How to be Bad (E Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle)
Written by three very talented young adult authors, How to be Bad is told through the perspective of three very different characters. Vicky is the resident “badass” of the group, Mel is the new girl in town who avoids being sterotyped by hiding her family’s wealth, and Jesse is a good christian girl who wants everyone to practice what she preaches. The three girls go on a road trip to visit Vicky’s estranged boyfriend in Miami. Along the way they find out about each other and learn a lot about their friendship. Overall a great fun chick lit read, especially for summer! Also for more info on the book refer to Lockhart’s interview on this blog.
The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies (Lizabeth Zindel)
Like Girl of the Moment Zindel once again focuses on the young elite of New York City. After her parents divorce Maggie moves from Jersey to Manhatten to attend the all girls posh Berkley Prep. At first Maggie is snubbed by the other girls due to her newbie status. However, after sneaking into the popular clique’s party she is invited to join the most powerful secret society in school, The Revelers. The secret group is led by Victoria the most popular and wealthiest girl in school. The main goal of The Revelers is to collect their classmates secrets and record them on a wall located in Victoria’s secret room. In the beginning Maggie is happy to be a part of the popular clique and is dazzled by The Revelers wealth and sophistication. However, after Victoria forces her to perform a task that she feels is unethical Maggie begins to have second thoughts. A great page turner and it reminded me of a smarter version of Mean Girls.
Gods of Manhatten (Scott Mebus)
Thirteen year old Rory Hennessy’s world changes once his eyes are opened to a secret world called Mannahatta, which is a spiritual world of Manhattan. The city is made up of dead legends turned into gods, warrior roaches and their sidekick rats, and ancient Indians. Rory must save the ancient Indians in order to save modern Manhattan. At first glance, the premise for this book might sound exciting but it’s really not. I found the endless historical references tedious and uninteresting and it felt like filler to make the story more exciting. In addition, the gods who were former legends did not reflect the historical diversity of New York’s rich cultural history. Where was the Asian god of Chinatown or the Falafal god of hummus? Fuse #8 does a better job on tallying up the ethnic count in this book.
Truancy (Isamu Fukui)
Fifteen year old Tack is trying to survive in a world where the education board rules the city with an iron fist. In this alternate world students live in a prison like society where children should be seen and not heard. In the past when a student strayed from the educational system they were just given a slap on the hand. However, lately the board has begun to pass out death warrants to unruly students. In addition, a group of defected students called the Truancy are trying to take down the tyrannical government through terroistic violence. Tack finds himself caught in the middle of it all after he joins the Truancy to avenge a family member’s demise. It is in the hive of the Truancy where he meets Zyid the enigmatic leader of the group and the person who killed his family member. It’s hard to believe that Fukui was just fifteen years old when he wrote this book. The narrative in this book flows smoothly and Fukui is able to set up a world that is a commentary on society and what we could become if we let violence and a militaristic government take over. I would describe this book as a cross between Lord of the Flies and less twisted version of Battle Royale.
I wonder if William of Normandy made New Year's Goals. Time to conquer Saxony England.
Or if Christopher Columbus peered out into the wide blue ocean and made a goal to reach land.
The key to making goals is ensuring they're reasonable, something that we can actually achieve!
First, make a long term goal---for instance: by the end of the year I want to have written another book.
Make shorter term goals to reach this end: Write 70,000 words in the next 3 months, so approximately 23,000 a month, break down further, in a week, less than 6,000 words per week. Divide it up by days, 1,000 per day, 1 day off a week for good behavior. But what about the rest of the year? Okay, revise book, have it critiqued, ultimate goal? Send it out to agents/editors before year end. Again, make these real goals....By such and such a date, send in chapters for critique. By such and such a date, have all revisions done. By this date, submit to these five agents. If no response by a certain date, send out to these five agents. Etc....always make the short term goals identifiable, not vague.
The key here is to set tangible goals and how we're going to reach them with shorter, more doable goals.
By stating I want to have something or do something by the end of the year, but I make no plans on how to go about that, will surely result in not accomplishing my goal. :)
I want to write a new book and have it ready to go before the end of year? I'll do it, IF I reach my short term goals that keep me headed in the right direction.
So what is my New Year's Goal? Write the sequel to The Vampire...In My Dreams. :)
What to do about it? Make lists. Make goals. Do.
Sometimes it's not enough to set goals. Sometimes it helps to let others know your goals. Then they can ask if you've accomplished them. Annoying when you haven't. But sometimes just knowing someone will help to keep you honest, makes all the difference in the world.
I was writing a new novel, but the holidays have put a crimp in my writing. Right. In truth I'm procrastinating because I'm not sure where I'm going with the story. So I find other things I must do, and take a lot longer doing them while avoiding what I set out to do--which is write the new novel.
The muse isn't going to jump out and hit me on the head and say here I am, here's the story, here, write it. Sometimes it does. But most often it doesn't. So I have to make it happen. The laundry won't clean itself, neither will the pots and pans. The mowing has to be done, the weedeating too. Christmas cards? Argh.
Organization is the key. Make a list of what you want to accomplish, and try to stick to it. It's amazing how easy it is to get sidetracked when we don't set goals. Even if you don't accomplish everything in the day, keep track of it and have weekly goals, monthly goals.
What is your biggest time waster? Playing video games? Watching tv? Surfing the net? Allow for only so much time to do these things. Better yet, make it a gift to yourself. Work first, then play.
That's how it was when I was growing up. Go to school, come home and do homework and then the rest of the time was free time to play. Somehow the Internet has made me lose sight of work first, and play later. :)
So make a list, and then do what's listed. Fight procrastination! Make it happen!
Do you need a little help setting goals for your writing career in 2008?
If so, plan to join Suzanne Lieurance, The Working Writer’s Coach, next Thursday night, December 20th, at 7:00 central time for a free teleseminar called Set Your Sights on Success in 2008!
During this free 55 minute teleseminar, you’ll learn how to set your writing and career goals for 2008. You’ll also learn the steps you must take in order to reach those goals.
To receive an email invitation to this free event, send an email to [email protected] with the words “free goal setting teleseminar” in the subject line.
Get the help you need to succeed in 2008. Plan to take part in this exciting teleseminar to help take your writing career to the next level in the New Year!
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