowing honor and a wonderful opportunity, but the problem is there is no guidebook for this portion of the journey.
I'm going to the RT Convention in Dallas in a few weeks. And the more I think about it, the more I get hot flutters of panic. It's such a HUGE event. People dress up, and I don't really know anyone well. The social and the event side of publishing always make me feel completely inadequate.
Don't get me wrong, everyone I've met in the book world is truly nice. Really nice. But I'm a little shy, and when I'm nervous, I tend to babble, or fall back on things I know. What I know is business, and organization, and timetables, and how to get things packaged and put together. Which means that most of the time, working with other authors, I feel like an idiot.
Being an author is scary. It's a whole new career, and I'm on the bottommost rung, and the rest of the rungs are shrouded in mist.
Thinking about going to the RT Convention, it occurred to me that I haven't felt this way since I was a teen. Lost and confused and inadequate. Afraid. Convinced I would never be good enough. Afraid that people would laugh at me, or no one would talk to me. Afraid that I would fall on my face or make an idiot of myself.
Back when I was a teenager, I wouldn't have admitted those fears. Maybe that's the difference. I would have buttoned them inside myself.
Today, I know that everyone falls on their faces. I know that it's pulling myself up after I fall that makes me stronger.
Maybe this fear will be a good reminder for when I write. I'm writing some scary scenes for Barrie, and this third book has made me nervous. Stepping into the climax, it's good to connect back to being afraid. Hopefully, it will make me a better writer.
Thinking about going to the RT Convention, it has been tempting to cancel. I've considered it several times.
But I won't.
Because fear is good. Fear pushes us. New things stretch us.
SOUND OFF!
So tell me. What are
you afraid of?
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
SThe #1 New York Times bestselling author Carl Hiaasen serves up his unique brand of swamp-justice in Skink—No Surrender.
Classic Malley—to avoid being shipped off to boarding school, she takes off with some guy she met online. Poor Richard—he knows his cousin’s in trouble before she does. Wild Skink—he’s a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair scour the state, undaunted by blinding storms, crazed pigs, flying bullets, and giant gators.
Carl Hiaasen first introduced readers to Skink more than twenty-five years ago in Double Whammy, and he quickly became Hiaasen’s most iconic and beloved character, appearing in six novels to date. Both teens and adults will be thrilled to catch sight of the elusive “captain” as he finds hilariously satisfying ways to stop internet predators, turtle-egg poachers, and lowlife litterbugs in their tracks. With Skink at the wheel, the search for a missing girl is both nail-bitingly tense and laugh-out-loud funny.
Purchase Skink - No Surrender at AmazonPurchase Skink - No Surrender at IndieBoundView Skink - No Surrender on Goodreads
There are people who don't do any research or reference at all when they're drafting. They put XXX or something similar wherever something needs to be verified or checked, and they move on. I wish I could be that free, maybe I would write faster. In the day of the Internet, you would think I look everything up online, right? But no. The internet is a great research tool, but it's also a giant rabbit hole down which I can disappear for hours, so apart from fact checking and pure research, I tend to keep a handful of physical references to do my heavy lifting.
Dictionaries
- Standard Dictionary -- I almost never use this, but I do keep one to check a definition of a word I'm not sure about. The trouble with the standard dictionary is that you pretty much have to know the word you're looking for first.
- Visual Dictionary -- There's an online version of this as well, and both versions are great for kickstarting the brain when you are looking for related concept. Have a scene set in a kitchen? A supermarket? Don't settle for the first description or item that comes to mind. A visual dictionary can help you see the setting item by item to jump start your creativity.
- Reverse Dictionary -- Have a word or a term stubbornly stuck on the tip of your tongue? This is the tool that lets you find it intuitively.
Thesaurus
- Standard Thesaurus -- It's common writer's wisdom that if you're having to resort to the thesaurus to get the right word, you're not going to find it. We often make the mistake of thinking this is because simpler is better, but the truth is that not every word you find in a standard thesaurus is going to mean the same thing.
- Thesaurus Dictionary -- This great tool allows you to consider or cross reference the nuances of each synonym, which helps you find the perfect word to express your meaning or to find an alternative if you have to use one to avoid those pesky echoes (repeated words) on your pages.
- Visual Thesaurus -- This one is, unfortunately, purely an online tool, but it's handy if you have to find a related concept or synonym in a hurry.
Symbolism Dictionary
Looking for ways to build connections and imagery within your work? Ways to add deeper meaning, either for your characters, yourself, or your readers? A
symbolism dictionary is a great way to start your thought process or check the meaning of symbols or images you've already put on the page.
Encyclopedia of Folklore
- Motif Index of Folk-Literature -- Stith Thompson's six-volume set describing, classifying, and cross-indexing Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Medieval Romances, etc. is not for everyone. But it's fantastic for those of us who geek out about such things.
- Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature -- Less comprehensive but nevertheless fascinating if you want to trace the use or evolution of a particular element of folklore or myth through the various retellings or uses in fiction. A great place to troll for story ideas, too.
- The Golden Bough -- James Frazer's famous "Study in Magic and Religion" isn't an encylopedia per se, but is anthropological approach to connect folk beliefs from around the world and tie them, where possible, to fact and science, is another brilliant reference book for anyone who writes speculative fiction.
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
The Shadow Cabinetby Maureen JohnsonHardcoverPutnam JuvenileReleased 2/10/2015Giveaway Ends 5/11/15The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling Shades of London series
Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.
Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they’ll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.
Purchase The Shadow Cabinet at AmazonPurchase The Shadow Cabinet at IndieBoundView The Shadow Cabinet on Goodreadsa Rafflecopter giveaway
SPEAK UP
Do you have a favorite reference book you like to use for writing? Do you enjoy reading books that involve myths, folklore, and magic? What are your favorites?
Point of view is one of the things that writers frequently forget to include when developing a setting, but because setting can help you unlock so many different aspects of character, POV is critical. Based on who they are and their individual experiences, each character is going to see the setting in different ways, and the objects and aspects within the setting will raise memories from their lives. Giving thought to those connections and varying perspectives within a setting will, in turn, help you create the fine details that bring the setting to life. The connection between setting and memory is one of the most powerful and most often forgotten tools in the writer’s arsenal.
When I started creating Watson Island, for example, I began with the history of South Carolina and I wove in different events from the area and how they touched on the descendants of the three privateers who settled there. Since my main character is a Watson, I was focused particularly on her family’s history, but since she knows nothing about that history when she arrives, I had to tell that history partly from the point of view of members of the other families. Each book within the trilogy changes the historical narrative to show how the family perspective and facts that have been passed down have changed the story and the families themselves.
And that’s the fun and challenging part about any setting. Each family, each person, is going to remember history in a way that flatters them. Not every fact gets passed down from generation to generation, and many not-so-factual things do get passed down: likes, prejudices, habits, perspectives.
As we are constructing our fictional words, we have to remember the bare bones—the basic worksheet:
- Place
- Season/time
- Role in the story
- Unique features and general history
- Particular things of interest
- Sounds, sights, smells
- Associated characters
- Things it reveals about the story
But we also have to look at the setting from the perspective of each of those associated characters. Each of them will have:
- Sounds, smells, objects within the setting that trigger particular memories
- Attitudes toward the setting and objects within It that tell us about that character
- Ways of describing the setting and the objects in it that reveal how the character’s are changing as the story develops
As a writer, the more you think about the setting from the point of view of different characters, the more you will reveal the story to yourself. Setting gives us endless opportunities to weave together all the other elements of story: character, plot, theme, and mood/atmosphere.
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
Seekerby Arwen Elys DaytonHardcoverDelacorte Books for Young ReadersReleased 2/10/2015For readers of A Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games comes an epic new series.
The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.
But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.
And now it's too late to walk away.
Purchase Seeker at AmazonPurchase Seeker at IndieBoundView Seeker on Goodreads
Hey, guys!
Are you ready for some fun? I'm participating in the Spring 2015 YA Scavenger Hunt from noon PACIFIC time on April 2nd to noon PACIFIC time on April 5th.
The hunt is HUGE this year, so there will be eight different teams. I'm going to be on #TeamBlue, but you can play every team for more chances to win!
If you've never played before, it's like a giant blog hop, introducing you to new YA authors and books at every stop. There are tons of prizes including a grand prize for each team. If you win one of the grand prizes you will get a book from each author on that team! For more information and to make sure you get hunt updates, sign up for news on the #YASH website.
Not only will I be hiding an exclusive never-before-revealed sneak peek of COMPULSION, but I will also be giving away a signed hardcover and an ARC of PERSUASION, book two in the series for part of the Blue Team prize.
Starting today, here on Adventures, I'll also be giving away a Tiffany-style "key" necklace like Barrie wears, an "I have a compulsion for reading" tote bag, and ten "I have a compulsion for reading" bumper stickers. You don't want to miss out on this fabulous and fun event, but play fast because the hunt is only live for three short days!
Ready? Here are the teams! (Hint: If you click on the image you can get a close up)
I hope you are all as excited as I am!
THE HUNT BEGINS 4/2/15!
Today's Bonus Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveawaySOUND OFF!
What book first started your compulsion for reading?
I was doing a panel at the fabulous New York City Teen Author Festival last week, and I mentioned that my current writing process includes a short discovery draft rather than a traditional outline. I received several tweets asking about that, so I promised to provide a brief how-to.
My first pass pages (the first read-through of a typeset manuscript) is due today for PERSUASION, so this is going to be very quick and dirty, but that's probably appropriate. The whole point of a discovery draft is to pour the story out.
I'll admit, too, that I used to call the discovery draft an outline. I would start writing it based on the my Plot Complications Worksheet, but I only seem to be able to outline action, so wherever I had to reveal information or have an emotional scene between characters, I had to write the dialogue out to see what would happen.
Long story short (or not, as the case may be) my "outlines" ran thirty to forty thousand words! That sounds crazy, but there are a number of benefits.
- The draft is still short enough to allow for easier analysis after the words have all spilled out.
- I have an opportunity to really discover my characters.
- I don't have to censor myself or worry about editing words as I write.
- I can get the story out in a matter of days or weeks and know whether it is going to work.
- I can easily boil down the discovery draft into a standard synopsis.
- The draft is easy to expand into a full manuscript that's far less messy than a standard first or second draft.
For me, the discovery draft is really the best of both the plotting and pantsing worlds.
Now that I have some experience under my belt, I've also found that I can guide myself through the story with ten simple story plot points:
- Snapshot of BEFORE -- a scene or two that introduces the main character within her current environment, shows us who she is, what she dreams of, what she is up against, and also suggests what she needs to change.
- Jumpstart for Action -- also called the "inciting incident," the jumpstart is the event that will (in the next section) lead to a decision to aim for change. This sets the story goal, and the jumpstart is where you first get to show whether you are going to have a reluctant protagonist or an active one. Is your character the one who discovers that change is necessary and goes after it because she has set a goal for herself? Or is she pushed into change by outside forces or other characters?
- New Direction and No Going Back -- this is the first turning point, where the character is now aware that change is necessary because she cannot live in the status quo and she must do whatever is necessary to achieve the goal that was revealed in the jumpstart. This is also where we first see that she understands (or thinks she understands) the stakes and the consequences for failure. In making the decision, she demonstrates that what she has encountered has altered her perception of herself and her world in some way, so that she takes some action that she would not have taken before, and that action is irrevocable.
- Testing the Waters -- Having crossed the point of no-return so that she cannot extricate herself without dire consequences, the protagonist has to keep going. Step by step, she works toward the goal, meeting helpers and mentors who will assist her, meeting antagonists and minions who will work against her, and amassing knowledge that will bring her closer to her goal.
- The Big Twist -- At the midpoint of the story, what the protagonist thought she knew is suddenly turned on its head. The goal proves to have been only part of what is necessary, or it proves to be a false goal, or the situation is far more dire than the protagonist originally thought. But there's no way that she can get out of it now.
- False Hope and Disaster -- Despite the added complications, the protagonist thinks she has a chance to win and wrap things up. Her plan is lining up nicely, she's almost there, but oops. Not so fast. The antagonist or forces working against her prove to be far more powerful and complicated than she expected.
- Overcoming Deep Despair -- Having pretty much ruined everything, the protagonist wallows in despair and sees no way out. Before she can find a real solution, she has to get through the emotional black moment that pushes her into the character change she will need in order to finally achieve success. This is the crucible in which her new (winning) character is forged and she finds the strength within herself to keep on fighting.
- The Battle Royale -- The final battle between the protagonist and the forces allied against her. She must summon everything she has, every internal strength and external weapon. Will she succeed? Partially succeed? Lose but live on to fight another day?
- Cleaning it Up -- What happens after the battle? What are the consequences and the remaining steps to be taken after the big bad has been defeated or your protagonist has failed? Here's where you wrap up all the loose ends and minor plots.
- Snapshot of AFTER -- What does the world look like with the Big Bad gone? What is life like for your protagonist in this new world and how is this a change from the snapshot of BEFORE? This is where you get to show your audience what "happily ever after," "more work to do," or "damn, I've really screwed this up" looks like for your protagonist.
So that's it. The no-outline outline that leaves plenty of room for the magic of pantsing. It seems to work for me, and I hope you may find it helpful as another option for your writing toolbox. Ultimately, obviously, there's no right or wrong way to write. We all have to do what feels comfortable for us, and sometimes that can change from book to book.
Are you a plotter or a pantser? How do you leave room for magic?
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER
by Stephanie Perkins
Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?
Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.
Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.
An aspiring author who attended one of my panels at the NoVA TEEN Book Festival asked about how to approach character development. Kristen Simmons and Melissa Marr both had great responses, and it turned out that our approaches are somewhat similar. We talked about using tools like Meyers/Briggs personality types and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for building protagonists, antagonists and other characters.
I've written about some of these tools before and links for resources are in my Character Traits Worksheet, if you want to get into deep and gritty detail to get yourself started. The personality disorders information isn't in there, but you can find online resources at MerckManuals.com, if you're interested. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi also have a pair of amazing research tools in the POSITIVE TRAITS THESAURUS and the NEGATIVE TRAITS THESAURUS for character traits.
But if you're more of a pantser, and you're looking for a quick jump start as an entry into your story, there are seven key aspects of character that will help you create one that most readers will be able to relate to. (Note the caveat--because there's no such thing as a character who is universally liked.)
Seven Keys To Building Character
- An Internal Wound/Need - At the very least, your main character needs a lesson to learn. If you give one to each of your characters, even better. Your work will be richer for it. This is usually tied to your story question in some way, but the wound or internal need is really the fundamental thing that makes your character react the way she does whenever she's pushed to make a choice. This is what ultimately leads her to disaster. A wound can be anything from feeling alone and lost because you've lost your family, which becomes a driving need to find a new family--as in COMPULSION--to feeling loyal to the friends who rescued you, which becomes a driving need to protect them from harm, as in THE ORPHAN QUEEN.
- An External Goal/Problem to Solve - In most types of novels, the internal goal is only part of the story. There's also something that needs to be fixed externally, which ties in to what is going on with the characters on the inside. In COMPULSION, there are several interrelated mysteries to solve as Barrie arrives at her new home, and following her gift for finding lost things as she investigates these mysteries leads to danger and conflicts with her need for love and acceptance from the new family members with whom she is desperate to connect. In THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Wilhelmina needs to win her kingdom back, and in order to do that, she has to perform certain dangerous tasks set to her by the boy who rescued her when she was a child, until her experiences away from him begin to make her question whether his orders are the best solution.
- Relatable Motivations - At every step of the way as characters follow their goals, and at both the internal and the external portions of the story, the reader needs to understand why the characters make their decisions. Moreover, those decisions have to be relatable in context with their characters and background. Based on her internal needs, my Barrie, who has always desperately wanted a sister, can't help wanting to befriend her cousin and give her the benefit of the doubt even when everyone around her warns her that her cousin is not what she appears to be. Based on her external goals, Barrie has to investigate what's going on at Watson's Landing because various supernatural elements grow more insistent to push her into doing what they want. For Jodi Meadows' Wilhelmina, she needs to protect the ragtag Osprey orphans because she is one of them and they're the only family she knows. But her loyalty conflicts as she begins to realize that what their leader wants won't necessarily be the best for the people of her kingdom, whose queen she needs to become because that is her birthright and her responsibility.
- Strengths that Help Solve the Problem - This is your character's toolbox. And once you know what your character needs to do, it's easy to determine what characteristics will help her get there. Barrie has inherited a family gift for finding lost things. This leads her to some of the clues, but she still has to have the intelligence to interpret the clues, the compassion to care about them, and the courage to follow them. Wilhelmina has taught herself to become a master forger, and she can forge virtually any handwriting she needs to copy. She has also become adept at all forms of thievery and spying, which help her when she needs to infiltrate the palace of the enemy king.
- Weaknesses that Interfere - These are the chains and anchors that your character wears around her neck. Barrie is too trusting and unwilling to hurt others, too determined to exert her right to an independence she has never had before, and too eager to prove herself. Wilhelmina is blinded by her loyalty and what she thinks she knows so that her prejudice keeps her from seeing the truth of what's going on beneath her nose.
- Complete Backstory That Shows How the Wound Occurred - This is the how of why the characters are the way they are. In addition to the basic facts of their lives, this must include a reasonable explanation of how they received their wound as well as the story of how their strengths and weaknesses have served them in the past. In Barrie's case, her backstory all ties to an ancient spirit who gave her ancestor a wish, which became the gift of finding lost things. And everything that has happened to her and her parents stems from that gift and the curse that the is inherited by members of the other half of her family. In the case of THE ORPHAN QUEEN, there's a history of the kingdoms and the wars between them, which connects to the background of the terrible thing that threatens to destroy all the kingdoms and everyone in them.
- True Change in the Character as a Result of the Story - This is how the story resolves the character's interior need, which often ties into the character's external goal. The character must end up in a different place both mentally and in her physical circumstances. Barrie, for example, finds that blood doesn't necessarily constitute the best family you can have, and she simultaneously resolves the mysteries that surround two of the founding families on the island. Wilhelmina finally sees through her prejudice and takes a risk to protect her people, only to discover that this costs her love, half her friends, and the certainty in the rightness of her cause and methods, which has always been her armor. Physically, she is no longer the unknown orphan she was when the book began.
Hopefully, these quick sketches show you how tightly internal needs and external goals can work together to create the engine for a story a reader will understand. How you choose to balance and prioritize internal needs and external goals in a story will determine whether your manuscript is more character driven (internal) or plot driven (external). There are an infinite number of possibilities.
How do you like your fiction? Which do you prefer to read: character driven or plot driven stories?
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
I loved that a reviewer said that COMPULSION was like BEAUTIFUL CREATURES meets Lauren Oliver's ROOMS, so I'll giveaway a copy of ROOMS to one lucky winner.
ROOMS Lauren Oliver
Hardcover
The New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Deliriumtrilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways
Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.
But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.
The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.
Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.
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We hear it all the time, “start with action.” I see the results of that every month in the First Five Pages Workshop, where writers have heard it so often they automatically think they have to start with a murder, a car crash, or an explosion to get someone’s attention.
But here’s the thing. Every novel has its own speed, and its own readership. There's no one-size fits all solution.
The critical aspect of pacing for any novelist is control—knowing why you’re making the choices you’re making and knowing how those choices will affect your readers.
Compulsion, for example, starts slowly to build the world and the sense of disorientation my main character feels as she slips from the everyday world into a world of magic. But as she becomes immersed in that magic, the pace picks up.
- Not every part of a book should be paced the same. As a rule of thumb, adding description and slowing down the pace can create suspense. But as you get to the action, the scenes where the main character’s adrenaline and danger level shifts into high, there’s less room for description, thought, dialogue, and anything that doesn’t contribute to immediate survival.
- Let pacing build and release, rinse, repeat. Then ratchet it even higher. Working toward a mini climax at a turning point, and then slowing down again allows the reader to catch their breath. At some point, if you don’t release the tension, the reader will grow too weary to care much by the time you reach the climax.
- Provide conflicting goals for characters, and never give your main character what she wants—not, at least, without piling on the complications in compensation. If she succeeds, there has to be a “but” to her success. If she fails, occasionally let her fail so spectacularly that she not only falls on her face, she also loses her dog and breaks her leg so that she can’t go after it. Go ahead. Be mean. Once your character succeeds, there’s no reason for a reader to keep reading, unless you provide that reason.
- Make the motives clear to support your character’s goals and elicit sympathy and connection. If you don’t show how the character responds to failure, the reader will be hard-pressed to understand or “get” the character, and it’s going to be hard for them to engage in the book and feel like the failure mattered, or to be interested in the next attempt to win.
- No matter how slow the pacing, use conflict to immerse the reader in the story. Tension is what pulls the reader into the page, and tension comes from conflict, whether on a large scale or a smaller one. The more aspects of conflict you can incorporate (one character against another, a character against himself, etc.) the more you create an immersive reading experience.
- Use unanswered questions to build a sense of urgency. Make sure there are always new questions introduced when providing a revelation, and seed tension into a story on every page. And always end a scene or chapter with new unanswered questions to keep readers engaged.
- Use the “rule of three” in to provide structure and take advantage of hard-wired story “intelligence” that readers have developed. After millennia of storytelling, the human brain has grown used to certain conventions, and the “try, try, try” technique is one that can work at the novel structure level, at the “act” or movement level, or a the scene level.
This week's giveaway:
Compulsion was long-listed for the SIBA Book Award from the Southern Independent Bookseller's Alliance this week, so I'm in the mood to celebrate. How about another mystery box giveaway? Four books and/or ARCs, mix of old and new. Sound good?
Enter below.
Your Two Cents
Any thoughts on pacing? Do you struggle with it in your novels? Do you get tired of the books that go at light-speed from start to finish? Or do you need that non-stop adrenaline rush? Leave a comment!
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There was a post last week that fascinated me when I read it. Mary Carroll Moore, and author, editor, and book doctor, and her blog post How Do You Start Your Chapters for the Most Punch? Some Simple--and Surprising--Structure Tips for All Genres suggested that editors don't read the first five pages a manuscript anymore, they only read the first two. She further suggested that:
"We readers have gotten impatient. Or publishers are gearing toward a new generation of readers, the movie-goers? Our brains have changed, certainly, and we may not be able to hang in there for seven chapters before something happens."
Is that true, do you think? There's certainly some research to back up the idea that we've become so used to skimming information online that it makes it hard to settle down to deeper reading.
There's even been suggestions of starting a SLOW READING movement akin to the SLOW FOOD movement. But this issue of skimming for key words and concepts has implications beyond just how people read. It might have implications for the success of how books are written, and bought, and sold, and for their success online. Look at the number of blockbuster YA series that are being written by very young writers. Is it because they know who to connect to younger readers? Might--*might*--this explain why some over thirty authors feel like they have a hard time breaking through?
If we innately don't read the same way any more, has the way that YA books are set up changed from ten years ago? From twenty years ago?
According to Mary Carroll Moore, until recently books began with character or setting with a hint of the story question. In contrast, she suggests that 90 percent of modern stories begin with an event. She suggests examining stories to:
"Look for a dramatic event that causes conflict for someone and has the potential to make big changes in the storyline."
COMPULSION is a mix of romance, contemporary story, and fantasy. It's the story of three teens-- lost girl, a girl who has become unpleasant due to circumstances beyond her control, and a boy who's ready to do anything to escape the confining expectations set out for him. Together, these three have to save themselves and their families and resolve a magical situation a thousand years in the making.
This has to be a slower burn than most fantasies because Barrie begins as a lost, grieving, and ordinary girl with just one very small bit of magical ability. In fact, it doesn't begin as fantasy at all. I started COMPULSION as magical realism, kicked it up to paranormal, and then finally drop into full-fledged contemporary fantasy. And at the end of the first book in the series, we've barely scratched the surface.
Even so, when we meet Barrie in the first chapter:
- She is abandoned in an airport by herself after being orphaned, because her aunt, who she never knew existed until her mother's will was read, doesn't come to meet her.
- She lies to her godfather about the fact that she's been abandoned, thereby giving herself no safety net or way to have him help her.
- She goes off in a taxi to figure out what's going on with her aunt without knowing what kind of a reception she will get when she gets to the plantation her family has owned for three-hundred years--a plantation she never knew existed.
- She uses her family gift for finding lost things to return the taxi driver's wedding ring.
- She discovers that her finding gift connects her to Watson's Landing as if that's where she's supposed to be.
- The gate to the plantation may or may not have opened magically to admit her.
- She finds the mansion falling apart and her aunt sitting on the front steps crying, having evidently broken down so badly that she lost all sense of time.
Sarah J. Maas' upcoming A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES opens with a Feyre, a nineteen-year-old huntress who lives in a fantasy world on the edge of a magical land. Feyre has heard rumors of magic and the Fae, even if she hasn't encountered them herself. She's a skilled hunter. She has killed before and has no compunction about killing again to save herself and her family. In the first chapter:
- Feyre has ventured further from home than she normally dares in chase of deer, who are being pushed further and further away as the forest dies. She and her family are a week from starvation.
- She finds a doe that would feed her family for a week or more, but a wolf is after the same deer.
- The wolf kills the deer and she in turn kills the wolf, who makes no effort to avoid being killed by Fayre's special arrow of ash and iron.
- It isn't until after the wolf is dead that Feyre is sure the wolf isn't one of the wicked fairies who lay waste to entire towns and who may or may not have been spotted in the area.
- She skins the wolf and carrying the pelt and dead doe, she retreats toward home.
The beginning stakes and character arc inception for these books are very different. Barrie could no more kill someone--or something--than she could fly at this point. She could be any girl. She's lost and she has to find her strength and her place. She will, but she hasn't started at that point.
Mary Carroll Moore is right in that both these books start with an inciting event and questions to draw the reader in. But I don't think the takeaway here is that readers are less patient. Some are. Others aren't.
Young adult readers have more competition for their time now, sure. But chiefly, they have more choices. They gravitate toward particular types of stories, the same way that they gravitate toward their favorite sites on the web and their favorite shows on television. Adults do too.
As writers, we should never dismiss readers or underestimate them. At the same time, we shouldn't give up or assume we can't get away without explosions, enormous body counts, or huge starting stakes. Readers will find and recognize the stories that speak to them, but not every story will speak to every reader.
On the other hand, no matter what you think of attention spans or book "fashions," whatever the pace or starting stakes of your story, you'll end up with more reader engagement if you:
- Set out the stakes early. (Barrie has no where else to go. Feyre is a week from starvation. )
- Start with the story question. (Will Barrie find a home/family? Will Feyre be caught and killed by the fey?)
- Keep your main character in the forefront by engaging her/him in activity. (Barrie transports herself to Watson Island. Eyre hunt a deer and kills a wolf.)
- Reveal character and special abilities through action as much as possible.
- Build the story world as you go, slivering in the details of place as needed.
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
Want an ARC of A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES? Fill out the Rafflecopter for a chance to win!
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSESby Sarah J. MaasA thrilling, seductive new series from New York Timesbestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!a Rafflecopter giveaway WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Have attention spans changed? Do you need action in the first few pages? Stakes? Are fast pace, character, or setting more important to you? Or do you like a blend of all three?
GUYS! USA Today's HEA blog revealed the cover for PERSUASION this morning! I'm SO excited. I love this sequel to COMPULSION, and I literally can't wait to share it with you all. I'm also thrilled to be able to give away the first ARC hot off the press (it will be mailed as soon as I get it), along with a TON of other goodies -- including your chance to have your name in the final book of the trilogy.
You can enter at the bottom of the page, and on each of the following web sites. It's a scavenger hunt, so be sure to visit each site to find the highlighted code. Enter all six codes to be eligible for the mega Grand Prize.
Scroll down to see the cover and enter the Adventures Giveaway, but first . . .
ARE YOU READY FOR A TASTE OF PERSUASION?
Crouched among the trees, there was also the cemetery beyond the church and the small modern house where Cassie and her family lived. Even without the pieces that had belonged to the old rice fields, the property was enormous, and Barrie had no idea what she was searching for.
Presumably the lodestone, though, if it registered at all, would register as something important. Something like the bone-jarring lostness that radiated from beside the ruined mansion.
“This way,” she said, letting the Watson gift guide her toward it.
With Obadiah striding beside her, she left Cassie to bring up the rear. Cassie seemed in no hurry to get any closer to Obadiah than was absolutely required, and Barrie wondered whether that was Cassie reacting to his obviously magical glow, or to his equally obvious dislike. Where Obadiah went, a solid dose of fear was probably not unwise.
Reaching the steps and the jutting columns of the mansion, Barrie stopped where the finding sense was strongest. Lostness roiled from the ground and drilled into her temples, making it impossible to feel anything but loss. The kind of loss she had felt in the Watson tunnel where she’d found Luke and Twila. The kind that said whatever was buried there had mattered to someone, and had mattered with devastating consequences.
“There,” she said, pointing to the spot.
Obadiah squinted at the patch of ground covered by grass. In the moonlight and the dimmer but still visible macabre glow that seemed to seep from the very darkness of his pores, the small lumps of broken bricks and charred chunks of mortar that occasionally protruded from the ground stood out in colorless relief.
“You’re sure? What do you feel?”
“Don’t you feel anything?” To Barrie, that seemed strange. For her the sense of loss was so very clear. But evidently magic was specific, like eye color or hair, and no matter how much Obadiah had, and how little she had, it was not the same.HAVEN’T READ COMPULSION YET?
It’s available to read for free 2/5-2/6 on
http://www.PulseIt.com. Or buy it:
IndieBound |
Barnes & Noble |
Amazon |
Walmart |
Target |
Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)
Add to GoodreadsPERSUASION - Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse (October, 2015)
Grieving the death of her godfather and haunted by her cousin Cassie’s betrayal, Barrie returns from a trip to San Francisco to find the Watson plantation besieged by reporters and ghost-hunters. Some are hoping to see the ancient spirit who sets the river on fire each night, while others are chasing rumors of a stolen shipment of Civil War gold that may be hidden at Colesworth Place. Chaos descends as Cassie hires a team of archeologists to excavate beneath the mansion ruins. But more is buried there than treasure.
A mysterious, magical man appears at Watson’s Landing, claiming the key to the Watson and Beaufort gifts and the Colesworth curse also lies beneath the mansion. With a mix of threats and promises, he engages Barrie and Cassie in a midnight visit, but the spell he conjurs has potentially deadly consequences.
While Barrie and dreamy Eight Beaufort struggle to make sense of the escalating danger and their growing feelings for each other, Barrie has to figure out not only whom to trust, but which gift is more reliable—Eight’s or her own. With millions of dollars and the fate of the founding families at stake, she must choose between what she feels deep in her heart and what will keep her loved ones safe.
PRAISE FOR COMPULSION
“Eight Beaufort is so swoon-worthy that it’s ridiculous. Move over Four, Eight is here to stay!" — RT Book Reviews, RT Editors Best Books of 2014
“Skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure . . . An impressive start to the Heirs of Watson Island series. ” — Publishers Weekly
“A little bit Gone with the Wind, a little bit Romeo and Juliet…” — School Library Journal
"Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic charm, you'll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island series." — #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout
"Beautifully written, with vivid characters, a generations-old feud, and romance that leaps off the page, this Southern ghost story left me lingering over every word, and yet wanting to race to the compelling finish." — Megan Shepherd, Author of THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER
HEIRS OF WATSON ISLAND BOOK TRAILER
COVER REVEAL GIVEAWAY
Six Giveaway Stops, One AMAZING Grand Prize, which includes getting your name in book three of the Heirs of Watson Island trilogy. Want a chance to win it all? Collect the highlighted code words from each of the six blogs participating in the giveaway!
I thought this post would be easy. After all, I'd just written a boyfriend into the
Heirs of Watson Island series, and I don't even want to think about how many hours I've spent with him. I'd also just finished going through the results of the Book Boyfriend Contest, in which I asked people to list the qualities they consider important in a book boyfriend. Which was all sorts of eye-opening fun, so I'm including the results again below.
| attractiveness (in various subjective forms) | 98 |
| sweet, generous, compassionate etc. | 92 |
| funny, sense of humor, witty, mischievous, etc. | 64 |
| intelligent, smart, loves books, educated, etc. | 50 |
| tough, dominant, possessive, bad ass, foul mouthed, rugged, brutish, bad boy, etc. | 35 |
| trustworthy, real, reliable, trusting, dependable, honest | 35 |
| gentleman, respectful, good listener, supportive, understanding, thoughtful, old-fashioned, etc | 29 |
| loyal, family oriented, best-friend | 28 |
| loving, romantic, likes to cuddle | 27 |
| loves dogs, horses, animals, cats, coffee, pizza, movies, music, coffee, and various other specific preferences | 26 |
| alpha male, protective | 21 |
| snarky, smart ass, sarcastic, smirky, etc. | 17 |
| charming, smooth talker, outgoing, etc. | 14 |
| bold, fearless, adventurous, brave | 12 |
| adorkable, dorky, nerdy, different, quirky | 10 |
| exciting, passionate, spontaneous | 9 |
| sane, not a criminal, employed, good hygeine, has all teeth, smells good -- aka, the very basics : ) | 7 |
| strong minded, strong, determined, confident | 6 |
| intense, haunted eyes, broken, moody, angsty | 5 |
| happy, easy going, balanced | 3 |
| wealthy | 1 |
Interesting and kind of scary, right? Almost as scary as realizing that just like pretty much everything else I've ever thought was going to be "easy," writing about how to write a book boyfriend is hard. Because when I really sat down and thought about the process, I had No. Clue. It wasn't as if I'd sat down before hand and done a catalog of qualities that would make him "boyfriendish." Not in general. I made him specific to my main character, Barrie. I made him a person--the right person for her.
And I guess that's what it comes down to when building a book boyfriend. It isn't about the author--or even the readers, really. Readers are all very different, and as clearly seen from the survey results, there are many different kind of guys that appeal to many different kinds of readers. (Although clearly
THERE IS SOMETHING to be said for nice guys with a side of bad.)
At the most basic level, a book boyfriend is character. One who is pivotal to the story, which means he has to be equally compelling to the main character. But since we aren't always going to be in his head, we get to play all kinds of games about how to get his motives across. Which is just about my favorite thing to do.
I actually do a lot of worksheets when developing characters. I think about their backgrounds and by the time I'm done, I pretty much know what makes them tick in terms of appearance, personality, strengths and weaknesses, goals and wants. And then when I sit down to write, everything kind of shifts. The characters become their own people. I can tell them what to do, and sometimes, they turn around a flip me off.
Eight was a bit like that. He turned out kinder than I expected, and more disillusioned with his family and Watson Island than I expected. He was a little bit more patient with Barrie than I expected--okay, a lot more patient with her. Their relationship is a bit like those old movies that I love, where there's a bit of animosity because there are reasons why the two can't trust each other, but neither can deny the attraction.
So why can't they deny the attraction? That's the most critical step in building a book boyfriend. In Barrie's case, she isn't sure. Could it be because Eight is:
- Gorgeous
- Sexy
- Kind
- Funny
- Has a kickass sailboat called the Away
- Knows everyone in town and is so universally charming that Barrie wants to slap him
- Has a knuckle ball that can't be hit and a baseball scholarship to USC
- Is smart but dyslexic, so at least that keeps him humble. Okay, not THAT humble.
Or could it be because Eight knows exactly what Barrie wants and is compelled to give it to her so that she can't help but fall in love with him? Whether she wants to or not.
That's the second key to building a book boyfriend, I think. As compelling as you make the reason for the main character and the guy to want to be together, you have to give them an equally compelling reason why it isn't going to work.
Which is, of course, where book two in any romantic trilogy comes in. : )
I'm thrilled to announce there will be a cover reveal for PERSUASION, book two of the HEIRS OF WATSON ISLAND trilogy on Thursday 2/5/15. Look for it on the USA TODAY Happily Ever After blog, and then check out the FABULOUS giveaways we'll be having at Mundie Moms, Two Chicks on Books, Reading Teen, Candace's Book Blog, Page Turners, and Romance at Random. It's going to be fun! : )
TWO HUGE BOOK BOYFRIEND GIVEAWAYS IN THE MEANTIME
I'm including some of my favorite book boyfriends in the first giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveawayPlus there's an overall book boyfriends giveaway for the blog tour!
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Want more book boyfriends and more amazing prizes? Catch the full
14 Days of Fictional Swooning Schedule!
I just read a post by Jody Hedlund about coping with reviews, and I was struck by a couple of things that she said.
- Reviews are for readers, not for writers, and
- If, as an author, you choose to read your reviews, be prepared for open, honest feedback.
Having just gone through this with an author friend who is getting her first reviews, and having dealt with my share of stinging reviews as well--ALL authors get them--I've given this some thought.
My conclusions? (And yes, I'm going to share them, even though talking about reviews in public is scary as hell.)
Reviews Can Force You to Examine Your Writing ChoicesI wrote a guest post for one of my favorite writing sites yesterday (it will be out soon!) and I mentioned that one of the things that makes me grateful for editorial feedback is that it forces me to understand the choices that I make in my books.
There's a reason I choose to pace my stories the way I do; there's a reason the scenes are layered the way they are; there's a reason I choose the characters I chose. But not everyone will understand those choices. Not everyone will love any book or read it the same way.
I wrote about my main character, Barrie, because I want a dialogue about strength. About bravery. About women and our roles in society. (My theme song for Barrie--for all girls--is "
Truly Brave," the collaboration between Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper, which is an incredible anthem for women and artists and victims and anyone who struggles. Barrie is so lost at the beginning of the trilogy. But it's a trilogy, and she's got a huge arc. Her "brave" is big. And although there are people who don't love Barrie, there are many more people who do love her and "get" her.
Reviews Tell Us Whether We've Done Our Job As Authors Just today, right after I started this post,
a reader Tweeted a post about Compulsion, and I stopped over to see if I could use it as an example. It happened to talk about the fact that the blogger is a tutor and that she's "had some intense talks [with her students] about Barrie as a female protagonist."
As a writer, I can ask no more than that. And I wouldn't have known that I had made that connection unless I read that review or the many letters I get privately from girls and women who have made similar points.
Getting that affirmation isn't about vanity. It's about making sure I'm doing the job that I set out to do and finding out what else those readers need. Reader reviews are like a giant focus group. They're gold for writers--provided the writer is able to set aside the occasional "ouch" factor that's involved.
Reviews Are Not Always About the Book Obviously, not every book is going to be for every reader. I've been very fortunate with
Compulsion, and I'll admit I've stopped stalking my reviews the way that I did when they first started coming. It took me a long time to get "zen" about reviews, or to be able to laugh about some of them. Some of them still make for very brittle laughter.
Even people who review because they love books and want to share great books with others won't love every book. A reader brings her own life and life experience into each book she reads. That's the magic of reading.
As a writer, finding out what a reader brought to my book is one of the greatest and most unexpected joys I've experienced since being published. Whether it's about my book or someone else's story, I appreciate knowing why a plot or character does or doesn't work for someone. Negative reviews can be good reading. I enjoy a well-phrased bit of sarcasm, a bit of political-correctness policing, a bit of humor--until it crosses the line and becomes bullying.
As with
the Kathleen Hale scandal, reviewers can become extreme with bashing a book, and that can drive authors crazy and destroy books that took a lot of time and resources to bring to market. There are various reasons that happens. In some cases, there's truly a problem in the book. But all too frequently, it's because a book hits a trigger and the reviewer stops being rational or even considering whether the book is making a point about the very thing that the reviewer abhors. Character arcs exist for a reason--characters learn as they go, but sometimes they have to begin in places that some people don't like in order to get to a better place.
Reviews Are Not Always FairIf someone abandons the book and then writes about it, as may have been the case with the Kathleen Hale scandal, they're not getting the whole picture. And that's okay, too--as long they make that clear in the review. I'm all about free speech. My family and I came to this country because it was a place where we could speak our minds, and I would defend that right to my dying breath.
But I'm also an advocate for justice. I would prefer that the world of reviewing was perfect, and that if a reviewer didn't finish a book, or only skimmed it and assumed that gave them the same interpretation as a full and careful reading, that they would mention that in their review. I would prefer that if someone reviews YA books from an adult perspective and dings the characters for making teen choices, they not write up a one-star review. I would prefer fairness from all reviewers, for every book, for every author, but I still defend every reviewer's, and every author's, right to write whatever they damn well want.
Reviews Need To Be Viewed in Context Jody Hedlund mentions that reviews are open, honest feedback. That's not always true, unfortunately. There are as many different reasons that reviewers write reviews as there are reasons why authors penned the books they have written.
If, as authors, we are going to read reviews, then I think that we need to learn to recognize the
type of review, the
type of reviewer, and take what we can from the feedback.
Bulling Shouldn't Be Dismissed As Free Speech I chaired an advisory council on school safety for the second largest school district in Virginia for many years. In that capacity, I focused on bringing anti-bullying programs into the schools and creating safer school environments. I recognize bullying when I see it. And I am seeing it online. Fortunately, I've not really been a victim myself, and I'm probably making myself a target by writing this. That's unfortunate, but here goes anyway.
It worries me to hear authors and bloggers -- even huge authors and huge bloggers -- say privately that they do not feel that they can speak freely in defense of the victims of online bullying. Let me clarify here. I am not speaking about defending stalking or bad behavior, as in the case of Kathleen Hale. I'm saying that over and over again, I see female authors treated differently than male authors, and I see female authors get bullied in a way that makes me feel like I am back in middle school. There's a cult of extreme behavior going around the internet that makes me want to cry.
Bullying begins with individuals. It grows because people let themselves become bystanders. But kindness begins with individuals, too, as does responsibility.
Take What You Can From Reviews and Move On As authors, I believe we have a responsibility to our readers. For that reason, I do think that reviews are helpful. The vast majority of reviewers are responsible, lovely, incredible people who review books because they love books and want to share that love with others.
I Have WONDERFUL Readers I am so grateful that I have the readers I have.
Compulsion has gotten such wonderful support--more than I ever dreamed--and I have met so many incredible readers along this journey that I am truly, truly overwhelmed. Not all of my reviews have been favorable. Duh. But my favorite reviews aren't always five star, or even four star reviews.
My favorite reviews are the ones that are honest. That make me think. That make me grow as a reader and as an author. There have been many of those.
And I thank everyone who has taken the time to read
Compulsion and think about it. I thank you for your letters, and emails, and messages, and reviews, and tweets, and support.
Which brings me to this week's giveaway!
READER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY
You'll find this giveaway on a lot of sites this week, and if you'd like to share it on your site, please email me at ayaplit (at) gmail dot com. I'd love to spread the word. The cover reveal for
Persuasion will be next week. Next week! Yikes. And for anyone who would like a good deal on Compulsion, this is the final week it is available for
Kindle,
Nook, and
iBooks for $1.99!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
It's been almost three months since COMPULSION hit the shelves. Those of you who know me know that being "published" is something I've dreamed of all my life. I didn't really set out with a plan until 2010, but what can I say, I'm a late bloomer. And I still remember how HARD it was to figure out where to start. How all the information swirling at me about how to write, and what to write, and how to get an agent, and how to get published just made me more confused. That's why this blog exists; it's a place where I and a few friends started trying to figure out how to become less mystified by the whole publishing thing.
Now that I'm on this side of the publication process, am I any less confused? Not really, but I've learned a few things that surprised me.
1. Not much changes . . . I may have fought for publication for years, but my day-to-day life is the same sleep-deprived, yoga-pants-wearing, living-on-coffee-and-Nutella existence that it was before my novel was published. I still get to scrub toilets, struggle with income taxes, and study brilliant books by my favorite authors that make me achingly aware of how far I still have to go with this whole writing thing.
2. Everything changes . . .The book exists in bookstores. My friends and family stop by the book section at Target when they’re shopping for groceries, and they email me photos of my book beside books by real authors authors I love authors my friends and family have actually heard of. Some people buy the book. Some even read it. And they tell me, “I’m reading your book,” or “I love your book,” or they send me these amazing reviews, and my brain grinds to a stop Every. Single. Time, because I don't have the grace or the words for the surprise and gratitude and overwhelmingness that goes along with what I feel.
3. Readers bring their own lives into every story . . . Of course, I knew that, because I’m a reader, too, and I know how much books have always meant to me. But I didn’t anticipate how it would feel to get a message from someone who bares themselves and thanks me for mirroring something they have felt, or for taking them out of a hard place in their lives. Meeting readers as an author, online or in person, is a constant, joyful surprise. Every note or comment from a reader is like unwrapping a gift. Except when it's not.
4. Reviews are fascinating . . . Even the worst reviews show just how much the filter of a reader’s life brings into their own, individual reading experience. And no matter how much the reviewer loved the story, or enjoyed it, or hated it—no matter how much they hoped it would be more like something else, or how late they stayed up reading it past their intended bedtime, the simple truth is that they still read my book. The book that I made up inside my head. Which is awe-inspiring and gratifying and deeply humbling.
5. It’s not a hobby anymore . . . The friends and family who used to secretly exchange she’s-a-bit-delusional-but-we-love-her-anyway smiles (the sort of smile familiar to every writer or artist), those same doubters suddenly see my writing as a “serious endeavor.” They expect me to know unknowable things, like how my book is doing or who’s reading it. They also ask helpful questions like, “Is there going to be a movie deal?” or “Now that you’ve written this, are you going to try a real (aka “adult”) novel?” I'm also constantly aware that I have an agent, editor, publisher, and readers who are expecting me to write another book. Fast. And all the time, I'm trying to manage my expectations, because I know how lucky I have been so far, and it mystifies me. But I keep looking over my shoulder for luck to run out.
6. There’s no “easy button” for writing a book . . . There are a few things I've learned about writing in the course of getting the first book through the publication process. I’ve learned to focus more structure and on painting specific images and emotions in a reader’s mind than on the sound of pretty words strung together. I know that editors and copyeditors are my safety net and that everyone . . . everyone! . . . at a publishing company works long, hard hours trying to get a book into the hands of the specific readers most likely to enjoy it. But I still know nothing about how to write a book in less than eight drafts. I am struggling with the third book as much as I did with the first two, and all I can do is put my head down, keep writing, and hope that readers will love my weird, quirky characters as much as I do.
7. You’re a writer because you write . . . On this side of publication, I realize I'm no different than I were before my book was published. I write to connect with readers, to share my thoughts with other people, which is the same search for connection that is at the heart of human existence. But whether that connection happens with one person, a hundred people, or a hundred thousand people doesn’t make me any less or more of a writer. I'm a writer for having written, not for having published.
So if you're a writer, wherever you are on your journey, I hope you're enjoying the path. Because that's what counts. Take the time to enjoy every step of the way, and don't focus so much on the end of the path.
If you're a reader? Thank you. Overwhelmingly, from the bottom of my soul, thank you!
* * * *
THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
WIN Signed Hardcover PLUSCharm Bookmark & Compulsion NecklaceSimon PulseReleased 10/28/2014Beautiful Creatures meets
The Body Finder in this spellbinding new trilogy.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.All her life, Barrie Watson had been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
Purchase Compulsion at AmazonPurchase Compulsion at IndieBoundView Compulsion on Goodreads(And don't forget that COMPULSION is on sale for the Kindle, Nook, and iBooks for $1.99 until the end of January!) : )
a Rafflecopter giveaway
A few years ago, people speculated about the death of books. Books, many said, wouldn't survive the rising popularity of e-books. Teens, the wisdom said, would adopt e-books, and within a few years, no one would read on paper anymore.
But guess what?
A recent Neilsen survey says that teens prefer "real" books.
And there appear to be concrete advantages to reading printed books. A study suggests that digital readers remember significantly less about when events occur in a plot than people reading the same story on paper, while another study showed markedly better reading comprehension for people reading a paper book.
I admit. I made the switch. There are several reasons that e-books work well for me, but they all boil down to convenience.
Here's the thing though. I also made the switch when reading manuscripts.
I read digitally when I write:
- I type the story on my laptop.
- I read the story on my laptop and edit as I go.
- I make changes electronically, and my beta readers read digitally.
- And finally, before I send the book off to my editor, I make it into an e-book, and I read it in the Kindle program on my iPad.
My editor, on the other hand, prints the book out and reads on paper.
For those of you unfamiliar with the editorial process, it works something like this:
- I submit the first(ish) draft to my editor.
- She reads and sends me a letter about what's working and what isn't working and makes specific notes in the manuscript. She sends me the printed file via UPS.
- I follow the document through digitally and come up with a chapter by chapter list of changes to address her concerns.
- We discuss those changes and make sure we're on the same page.
- I make the changes electronically and then send her the digital file.
- She prints it out and reads it again, marking pacing and other issues in the manuscript margins and making suggestions for specific lines that need to be reworked.
- I go through the line edits and submit the file--digitally.
- I send the electronic file to my beta readers and go through their suggestions--digitally.
- I convert the book to an e-book and read it through, highlighting places I need to go back to.
And all this time, even though the book has been printed out, I don't *read* it on paper.
Then I get the copyedited manuscript. On paper. And I have to read and review it on paper.
Oy. There is a real difference in the way the words read and look on paper. I see things I didn't see when I was reading digitally, even when I read the book as an e-book. Even when I read passages aloud, which I also do frequently.
The moral of this story?
This is only the second book I've worked on with an editor. I'm going to get better--all of this is a learning process. I definitely have a takeaway on process for myself though. And for book three, I'm going to do things a little differently.
I'm going to print the book out for myself several times before the copyediting stage. Not sure how I'm going to work this in with the fast deadlines that we work with in publishing, but I'm going to make time, because it's worth it.
Takeaway writing tip of the day:
Read your manuscript in as many different ways as you can:
- As a Scrivener or word processing file.
- As a Scrivener or word processing file with the font changed. (You'd be surprised how just this small change brings things to light.)
- As a Scrivener or word processing file that you read aloud.
- As an electronic book.
- As printed pages -- bound, if possible.
What about you? Do you prefer to read digitally or on paper? Does it make a difference in how you read and what you understand and remember?THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY
Rebel Belleby Rachel HawkinsHardcoverPutnam JuvenileReleased 4/8/2014Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.
Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.
With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.
Purchase Rebel Belle at AmazonPurchase Rebel Belle at IndieBoundView Rebel Belle on GoodreadsAND A SPECIAL DIGITAL DEAL! COMPULSION IS $1.99 at AMAZON
Compulsionby Martina BooneHardcoverSimon PulseReleased 10/28/2014Beautiful Creatures meets
The Body Finder in this spellbinding new trilogy.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.All her life, Barrie Watson had been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lived with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
Purchase Compulsion at Amazon for $1.99Purchase Compulsion at IndieBoundView Compulsion on Goodreadsa Rafflecopter giveaway
The basket of books nominations have come to a close. Sadly, I've had to choose among all the great nominees.
I couldn't choose just twenty, though. The nominees were too deserving. I'd send books to every one of them, if I could, and there was just no way that I could pick between all the schools and libraries where the students were extremely disadvantaged, or the libraries who have lost their funding, or the schools and libraries where teachers and librarians enter giveaways just to get recently published books into the hands of readers.
With choosing impossible, I narrowed the selection down to a hundred nominations, and then chose at random from there. That's a small drop in the bucket, but hopefully, it will help a little bit.
Honestly, I couldn't have more respect and honor for all the teachers and librarians and volunteers who spend their time getting books into the hands of readers by any means they can.
To continue to help, in addition to the many giveaways that we and the generous authors and publishers with new books out provide each week here on Adventures--which I hope librarians and teachers will continue to enter--I will donate a basket of books to a school or library each month to a school or library.
Without further ado, here's the list of donations I'll be sending out as soon as possible:
- Neva Lomason Memorial Library, Carrollton, GA
- Lee Williams High School, Kingman, AZ
- Central Virginia Regional Library, Farmville, VA
- Spencer Penn Centre, Spencer, VA
- Mosheim Public Library, Mosheim, TN
- The Wardlaw-Hartridge School, Edison, NJ
- Alameda High School Library, Lakewood, CO
- Mount Pleasant Regional Library, Mt Pleasant, SC
- Bridgeport Library, Old Mill Green Branch, Bridgeport, CT
- Franklin High School, Livonia, MI
- Loveland Public Library, Loveland, CO
- Safety Harbor Library, Safety Harbor, FL
- Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Springs, UT
- Moorpark High School, Moorpark, CA
- Lewisville High School, Lewisville, TX
- Columbus Metropolitan Library-Martin Luther King Branch, Columbus, Ohio
- St. Stephens High School, Hickory, NC
- Kanawha County Library, Charleston, WV
- White Station High School, Memphis, TN
- Gramercy Arts High School, NY, NY
Thank you ALL for your nominations and your help in getting books out to these wonderful institutions. Please come back and nominate again the first Tuesday of every month in 2015! : )
Happy reading!
Martina
I've heard other authors talk about it, but I never thought about it seriously as something that would happen to me. PPD. Post Partum Depression. I didn't have it with either of my kids, although I've seen how debilitating it can be. Why would I get it after my debut novel?
Except.
COMPULSION is my baby. I've spent years focused on its conception, inception, growth, and welfare. And now it's out in the world.
There's very little more I can do for it. I've given it over to the readers, and my publisher has moved on to other books, including my next book, and there's a very real sense of exhaustion and anticlimax. All of that is exacerbated by environmental factors--what seems like a never-ending stream of bad news. The "news" news is bad enough. Ferguson. ISIS. Syria. The constant and seemingly escalating attacks on women around the world. And then there's news on the personal front too with more bad news for my sister, and I feel helpless because there's nothing that I can do to help her.
My poor pup, Auggie the Wonder Dog, is having surgery this morning, too, for a torn ligament in his knee. I hate--HATE--that he is going through pain. Again, I feel helpless.
Helplessness. That's the common denominator. I don't DO helpless. I like control.
We writers are masters of our universes. We create whole worlds, surely we should be able to do something to improve what goes on around real world, no?
Emphatically, in this instance, NO.
But since I like to write my way out of things, I've researched some ways to help myself feel better. Maybe they can help you, too, if you've got the holiday or writing blahs.
1. Eating My Way Out of It. I'm eating Nutella and virtually everything chocolate, because 'tis the season. That produces dopamine, which can improve my mood, help my concentration, increase productivity, and make me feel generally less UGH. (Yes, that's a technical term.) But chocolate isn't necessarily the best source of dopamine. If you're feeling blue or scattered and you want to survive the holiday season in the same size pants you started in, try apples, almonds, bananas, eggs, strawberries, and pumpkin seeds. They all offer dopamine boosts as well.
2. Walking It Off. There's something to be said for this--exercise also produces dopamine, and helps to alleviate the guilt of all that chocolate. But it also gives me the time to think and focus on creating a new project.
3. Starting That New Project. There's joy and hope in creation. Putting myself back into the illusion of control by becoming the master of my fictional universe again is definitely part of my prescription.
4. Resetting Muscle Memory. Healthy eating, exercise, and immersing myself into a new project all require time, and time is at an increasing premium right now. The launch disrupted my "normal" routine, so it's time to redefine what's normal. I'm putting myself on a stricter schedule. Social media and marketing first thing. Writing in the morning/editing in the afternoon and evening. I'm also forcing myself to leave time to read for pleasure, because that keeps me sane and keeps me growing as a writer.
5. Focusing on the Stars. My son has ADHD, but medication didn't work for him. To help him overcome his disruptive behavior at school, we kept a sticker journal. I made a list of everything that needed to be done that day, from brushing his teeth, to doing his homework, to remembering to say please and thank you. By including some easy goals every day, I built in a little bit of success, and I'm doing the same thing for myself by making my goals manageable. Instead of saying that I'm going to write 2000 words or review copyedits for ten chapters every day, I'm focusing on writing a paragraph, and editing a manageable amount of pages. Starting small. : )
6. Keeping a Gratitude Jar. I started putting good news and kind things people said into a jar last year so that I could pull them out when I was focusing on the not so good news. But I'm starting a new tradition now and focusing on kindness and gratitude. Not what has someone said, but what has someone done--not necessarily for me, for others, for the world in general. What *can* I be grateful for? Science suggests that focusing on that literally retrains the brain to see the positive.
What about YOU? What techniques do you use to cope?
Please leave a comment below and share!
Some Good Things to Start Us Off
Know What Else is Fun? LAILAH by Nikki Kelly!
Who knew there was an original take on vampires left anywhere? Or angels! I loved this book.
Are you team Jonah? Or team Gabriel?
Don't know yet? Okay. How about a giveaway? : )
WIN LAILAH, PLUS LAILAH SWAG, and a COMPULSION SWAG PACK
Lailahby Nikki KellyHardcoverFeiwel & FriendsReleased 10/7/2014Over one million Wattpad readers have made
Lailah a sensation!
The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.
On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely Allie – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.
In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?
Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.
Purchase Lailah at AmazonPurchase Lailah at IndieBoundView Lailah on GoodreadsAnd here's some additional great LAILAH swag!
Plus some COMPULSION swag!
Enter below. : )
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Do you edit censor yourself as you write? Before you even start to write?
We all second guess ourselves, at least to some extent. I do. Something happens, someone says something negative, or I read something brilliant by someone else, and the doubt demons start nibbling away at my self-confidence, whispering that what I'm doing isn't good enough.
There is so much noise in this business, so much whispering, so much doubt.
We can't let it take hold or we'll paralyze ourselves. Deadlines don't give into paralysis or doubt. : )
When I'm feeling like writing has become a chore and I need to regain the joy of writing, I find that there are a number of things I can do that practically guarantee to get me back on track.
If you're doing NaNoWriMo and feeling like you're overwhelmed, don't give up. Here are a few tricks I use to convince myself that I can keep going.
- Connect to what you love. If you're anything like me, the characters are what you love most about your manuscript, but if you're more invested in the plot or the concept, that's okay. Make a list of what you love and why you love it. Concentrate on rekindling that initial enthusiasm. Got it? Good. Now look at the scene or chapter you're currently writing and find a way to incorporate what you love into that chapter. Make your character do something that shows who she is, or demonstrate the "cool" aspects of your plot or concept.
- Write a letter. Get in the head of your character more deeply by writing a letter from her to someone else in her life. What is bugging her most? What does she need someone to know? What would she tell someone who wronged her if she had the chance? What would she say to her best-friend, right here, right now.
- Write a paragraph. Focusing on writing a thousand words or two thousand or more can be debilitating. The task can feel too huge when you're not feeling inspired. Instead of telling yourself you have to write ALL THE WORDS, tell yourself to write the first sentence in a paragraph, and then another sentence. All you have to write is one paragraph. Then another. You can quit any time, but once you've met your goal for the day, the words may come more easily.
Remember one more thing: your words may not be perfect, but they don't have to be when you first put them on the page. Focusing on word count can be debilitating, but words don't matter.
Hear me? Words don't matter.
Words change. Sentences change. Paragraphs and scenes and chapters may be deleted.
Focus on what the characters want and why your main character isn't getting what she wants, why it's almost impossible for her to get what she wants, and your story will write itself. Once it's down on the page and you are happy with the story, THEN you can focus on the words. In the meantime, focus on the joy of story! : )
Happy writing,
Martina
Giveaway This Week
The Young Elitesby Marie LuHardcoverPutnam JuvenileReleased 10/7/2014I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a
malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.Purchase The Young Elites at AmazonPurchase The Young Elites at IndieBoundView The Young Elites on Goodreadsa Rafflecopter giveaway
Even before Compulsion released, I had a slew of contacts on Facebook, Goodreads, and my website asking for donations of the book for a school or library.
I love libraries. I love teachers who keep books in the classrooms, most often at their own expense. But I can't possibly send books for every request.
I do want to do what I can though, especially for the holidays.
So I'm hosting a Win a Basket of Books giveaway.
Want to win a basket of best-selling books for your school or library? I’ve been getting requests for donations of Compulsion, and with the holiday season coming up, I’ve decided the best present I can give myself is to give something back to schools, teachers, libraries, and librarians. Without them, Compulsion would not exist.
If you know an underfunded school or library in the United States that could use a little help, please nominate them using the form below.
On December 15th, I’ll choose twenty (20) schools or libraries from the nominations, and mail them each a basket of six (6) popular books in time for the holidays. : )
Please help by getting the word out! And if you’d like to donate books, let me know. I’d love to be able to send out more baskets to even more schools and libraries!
News and Squeees!
There have been many lovely moments recently. The whole Compelling Reads tour was amazing, and so many people have been more than kind.
Speaking of Paying It Forward
This week's giveaways include some hot Compulsion swag plus A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU by Claudia Gray plus TALON by Julie Kagawa.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A Thousand Pieces of Youby Claudia GrayHardcoverHarperTeenReleased 11/4/2014Every Day meets Cloud Atlas in this heart-racing, space- and time-bending, epic new trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray.Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.
Purchase A Thousand Pieces of You at AmazonPurchase A Thousand Pieces of You at IndieBoundView A Thousand Pieces of You on GoodreadsABOUT THE BOOK
Talonby Julie KagawaHardcoverHarlequin TeenReleased 10/28/2014Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.
Purchase Talon at AmazonPurchase Talon at IndieBoundView Talon on GoodreadsCOMPULSION Charm Bookmark, Necklace, and Swag
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If there is one thing the staff here at
Adventures in Young Adult Publishing loves as much as Halloween, it is our fearless leader and head spooker, Martina Boone. We couldn't think of anything better to celebrate this boo-tastic day than by sharing our love of Martina's new release
COMPULSION. Her luscious and atmospheric Southern Gothic YA will most definitely put you in a spooky frame of mind.
So join us as we each share our love of Martina and our fascination with her Compulsion.
From Lisa Gail Green:
Halloween is my favorite holiday. It’s a pretty big deal at my house. I love anything and *almost* everything spooky. It’s also no secret that I absolutely LOVE Martina’s book, COMPULSION. I mean it when I say it’s one of my favorite books ever. Heck, if I could dress like Barrie for Halloween I would! I can’t because I’d never survive the heels. But I digress.
I love the gothic feel of the book, the characters, the paranormal powers and so on, but before I read it I hadn’t realized it also had GHOSTS. If ghosts are done right, I adore them. I wish I could pull them right out of COMPULSION and make them part of my house. You know, basically turn my whole house into Watson Island. That way I’d also get the Fire Carrier at midnight and so on. Maybe even have some little people to blame my messy house on…
Magic is something I believe in and so I did figure out a way to bring the book to life on Halloween. Should I share my secret? *shifty eyes* Okay. I’m going to take my brand new copy of COMPULSION, which I’ve preordered (since my signed ARC is a treasure that must be preserved for eternity, can you say, “Fan Girl”?) and I’m going to curl up and re-read it on All Hallows Eve! I. Am. So. Excited.
From Erin Cashman:
Halloween is such a magical time, it seems as if anything is possible. What better time to read COMPULSION? Magic is woven into everything at Watson Landon’s, from the ghosts, to the Fire Carrier, to the yunwi, to the characters themselves. (And let’s not forget that magical setting!) I adore the yunwi. I love how they seem like pests at first, but as the story evolves we learn that they, like magic, are there for a reason. Everything changes when our feisty young heroine, Barrie, steps onto her ancestor’s stronghold, the yunwi included. Barrie becomes the center of the magic in ways that no one expects, least of all her. I have had the honor of reading PERSUASION (I know you are so jealous! You should be!) and without giving anything away (well, maybe just a little away) I can tell you that the yunwi become more important to the story, in a way that I LOVE! So, until the Watson Landing theme park is built, in order to have this world come to life you better start reading COMPULSION!
From Alyssa Hamilton:
So for me, one of my absolute favourite things about Halloween are the haunted houses and one of the spookiest things about Compulsion was the house itself. Watson's Landing became a living, breathing character to me, and it was brilliant. The atmosphere the Martina created was magical but so so eerie. I imagined myself walking down those creaky hallways and feeling something that just wasn't quite right and being so creeped out you start getting jumpy. Some of my favourite books have included houses that absolutely come alive, and Compulsion and Watson's Landing has easily topped that list for me.
The unknown factor that comes with a large home and the stories that can evolve out of past generations living and dying in them create layers upon layers of unknown bits and pieces. Watson's Landing is like a subtle haunted house that creeps up on you throughout the entire book. Compulsion's release date being so near to Halloween was one of the best things Simon & Schuster could have done, because Martina gave me a haunted house like no other.
From Jan Lewis:
I absolutely love the little people or
yunwi in COMPULSION. They are little tricksters who steal random things from Watson's Landing. I've always imagined them as adorable little shadow children who are a bit naughty but mean well. Since I have two little people of my own, I thought this would be the perfect time to share them.
Meet
yunwi Grayson, who has stolen Mommy's copy of COMPULSION, and
yunwi Ellery, who has stolen Daddy's screwdriver and Mommy's cell phone. What naughty little people! Luckily, if I give them a bowl of nuts and berries and a glass of milk, they will happily return our possessions.
From Susan Sipal:
One of the many aspects of Martina's Compulsion that fascinated me the most was her use of mythological spirits. The Fire Carrier is awesome and so mysterious, but I think it was the yunwi who stole my heart and caught my attention the most as I'd also used a different version of this legend in one of my own stories. Based on the little people of Cherokee legend, Martia's little spirits are quite mischievous and entertaining but also critical to the story.
Since Martina's yunwi fascinated me so much, I decided to do what I love to do and research them some more. Turns out, there are "little people" in cultures all around the world from the dwarfs, fairies, and leprechauns of Western Europe to the Ebu Gogo of Indonesia and the Menehune of Hawaii to the Domovoi of Russian heritage. All these little people wandering about in our myths makes me wonder...could they be based on experience? One thing is for sure, as part of our shared human experience, they appeal strongly. And Martina's yunwi are sure to enchant the reader.
I wonder -- if we were to visit Watson Island this Halloween, would the Fire Carrier and yunwi come magically to life at midnight? Or is that what reading is for?
And a Happy Halloween to all!
 |
Love, Lisa, Erin, Alyssa Jan, and Susan |
I quit writing for almost fifteen years.
I cringe to think about that now, because I imagine what I could have learned in that time. . . . Where would my writing career be now? I look at the young writers starting out, and I’m envious of all the years they have left to hone their craft.
So why did I quit?
I could say it was because I had two young children, both with medical problems. I could say that it was because the Air Force sent my husband away to school for a year. I could say that I started a business because we needed the money, and I ended up working close to eighty hours a week. I could say it was because the rock-star agent who intimidated the crap out of me dropped me like a hot potato and I didn’t know where my manuscripts had been or hadn’t been. . . . All those things are true.
But there’s a bigger truth.
I was scared and discouraged and tired to my soul of being rejected.
There’s also another truth.
I didn’t realize that failure was an opportunity.
As writers, as artists, we need failure to enable growth. If we don’t fail, we keep writing the same thing that everyone else is writing, which is great if we want to write fan fiction. But if we want to earn a place on bookstore shelves and in the hearts of readers, we have to write something that only we could write.
Writing something unique is scary. It opens us up to even more failure and rejection—a different kind of rejection, the kind that doesn’t have the safety net that comes with subconsciously knowing we’ve held a little something back and protected ourselves at least a little bit. Fear is what holds us back
But fear can also push us to a breakthrough.
The breakthrough that finally got
Compulsion published came from fear. I had amassed a list of about ten agents who, while rejecting a previous manuscript, had asked to see more work. Writing
Compulsion, I had already pushed myself further than ever before. I wrote a southern gothic paranormal romance when I knew that paranormals weren’t really what agents were looking for anymore. I wrote bigger than life characters, knowing that some people wouldn't get them. I wrote a heroine who makes lots of mistakes, knowing some people wouldn't identify with her. I tackled a huge story. I scared myself writing this book. And I fell in love with it, with every single aspect of it. When it came time to start thinking about querying it, fear that others wouldn't love it the way I did kept me staring at my lists instead of typing up the query letter.
At that moment, it wasn’t just the fear of rejection that held me back. I had finally learned enough about writing a novel to know how far I still had to go in mastering my craft. I feared that I hadn't done justice to the characters and the story. I feared losing the opportunities I had built with the agents who had asked to see additional work.
I needed a safety net of expert opinion.
I considered doing a mentorship. Cynthia Leitich Smith, one of my writing heroes, offers a mentorship for several months, as do other writers. Ultimately, I opted to hire a private editor to look at overall structure. For me, that didn’t work out. The changes she suggested were minimal, but they didn’t resonate, but because I didn’t really trust myself, I implemented them anyway. Every one of those was ultimately taken out in the editorial process.
Next, I looked for a workshop that was intensive and craft-oriented. I found one called Your Best Book through
Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services. The timing, price, and duration were right. It was a week-long, craft-based program mentored by Lorin Oberweger (half of the Noelle August of Lorin and Veronica Rossi who wrote Boomerang), Brenda Windberg, Emma Dryden (former Vice President and Publisher of Atheneum Books for Young Readers and Margaret K. McElderry Books, imprints of Simon & Schuster), and literary agents Josh and Tracey Adams. Not only did they all provide brilliant suggestions and insights over the course of the week, but the caliber of writers attending the program was truly stellar. These were writers who knew their craft and were looking to push themselves further. Many were already published, or agented and on the point of publication. Working with them opened my eyes and showed me how much talent agents and editors see every day. That was both daunting and exhilarating.
I took my manuscript home, incorporated the suggestions I’d received and carried them through the rest of the manuscript. I sent off my queries with a sense of calm assurance. I knew this manuscript was going to be “the one.”
Of course, that assurance disintegrated as the querying process drew out. I got to the point where I convinced myself it wasn’t going to work after all, and decided maybe I needed to do another round of revision. But right at that exact moment, I got the first email from an agent wanting to schedule “the call.”
I ended up getting multiple offers of representation for Compulsion, and then interest from multiple publishers that resulted in a pre-empt from Simon Pulse. I couldn’t have landed with a better publisher, and I’m a firm believer that everything that happened along my journey needed to happen to bring me to this point.
Is every manuscript publishable? No. Is every publishable manuscript published? Sadly, also no. There is an element of luck involved, I’m not going to lie.
All we can do is learn our craft, study what others have written, read what publishers are publishing AT THAT MOMENT, and write the best version of a manuscript that only we can write.
Once we’ve done that, we send it out. We hope it finds a home, and if it doesn’t, we write the next manuscript. That previous book will still be there, waiting for us to look at again after the next is published.
What we can’t do is quit. Not if we have something to say. Not if we have a compulsion for writing and sharing our ideas with others.
To help YOU make the breakthrough, Lorin Oberweger of Free Expressions is generously offering a ten-page critique to a random winner, and I’m offering a $100 gift certificate to any of the Free Expressions seminars or services.
I want you all to learn from my mistakes. Don’t quit. Don’t tell yourself you aren’t good enough. Don’t tell yourself you don’t have time to become good enough.
Tell yourself instead that everyone fails. Tell yourself you’re going to embrace failure as a badge of honor, as a mark of courage.
Feed your compulsion to write.
And if you’re writing and you’re struggling, I’m sending you an enormous hug. Keep going. It’s worth it.
Compulsion hits stores in less than a week. I had my first school visit a week ago.
And my first book signing on Thursday. While I was there, I got to open the package with my first finished copy of my book. An actual, really-truly, never-thought-it-could-happen book.
Best feeling EVER, especially when the road has been so long.
It can happen. It will happen.
Just believe!
Want to win the Free Expressions gift certificate or critique from Lorin Oberweger, or a critique from Kent D. Wolf, my agent, or critiques from other agents, and tons of other gifts and prizes?
1) Why you're compelled to write
2) How or why you almost quit
3) What brought you back from the brink of quitting
4) Your favorite bit of advice or inspiration you'd like to share with other writers
Then join us tomorrow, 10/22/14 from 6:00 PM Eastern to 7:00 PM Eastern for live chats, prize drawings, and MORE spur-of-the-moment prizes!
Becoming an author doesn't come with an instruction manual. It should, but if it did, it would be about 2,000 pages long. And no author would actually have time to read it. Because author.
Seriously. There are all these delusions about what we do. . . . We all have them.
They begin as we think that because we took English classes and own enough books to open our own bookstore, that qualifies us to write.
So we write. And write. And write. And the more we write, the more we realize we don't know $@it about how to write a novel. So we work to learn, and we write more, and eventually (YAY and OMG) we sell a book.
If that happens to be with a traditional publisher, then once we have picked ourselves off the floor, exhausted and happy, we get to know THE EDITOR.
A good editor is very different from a critique partner or beta reader.
A good editor has already loved the book and advocated for it to other editors and people on the acquisition panel, who needed to be convinced the book could sell, first to bookstores and libraries, and eventually to readers. The editor, along with the acquisition panel and the team, have a vision of how that can best be assured, and how well the book can sell.
Now a good editor has to set out to make that a reality.
As an author, your first hint of this comes via the EDITORIAL LETTER. This is a single spaced document where THE EDITOR takes a couple pages or so to tell you what she loves about the book and what
is working, or what she understood from the book, and then tells you the big picture things that need to be changed. Depending on the publication schedule and the timing, you may have anywhere from ten days to a month to make these changes. Welcome to the grown up world--that time when you could work on a manuscript for five or six years, or five or six months? Over.
Then come LINE EDITS. Line edits can range from a few marks every few pages to a few unmarked words every few pages. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but . . . Again, you may have ten days to a month.
Here's the thing though. Between the EDITORIAL LETTER AND LINE EDITS, a good editor manages to:
- Ask questions that help ensure that what is in the author's head is actually on the page for the reader to see.
- Force the author, often kicking and screaming, to dig deep, understand the story, understand every aspect and element of the story, and understand how all those elements best come together.
- Distill the story, characters, and themes to a format and structure that best conveys what the author wants to say.
- Orchestrate the story so that the story, characters, and other elements best work together so that they help convey what was in the author's heart.
- Clarify the language so that it communicates the story most poignantly and appropriately, and at a pace that will keep readers reading.
A GOOD EDITOR doesn't TELL the author how to do any of those things. Nope. A GOOD EDITOR is a master of psychology and subtleness.
A GOOD EDITOR has discernment, a sharp and questioning mind, and most of all, tremendous patience. All while she is overworked and juggling manuscripts from a dozen or more other authors.
A GOOD EDITOR is worth her weight in gold.
Yep, you guessed it. I just sent off my revision of PERSUASION to my EXCELLENT EDITOR at 4:00 o'clock this morning. I'm a little punch drunk, but damn, I'm proud of this one.
And now I sit back and wait . . .
WANT TO WIN A BOOK?
Snow Like Ashesby Sara RaaschHardcoverBalzer + BrayReleased 10/14/2014A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.
Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.
Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.
So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.
Purchase Snow Like Ashes at AmazonPurchase Snow Like Ashes at IndieBoundView Snow Like Ashes on Goodreadsa Rafflecopter giveaway
It’s a VERY special month here at Adventures, and we’re beyond thrilled to be able to share it with the writers who’ve been with us since the beginning, and with the new writers and readers who have joined us along the journey. And it really is a journey! Four years ago, I started this blog with a friend as we started to think about getting our books published. In less than a month, on October 28th, COMPULSION will finally emerge into the world as a published really-truly book. There are lots of fun things in store to celebrate the kick off, but wait . . . There’s even MORE to celebrate.
Our very own Lisa Gail Green has a fabulous new agent, and a slew of incredibly awesome new book deals, and our lovely Erin Cashman is brewing some wonderful news as well!
In the next couple of weeks, they are going to tell you their stories, and I’m going to tell you mine. What stories you ask? The stories of how we almost quit writing and ended up turning it around.
Have you ever felt like that? Like you were DONE? You just couldn’t face rejection or take coming “close" any more? Have you thought about giving up?
We all have! I did. Lisa did. Erin did.
But we kept going because we loved to write. You could almost say we had a Compulsion for Writing? :D
We’d love to hear about YOUR Compulsion for Writing. We want you to tell us your stories, and we’re going to host a giveaway and a celebration of persistence.
Here’s how it’s going to work.
1.) You write your story — a paragraph, a page, whatever you want — about how your Compulsion for Writing kept you going at a time when you got discouraged and thought about quitting.
Or
2) You write about how to feed your Compulsion for Writing and keep the joy through the hard times.
3) Post what you've written on your Blog, Pinterest, Tumblr or Facebook Page and share it to the contest event page on Facebook, or write it directly on the Compulsion for Writing Party and Prize-Fest event page.
4) Get everyone you know to “Like" the Compulsion for Writing Page and their favorite posts people have shared there. Here's a nifty banner you can use to help spread the word!
We’ll review the posts with the greatest number of "likes" and Lisa, Erin, and I will each pick winners. We’ll send the winners special gift packs, but we’ll also each provide half-hour long phone calls to discuss your writing in general, your book or WIP, querying, agents, the book business, publishing, promotion and marketing, our books, social media, or whatever else you want to talk about.
And, because sometimes all it takes is a bit of a push, but the people who need the biggest push are often the ones who don’t get it by querying or by entering contests, we’ll have some agent critiques for a few lucky winners, too.
On 10/21/28 at 6:00 PM eastern, we will join everyone for a live Facebook Party where we can all trade stories and answer questions. That’s also when we’ll announce the winners and throw in a few extra and spectacular live giveaways as well! So mark your calendars.
Oh, and for those who are voting on stories? We'll add giveaways as we go along, and we'll announce winners for those on the 22nd, too. The first will be posted on the Facebook page later today. Stop by and check it out. : )
More details are posted on the Facebook page, and stay tuned for our stories and prize packages coming in the next few weeks.Meanwhile, here’s a bit of photo inspiration for what can happen if you don’t give up! : ) Last year, I was down at YALLFEST as a fan with some friends. They had stacks and stacks of Justine Magazines with the coolest Teen Read Week feature showcasing some great YA books. And tomorrow, the Justine Teen Read Week issue hits the stands, and guess what's in it?
And did I mention that Melissa Marr and I happen to be doing an event together to kick off the
Compelling Reads Tour? That's total coincidence, but it's another example of what can happen.
It CAN happen. You just have to believe! (And be compelled to write!)
And now for the first of the HUGE giveaways! : )
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Saying Goodbye to Clara Kensie
Today is a sad day for me. I have to announce that Clara Kensie is leaving the blog, at least temporarily, for personal reasons. As many of you know, Clara has been doing the Question of the Week for us for the past year and a half or so. You may also remember that even before that, she used to help out with the This Week for Writers Round-up segments. All in all, she's been involved with the blog off and on since almost the beginning.
I first met Clara on the blog. She was working on the query letter for a book that sounded so good, I eventually asked to read it. We became critique partners, both inside the fantastic online group she introduced me to, and on our own. I was thrilled when her book landed her an agent, the awesome Laura Bradford, and then again when the book sold to the brand new digital imprint of Harlequin Teen. I knew she and the book both deserved every bit of success.
Harlequin decided to make RUN TO YOU their flagship serial release, which meant they split it into three pieces and released each piece separately. Clara's book is perfect for that, because each of the three parts has the kind of surprise twists we should all have at major turing points. And the girl knows how to write suspense, great romance, and dreamy guys.
Haven't read it yet? WHAT are you waiting for?
 |
RUN TO YOU
Part 1: First Sight |
RUN TO YOU PART ONE: FIRST SIGHT (available February 1, 2014)
Part One in the riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
Sarah Spencer has a secret: her real name is Tessa Carson, and to stay alive, she can tell no one the truth about her psychically gifted family and the danger they are running from. As the new girl in the latest of countless schools, she also runs from her attraction to Tristan Walker—after all, she can’t even tell him her real name. But Tristan won’t be put off by a few secrets. Not even dangerous ones that might rip Tessa from his arms before they even kiss…
 |
RUN TO YOU
Part 2: Second Glance |
RUN TO YOU PART TWO: SECOND GLANCE (available February 8, 2014)Part Two in the riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
Tessa Carson has unlocked her heart and her secrets to Tristan Walker—but Tristan has secrets of his own, and his might just mean the end of Tessa’s family. Unaware, Tessa embraces falling in love and being herself for the first time since she was attacked when she was only eight years old. But secrets can’t be run from forever, and sometimes love is too good to be true…
 |
RUN TO YOU
Part 3: Third Charm |
RUN TO YOU PART THREE: THIRD CHARM (available February 15, 2014)Part Three in the riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
Betrayed, heartbroken, and determined to save her family, Tessa Carson refuses to give in to Tristan Walker’s pleas for forgiveness. But her own awakening psychic gift won’t let her rest until she uncovers the truth about her family and her past. And Tristan is the only one who can help her sift through the secrets to find the truth hidden in all the lies…
and order from your favorite e-tailer:
Amazon B&N Google Play BAM HarlequinA second volume in the series is also available, so feel free to start a fabulous binge!
I want to thank Clara for all her contributions to the blog, but mostly for the friendship and all her support and kindness over the years. It's an honor to follow in her path and to get the chance to share experiences together. We've got one last Question of the Week from Clara that will be posting soon, but in the meantime, please say your good-byes and thank her for her contribution!
And now for some happier news.
A Warm Welcome to Becca Fowler
We've been wanting to do something fun for readers for some time now--but still with a slant toward things that writers want to know. And whether writers realize it or not, what we need is to have some idea of what readers are thinking and talking about.
So.
We've been super lucky to snag the awesome Becca Fowler from Pivot Book Reviews to come in and help us out with some book blogger round-ups every month. She'll be asking some questions that bloggers can answer, and she'll also be doing a blogger check in so you can scan it and quickly catch up with the most interesting stuff going on around the blogosphere. Look for some fantastic bloggers to be joining us on a regular basis, but we'll also be opening it up to new bloggers as guests so that we can help create some exposure for up and coming bloggers.
Now, a little bit about our newest indomitable AYAPer:
My name is Rebecca, but I think that sounds like an old lady name, so I go by Becca :)
I am 22 going on 23
(that doesn't have quite the ring to it as it does on The Sound of Music)
I live in the great state of Oklahoma
(where the wind REALLY does come sweeping down the plain)
I live with who I've dubbed The Parentals
(who are, not-so-secretly, the BEST)
I have one older sister who is married, and has two girls
(which means I get to play the Coolest Aunt Ever)
I am convinced I will be the old cat lady
(minus the cats, because I heart dogs)
Speaking of dogs, I have two!
An Aussie named Dixie, and a Sheltie named Gentry!
I work for my family's business. We rent out inflatables, aka Bouncy Houses, and MORE!
I aspire to be a Young Adult author! It is my dream!!
My favorite hobbies include:
Reading (duh)
Writing
Skating
Drawing
This Week's Giveaway
Afterworldsby Scott WesterfieldHardcover GiveawaySimon PulseReleased 9/23/2014Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…
Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about Afterworlds?Afterworlds is two interleaved books, really. The odd-numbered chapters tell the story of Darcy Patel, a young writer moving away from home; the even chapters are the entirety of Darcy's first novel, which she's rewriting throughout that same year. The most exciting part of writing a dual novel was linking the two narratives, having things spill over from Darcy's day-today reality into her fiction. All writers steal from reality, so what Darcy experiences in her life always bubbles up in her novel, whether it's a setting, a realization about true love, or just a new word.
Collectively, the two books are my really long answer to the question that all writers dread, "Where do you get your ideas?"Purchase Afterworlds at AmazonPurchase Afterworlds at IndieBoundView Afterworlds on Goodreads
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