Author2Author

Been There, Read That (or Tired and True Tropes)

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: February is Love Your Library Month! Ask your local librarians what you can do for them!

All of us writers trying to sell books know that it is a tough, competitive market for YA. What can we do to stand out in the slush piles? One idea I plan to implement is to work harder on coming up with unique angles to introduce characters and plot points. No more taking the easy, tried and true way!

Based on the over 100 YA novels I read in the past year, scenarios I will be avoiding are:

--a new boy at school who immediately connects with the MC and is a huge part of her destiny, paranormal or realistic. (New setting besides the school intro, please.)
--the MC starts at a new school and immediately connects with a guy there who is a huge part of her destiny, paranormal or realistc. (Twilight.)
--the MC has a dead brother/sister/boyfriend/girlfriend and connects with the deceased's living brother/sister/boyfriend/girlfriend in order to heal from the loss. (This has been done beautifully in the recent past, and I'm ready for another fresh way for the MC to heal.)
--strictly defined cliques, including the obviously popular/beautiful girls who are cruel to the MC. (If I never see this again, I will be all too grateful. Why can't the ugly girls be the cruel ones?)

In a first draft, these elements are fine. But as you revise, brainstorm new ways of showing the relationships between characters. Dig deeper. Writing is hard anyway, so work a little harder and make it all worth it.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Enough is enough...

2012-01-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: I started doing something I swore I'd never in my life resort to...keeping a food journal. But I have to admit its sort of easy with this app. All I have to do is search for foods and click to add to my journal. With all the hard work technically done for me, it's been enlightening and kind of fun. So for a few short weeks (or i.e. until the fun runs out), I'm going to give "MyFitnessPal" a try.

Every writer knows that revision is a necessity.

But just as important is stopping.

Because if we don't stop revising at some point then there would be no great books on the shelves or books for us to cuddle up with and read by awesome looking fireplaces like these.

However, determining when to stop revising always seems to be the tricky part.

Sure you want to stop after:

Changing everything you get comments on that resonate with you.
Reading your work multiple times. Preferably out loud. And correcting anything that doesn't sound right.
And then after completing a final round of edits, even after what you thought was your last round.

But how do you know you're done?

I think the best indicator is your gut. If something deep down is telling you that one aspect still isn't "quite" right, then you need another edit.

If that feeling goes away. Or you feel that there is no possible way you could make something better then you are ready to stop revising (at least temporarily until you get more comments :)) Because if all you are doing is changing things instead of improving, then chances are "enough" might very well be "enough."

Image from: http://cheezburger.com/View/3010085120

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Secrets in YA and MG, or the Character in Ignorance

2012-01-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Are you following Kristina's blog? She's running a giveaway of a signed hardcover, has news about her YALSA honor, and more!

Here's a secret about me: one of my pet peeves is when people think the difference between Middle Grade and Young Adult writing boils down to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. No! There are huge thematic differences between the genres. Middle grade characters are learning who they are and what makes them unique; young adult characters are figuring out how they affect the world.

Let me illustrate this with the role of secrets in middle grade and young adult novels. Take family secrets. Your family has skeletons in the closet. Think about how old you were when you discovered them. Were your parents really able to hide big secrets from you until you were 16? Some secrets do reach that level, if they're very taboo. But divorces and adoptions or (as I see in manuscript submissions) secret societies and superpowers? Even the most self-absorbed teen is interested in his or her family history. It's practically part of self-absorption.

If Dad is an evil overlord with a secret lair, your typical sixteen year old will have a few clues, at least. You're probably dealing with a middle grade novel, and adding sex and drugs won't instantly morph it into a young adult novel.

Secrets you may see in young adult novels:
-- things the entire family doesn't know yet. In Sarah Dessen's DREAMLAND, the main character's parents don't know why the oldest daughter has run away, so we believe that the main character doesn't know it, either.
-- unsolved crimes. These should be plausibly unsolved by everyone, without leaving trails of forensic evidence.
-- conspiracies by the entire society. In GONE WITH THE WIND, the male characters conspire to keep from the young ladies back home how badly the Confederacy is losing the war. This conspiracy extends to newspapers, political speeches, and intimate relationships.

Secrets you may see in middle grade novels:
-- family skeletons in the closet that have been hidden from the main character by the adults in the family.
-- secret societies or groups of people, such as witches and wizards in Hogwarts. "You have magic powers but your family didn't tell you" is very much a middle grade trope.
-- neighborhood secrets that some people know about, but not all. Haunted houses, secret places in the woods, urban ruins ripe for exploration, teachers or neighbors with double lives.

In other words, the young adult character should reasonably know just as much as the adult characters, even if she is as self-absorbed as Scarlett O'Hara. Or at least that's my opinion. Do you agree?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Editing the Indie Novel, Part One

2012-01-27T06:20:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Going indie doesn't mean you should go it alone. Surround yourself with a tribe of talented writers.

Okay, I wasn't going to do this right away, but it feels like a discussion of editing should be the next step. The reason I hesitate to tackle this topic is because nothing in e-publishing leads to more anger and arguments than editing.

Self-published novels have a bad rep for being poorly edited. In some cases, it's deserved. As epubbing has evolved over the last couple years, editing has taken on a whole different face. I wouldn't recommend anyone ever epublish without extensive editing.

Just. Don't. Do. It.

Today I'm going to tell you a bit about my editing practices

Here's my process:

1. I write the whole novel
2. I edit & rewrite
3. I edit & rewrite again
4. Then I send it out to Angela Carlie, who is the ying to my editing yang. She has a deep understanding of all of my writing foibles and she's not afraid to tell me when I've royally screwed up. She points out every zit, every freckle, and every stoopid mistake in my manuscript. Getting back any less would be a disservice to me. I WANT to be aware of every problem. Otherwise, what's the point of editing? (note: I just wish I could learn not to repeat the same mistakes over and over - I'm trying)
5. I cry, debate quitting writing, and eat a lot of chocolate
6. Then I edit & rewrite
7. I send the manuscript out to several more readers
8. I edit & rewrite
9. Then I start my proofreading chain - I send the first third of the book to one person who proofreads it. Any mistakes s/he finds, I correct. Then I send that segment to another reader while sending the first reader the second third of the book. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. I run my proofreading through at least three readers in this fashion so by the time the last person gets the book, it's hopefully squeaky clean.

Oh - each one of these readers is different. I never ask the same person to read the same manuscript twice. It's so easy to become comfortable with a book. I want my editors & proofreaders to come at my work with 100% fresh eyes. (My love & thanks to Karly, GP, Magan, Kim, Margaret, Tim, Marcia, Mark, Kate, Cherie, Teresa, David, Eugene, and OMG I know I'm forgetting people - if I forgot you, please email me and tell me and I'll add you in!)

Do I claim to be perfect? No. Do I think everyone will 'get' my style? No. I've been trashed by some readers for editing - while other readers praise the exact same style choices. Again, it leads back to the idea of subjectivity and enjoyment when a reader reads.

I think sometimes the casual reader with little experience in editing doesn't understand the difference between style choices and poor editing. When I edit other people's work, I am heavy into editing of punctuation and grammar. I don't often touch on style unless it's something that's glaring, like an author's tic versus a character's tic (which is something Angela taught me to find). Then I will say something. I usually try to let the author's style shine through because I feel that's what makes indie novels so special.

Okay, I could go on for years on this topic. Check out me & Ang below. The longer you're around me, you'll learn I have a slight obsession with FaceinHole.com. Ang & I haven't met in real life, but we've been internet friends for years now. :D

(Pssst....my first novel, Anathema, is free right now on the iBookstore - go download it if you're interested)

Tweet Your Favorite Author Day!!

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: There is still time to enter my contest for a signed hard cover of Just Your Average Princess. It's easy! Go to my blog to follow me and comment here to let me know.

I've been having a very good e-mail/facebook/twitter week. By this I mean I've been getting super nice notes from fans, parents, and librarians and it's awesome-- many smiles this week. And it made me think that we don't tell authors enough how much we like their work. Sure there are reviews posted on Amazon and Goodreads but outside of dedicated bloggers, a lot of people don't take the time to post a review after they've finished a book. I know I don't do it nearly enough. #Guilty

So, by the power invested in me by, well myself, I hereby declare today,

TWEET YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR DAY!!

Let's spread some author love. All you have to do is go on twitter and send out a tweet to your favorite author(s), telling them that you love one of their books. Here's an example:

@megcabot, your Airhead series is amazing! Love it!

Need to find YA author's twitter names? Here's some great lists: Mitali's, Mashable, and Reader's Ink. Or just google search your author's name and twitter.

If you want to include a hashtag- #TYFAD.

Go forth and tweet!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

ALA Youth Media Award Winners (or Silver and Gold Writing Lessons)

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: If a library fine of less than $1 appears erroneously on your account, please make sure your freak-out to the library staff is monetarily equivalent. It is hard to take you seriously if you are foaming at the mouth over 50 cents.

Wow.

Just wow.

None of the books that the Printz Club read made it on the Printz list this past Monday, and overall I only read one of the Printz books. I read about 150 teen novels last year -- how could I miss them?

In other news, my TBR pile now has four more titles on it. :)

One of the Newbery Club books made it onto the list, but only two honor books were chosen in addition to the Newbery winner.

You can see here that my predictions and wishes were wrong or not granted.

But congratulations to all of the winners, especially to the authors who books my Newbery and Printz Clubs read:

BETWEEN SHADES OF GREY by Ruta Sepetys (Morris Honor)
WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick (Shneider Award)
OKAY FOR NOW by Gary Schmidt (Odyssey Honor)
INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai (Newbery Honor)

As a writer, I look at the winners above and hope that I can channel the parts I love from them:

--Ruta's historical accuracy and chilling setting
--Brian's daring storytelling techniques
--Gary's emotional truth and complexly layered characters
--Thanhha's powerful brevity and lyricism

Did any of your favorites win? What have you learned from their writing, or what do you hope to achieve?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

5 Tricks to a Revising Mood

2012-01-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: need a good stress relief? Check out some of these aromatherapy products. Cheap and effective!

If you are like me, then you have to be in a "certain" mood to revise. At least revise well. This magical mood makes everything flow better. It not only sparks ideas of paragraphs to move around, but the right words also start coming to you quicker than a Real Housewife can cause drama.

But knowing how to get in that magical mood can be a bit more challenging. Here are my Five Tricks to try when wanting to get in the revising mood.

1.) Get active: a good workout of the whole body definitely encourages the brain to get active as well.

2.) Get calm: my personal choice I mentioned last week: a nice long bath. It not only helps me think, but it calms my mind which makes my revising more productive.

3.) Get sweets. Enough said!

4.) Get focused: one of the best ways I've found to get in a revising mood is to not finish everything in the last revision session. That may seem counter productive, and unfortunately sometimes it is. But usually if I have an idea of what I'm working on when I sit down and have a game plan of how to attack it, things will go much easier. The harder part is knowing just how little you can leave undone that will motivate you to get back to your project later. For me, that's usually only one or two paragraphs of text that needs revised. Once I start that the next time around, I'm in the mood already and its easier to tackle the next forty pages of revisions.

5.) Get your booty in the chair. That's really all you need. Once you've done all the others the last trick is that you have to make time for revising. This is sometimes very hard. Especially when a marathon of the Real Housewives of Orange County is on. But resisting the urge and getting your butt in the chair is half the battle.

(Now if only I could find a booty chair like these, I'm sure I'd be in a revising mood all the time. Because who wouldn't be motivated to sit in one of these all the time? :) )

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

So Not a Morning Person

2012-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Shameless self-promotion tip: check the story of my acceptance letter for Highlights Magazine at MiGWriters.

So I hate mornings. I hate how early my kids have to catch the bus, I hate that I have to physically drag them out of bed, I hate having to walk the dog in freezing weather. But it seems like I'm the most productive when I write first thing in the morning.

The thing is, I have so many other things to do: clean the house, write blog posts, freelance work, watch the kids, cook, read emails and blogs, look for more freelance work. If I start my day doing "the stuff for other people," it easily fills my whole day. But if I start off with my own writing, then I'm motivated to power through it because of all that other stuff hanging over my head. I'll knock out a scene in an hour or hour and a half, knowing I have lots of other things I need to do in the afternoon.

The only drawback is that I'm so not a morning person. It's easy for me to lie on the couch with a cup of tea, promising myself I'll write after breakfast. Or that I'm too groggy to do anything that requires brain cells. Most mornings, though, writing before I do anything else really works.

Now I just have to figure out how to write for longer periods of time without the "OMG I NEED to do stuff for other people first" syndrome kicking in.

When do you get your writing done?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Choosing Your Path: Traditional or ePublishing

2012-01-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: If you're a writer, join Pintrest. It's a great place to find inspiration for far-away settings.

(note: I wanted to originally make this post a quiz, but I couldn't find a good widget for that. If you know of one, let me know because I was quiz-obsessed as a teen. Like quizzes in magazines titled 'What Kind of a Kisser are You?' not math quizzes.)

Before I get too deep into posts about the technicalities of epublishing, I wanted to help you figure out where you belong first. It's not as simple of a decision as you might think. ePublishing is NOT about giving up on traditional publishing (many are still hoping to land an agent who can procure additional venues for their books). It's NOT about making gobs of money (most don't on both sides). It's NOT about being a control freak (most of us hire out things like covers and editing).

The decision comes down to how to stay true to yourself and your goals. There isn't a right or wrong answer. What I'd really like to do is break down some of the barriers between traditional and epublishing. There's a lot of anger coming from both sides as they spout off about who is better. Guess what? Neither is better - they are just different. Different goals = different path to publishing.

Here are some things to ask yourself:

1. Is my need to see my book on a bookshelf at Barnes & Noble greater than my need to get my books in readers' hands?

In self-publishing, we can releases books our own schedules. Many traditionally published books take a year, or more, to get to the bookshelf.

2. Do I want to just write, leaving all the extras to the professionals or am I eager to stick my hands in the dirt and manage every aspect of the publication process?

This is really at the heart of self-publishing. There are many writers who just want to write and not be bothered with the minutae of publishing. That's a perfectly acceptable reason to go traditional. There's a ton of work on the business side of self-publishing. Not everyone wants to be bothered with it.

3. Do I need recognition from the establishment or am I content to letting my books speak for themselves?

This may be one of the largest obstacles to self-publishing: how we perceive the quality of our work. Many people think self-published = crap. It's not always true. Bottom line is: You will never please everyone. There will always be someone who doesn't like your book, even if you get the traditional publishing stamp of approval.

I know this isn't a huge amount of questions, but I think that these are really the three most important. There are obviously far more differences between epublishing and traditional publishing. If you're seriously considering coming over to epublishing, you have to be willing to dig in hard, especially where marketing and editing are concerned (not that those are a cakewalk in traditional publishing).

It's not an easy choice for many to make. It wasn't for me. It took me months to come around. Almost one year later, how do I feel about my decision? I wouldn't change one moment of it. I love epublishing!

This discussion always reminds me of the Kia Soul commercial. Who doesn't love rapping hamsters?!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Do You Dream of Having a Writing Cottage?

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Twilightfans, did you know you can get a replica of Bella's engagement ring?

I don't know what it isabout us writers but I think we all secretly want a writing cottage. Fess up,do you? Ever since I first saw Cynthia Lord's cottage in her blog. And Laurie Halse Anderson's too. (Watch it. The video is AMAZING.)

And I've been following Kimberley Griffith Little's construction of her new writing cottage on facebookfor awhile now. Click through to her blog here and then click on her journeyand you can see the pictures from the very beginning.

Cynthia Lord posted a video of her critique partner's Toni Buzzeo's gorgeous writing cottage. I dare you to watch the video and not call yourhusband/significant other and beg him to build you one.

How cute is this writer cottage?

(http://munrojd.wordpress.com/awards/)

Though I might feel slightly like a hobbit. Ooh, now there's an idea-- ahobbit house!

(http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/03/15/eco-homes-from-the-earth-7-ways-to-diy/)

Ah, who am I kidding? Mybest chance is one of these.

Better get the kids towork.

Kristina, Miss Author inAction

My Job is Awarding III (or I Predict Literary Greatness!)

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Keep your email address up-to-date with your public library. It cuts down on library system costs to email you rather than call or send a snail mail notice, and libraries can use all the financial help they can get.

It's award season! While people across the country are discussing who wore what and who won which Golden Globe Sunday night, I'm awaiting Monday, January 23 at 7:45 Central Time to hear the Newbery and Printz winners!

I discussed the Newbery and Printz Club reads, but now to prepare for the official decisions!

Based on a verbal sampling of the kids from both clubs, it seems that for the Printz, they want IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma to win, but think SHADES OF GREY by Ruta Sepetys will win. And for the Newbery, there is more of a mixed bag but WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick is high on the list.

My personal opinions? For Printz I'd love to see:
1. IMAGINARY GIRLS
2. SHADES OF GREY
3. EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS by A. S. King (which came out too late in the year to make the Club's short list)
4. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Sara Zarr (ditto note above)
5. BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young

And for Newbery I'd love to see:
1. OKAY FOR NOW by Gary Schmidt
2. CLOSE TO FAMOUS by Joan Bauer (ditto note above)
3. THE AVIARY by Kathleen O'Dell
4. BIGGER THAN A BREAD BOX by Laurel Snyder (wasn't on the Club's short list)
5. HOUND DOG TRUE by Linda Urban (also wasn't on the Club's short list)

I'd rather see WONDERSTRUCK win the Caldecott for its illustrations than the Newbery for its story (the illos for Rose's story are brilliant).

What are your predictions and/or the books you'd love to see make the lists?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

The many joys of revising

2012-01-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: want an interesting quick read? Check out this list of things from a 1911 The Ladies’ Home Journal on what they think life would be like in 100 years.

Revising is never fun, and it seems to be an ongoing learning process on discovering the best way for me to revise a current work-in-progress.

Currently, I'm working on revising based on feedback on the book, so I’m going about stuff a bit differently.

Here's what I've done:

Printed out the feedback and made a bulleted list of the main items that need work to keep by me as I read through the book.
Read through a printed-out version of the manuscript and made notes throughout. I rarely print out my manuscripts, but I wanted to be able to quickly go back and forth between chapters to make notes on things once an idea came to me. To make this even easier I printed out two pages per sheet and single spaced. Not only did it save paper and the small text made me read more carefully, but it made it super easy to find chapters I wanted to mark-up after the fact.
Kept a notebook beside me as a read through the manuscript to jot down larger items that I came up with to change. Some people use post it notes, but considering my desk at work is cluttered with about 20 post it notes at a time, I was trying to organize that clutter into one paper list to make it easier on me.
Then I’ve just been going through page-by-page to make edits and change things that need work.
As I'm editing on the page, I keep open multiple versions of the manuscript, so it's easier for me to move things around. I recently purchased a new computer and got two monitors with it that makes this super easy!

And of course lots of chocolate and long hot baths have been in order before or after revising.
Any tricks on revision you’d like to share?

Do you think you revise different for every book? Or is that just me?

Happy Editing everyone.

Emily, Miss Revise-a-maniac

Slushy, Slushy Reading

2012-01-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Avoid the temptation to slump on the couch with your laptop, and find a comfortable spot that will support your spine and posture.

I've been reading some submissions for Rhemalda Publishing, assisting the acquisitions editor. If the manuscript and synopsis is really good, I recommend that the acquisitions editor read the full. We don't get a lot of strange, off-the-wall submissions because we ask for 30% of the manuscript and a synopsis. So the writer actually has to have written a novel to submit, not just have a multimillion dollar idea.

What I find is that don't really have a preference for genre. If anything, I'm probably pickier about the manuscripts in the genres I know well because I've read so much in them. If the story is good and I like the characters, I'll enjoy just about any genre, though.

But I have not recommended very many manuscripts. I haven't figured out my percentage, but I've only handed up three manuscripts, and I had slight reservations about each of them. Nobody's perfect, and no manuscript is either, I guess. The manuscripts I recommended had strong voices, likable characters, and something different that made them stand out.

Manuscripts I didn't like? The characters were hard to tell apart, the characters didn't have redeeming characteristics, I wasn't sure why I should root for the supposed main characters, there wasn't enough research done for me to believe the characters were who they were supposed to be. Even in a very plot-focused genre, I have to relate to your characters in some way. They have to be "real people."

And yes, I've also seen the "this is written YA but it should be MG" problem. That deserves a whole post of its own.

Anyway, check out Rhemalda--it's a great operation. They care about their books and care about promoting them. Plus, I'd love to read your manuscript.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

No Goal? That's Okay Too

2012-01-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Think you can't make money at epublishing? Look at this post by Joe Konrath.

I love how everyone is talking about the goals they've set for 2012, even though I don't set goals and I don't make resolutions. Thinking about where you want your career to go is is important. For many people, when they translate those ideas into a specific plan, a goal is formed. I used to makes goals when I was younger, but I gave that up about ten years ago. Don't mistake that for flightiness.

In 2012 I will release at least two more novels. The first is Afterlife, which I am writing right now. This is the sequel to Sleepers. After Afterlife I'll write the third book in The Swarm Trilogy. No specific goal for that either. I know Afterlife will be out by summer. The third novel in the series will be out by winter. I'll have more details as I get closer to release.

I have no daily word count goals. I don't force myself to write every day. Those kind of binding rules don't work for me. I tend to break them more than follow them. Then I get disappointed in myself and my writing. I lived that way for years. Not anymore.

Now I write some words most days. That 'some' could be 500 words, it could be 7,500 (I once wrote 7,500 words in two hours - I may have sprained a thumb). As for 'most,' well, I try to write Monday through Friday. Occasionally on the weekends. Sometimes at night. I fit it in where I need to.

To my odd little brain, goals are too limiting. I know I will have two books out this year. I don't have to set a goal to do it because I already believe I will. I also have a partially-written middle grade fantasy sitting in the wings, begging for attention. Then there's that contemporary YA that's about 25% written. When the time is right, I'll attack those with the same fervor I'm spending on The Swarm Trilogy. Plus, I have a third fantasy trilogy planned.

I don't think I'm bad to the bone, or a ruler breaker, or anything like that because I don't set writing goals. I also don't think being goal-free makes me a poor businesswoman. 2011 proves that I can handle the business side of epublishing too. I've spent the last seven years modifying my day-to-day writing techniques. I'm a well-oiled machine now. I've learned to trust my process and trust myself.

In the past, when I set goals, I was always trying to reach them. Now, I just do. Cheesy as it is, the clip below from Star Wars illustrates my exact approach to life and writing.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Stuff I Want to Do in 2012

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Want a chance to win a signed copy of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS? Follow me on my personal blog and comment to let me know that you're following.

I suck at making goals. I faithfully wrote New Year's resolutions in my journal up until 2011 when I said screw it. Each New Year's Eve I'd look back at the previous year's goals and see that I never completed the majority of them. It just made me mad so I decided no more.

That doesn't mean there isn't stuff I want to do. Like sell another YA book. And finish writing the middle grade I'm working on right now. And then sell that too. That's not too much in a year right? I also want to finish writing this YA that I love, love, love. It's heavily outlined and several chapters are done so I can jump back into it any time. And I started outlining this awesome YA idea. Oh my gosh, it's such a good idea, I'm sure it would make a great book. So I wouldn't mind getting that written too this year. Oh, and I wrote synopsis for the first three books in a middle grade series. So how many books does that bring me to now...6 or 7? Easy peasy! Not. See? This is how I set myself up to fail. There's so much I want to do but I don't know what I'll have the time to accomplish. But I guess it's better to have a lot of projects in queue rather than be struggling to come up with something right?

Ok, so in 2012, my plans are to get a lot of stuff written. I hope you write a lot of stuff too!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Goal Control (or I Got To Write a Lot*)

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

*with apologies to Janet Jackson

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Follow me at @bmlkidsteens for tweets from my librarian persona!

I love the idea of coming up with a key word for the year and using that to focus my goals.

My life word is BREATHE. I sometimes think I forget to use 50% of my lungs. I work out a lot, but am doing more yoga and will continue to do so throughout 2012. Breathing helps to center, calm, and heal and I need to consciously do more of it at a lung-filling level. And release the air sloooowly.

My writing word is PRIORITIZE. As you will see in my month-by-month breakdown below, I want to finish 50 pages of one YA novel (a companion to my ms on agent sub), and a complete first draft of another YA novel (a humorous ghostly idea). I haven't written more than 1 book a year in....years. So if I'm going to do it in '12, I need to prioritize writing over other things, like a) reading, and b) futzing around on the internet. It will be hard bc I really enjoy both of those activities -- and now I have my addicting Nook! -- but I know I can do it if I focus on the satisfaction I'll feel with the end product.

And now, a look ahead:

January-February: Complete 50 pages of YA #1.
March: Get YA #1 to critiquers. Write rough outline for YA #2.
April: Revise YA #1 (50 pages). Start writing first draft of YA #2.
May-December: Complete first draft of YA #2 (about 200 pages).

I will also keep submitting and revising my current YA as requested by agents and/or editors, which may cut into the schedule above, but for now this is what I feel I can forsee/control in the next 12 months.

Thanks for keeping me honest as the year goes on (!!! Please???)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

My horescope told me it's going to be a good year

2012-01-10T05:34:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: interested in ePubbing this year? There's some great free eBooks on Amazon to help you!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm very excited for this year. Because I feel there are big things in front of me. And not just because I’m imagining it or wishing it to happen, but my most recent fortunes on my Fortune Cookie App and my horoscope confirm it :) And as we all know horoscopes are never wrong. Merely because they are generally so broad and present both sides that they have to be right. Here are some gems it told me about 2012.

"…this is a year that might start out slow but within weeks it is going to explode into a flurry of activity.” And “they will experience the most of everything during the upcoming year of 2012. Libras will benefit from a very successful year 2012 in terms of finances and goodwill...”

Success, flurry of activity, and experiencing the most of everything. I'll take it!

I'll of course choose to overlook this other comment in one of the same horoscopes: “however, they should not fail to prepare themselves on dealing with a few discouragements and frustrations that may come their way…”

Anyway, I think the year of 2012 is going to be great in terms of my writing career. Merely because I’m choosing to make it great.

At the end of last year, I decided to indie-publish one of my old novels as an eBook under a pen name. After dusting it off and working on revisions, it is almost ready to go.

With that included, my concrete goals for the year include:

ePub one of my Young Adult books
Continue to submit one of my Middle Grade novels to agents
Continue working on another YA novel I started several years ago
Start working on an adult holiday novel

Looks like it might be a busy year. But all of that will have to be put on the back burner. Because late last night via email I received a wonderful revision request for my Middle Grade mystery book/potential series that I've been submitting to agents.

Now I've been around the Agent Revision block more than once. So I’m remaining cautiously optimistic. But I have a very good feeling about this. If for no other reason than my horoscope says January is going to be a good month for me :)

--Emily, Miss Cautiously Optomistic

Big plans, amazing plans, for 2012

2012-01-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Tip of the day: Think literature needs more cats? Check out this hilarious Kitty Lit article at AbeBooks.

Last week, we talked about our writing life in 2011. This week, we're talking about 2012--the Apocalypse! The apocalypse of laziness and being unfocused, I mean. And the apocalypse of negativity. Welcome to a new world of positive productivity!

Normally, I pick a word to be my theme word of the year, and my 2012 word is POSITIVE. Positive thoughts, positive actions. But in addition, I also wrote out goals for the year, something I rarely do. But I wanted to do it this year as part of my positive thoughts, positive actions mantra. With thanks to Margie Lawson's Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors, I have divided my goals list into sections:

Writing the Books--first priority
Networking
Career Planning
Self-Promotion
Self-Image
Growth
Business
Wild Card (stuff that would just be fun)

So, my number one goal is to finish the novel I'm working on by Valentine's Day. I'm finding success in this by working on my own writing first--putting it at the very top of the day's to-do list.

I'm also writing a to-do list! Seriously, I've been telling myself to do that for months. I'm also writing down how long I think it will take me to accomplish a task as part of the list. This should stop me from trying to cram 12 hours of work into a 6 hour day. Also, before I worry too much about the to-do list, I try to think of positive things. For example, my 13-year-old daughter has actually been waking up herself in the morning instead of me putting the cat on her head while her alarm goes off. Now I can put the cat on her head at a more normal hour.

So, what are your planning strategies for 2012? What do you want to accomplish just in case the world ends?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Introducing Me (Megg) and My 2011 Writing Recap

2012-01-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Don't be afraid of independent authors. There's some really great self-published books out there!

Hi! *waves* My name is Megg. I'm a former freelance parenting journalist turned ninja! Oh, well, in my imagination at least. If you want a basic bio about me, click here. Or you can strap on your seat belt and take a trip with me in my handy-dandy time machine.

I know we're supposed to recap our 2011 writing goals. I'm going to break the rules a bit (watch out, I tend to do that) and take you back to 2010. In the midst of a declining freelance parenting career due to poor economic conditions, I submitted novel queries to agents. Perhaps a bit obsessively. I knew there was a reason my freelance career was on the skids - it was because it was finally my time to shine as a novelist. <insert angelic music here>

I had completed two novels, ANATHEMA and SLEEPERS, and was absolutely sure I would easily be able to get an agent, get a book deal, and live the rest of my life in blissful happiness. Um, yeah, didn't quite happen that way. There were the agents who never responded (ugh), then there were the form letter rejections (ugh), and the sweet personal notes telling me my book looked awesome, but that it wasn't for them and never give up rejections (double ugh). There were quite a few who requested my full. I KNEW one of them would take me on. I had no doubt in my mind whatsoever.

Guess I should learn the difference between knowing something for a fact and hoping for something so deeply. One agent offered to take me on if I'd switch genres. That was a deal-breaker for me. One had me submit all my work to her. In the end she just decided to reject me and I'll never know why. Another held on to my work for nearly a year, kept promising to get back to me and never did. By the end of 2010, I was convinced my books would never, ever be read by anyone outside my critique group.

My BWF (best writing friend) Karly Kirkpatrick told me about epublishing. I scoffed. Self-publishing was for people who gave up, right? Not one to automatically dismiss any idea, I researched it. Karly & I talked, and talked, and talked about it. It wasn't until I saw the quality work being put out by so many self-published authors (Konrath, Amanda Hocking, Sarra Cannon) that I decided to jump in the epub pool.

There were no sharks - just eager readers. I'll swim with them any day.

Now we're in 2011 - I epublished ANATHEMA in February. OUBLIETTE in June. SLEEPERS in July. SEVERED in November. THE INITIATE in December. Over 25,000 copies of my books have been downloaded. I have countless new Facebook and Twitter friends. I have met so many new & amazing readers in the last year. I've also sold foreign rights to my books. I don't regret one moment of 2011.

If you follow my A2A posts, you'll learn more about how I accomplished so much. Believe me, I have a TON to say about it too. I'd really love to know what you guys want to hear. Leave some comments below or email me - meggjensen (at) gmail.com - and tell me what you want to learn about epublishing.

I'm so excited to be on A2A and thank you so much to the ladies for inviting me!!!! :D

-- Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

2011 Year in Review

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: WOW! Great Deal! 50% off your entire purchase of Teen books at BarnesandNoble.com! - Use F3Y9V4J at checkout.

Happy New Years! I'm excited to be back for 2012 and all the good things it holds in store. But first here's a look back at my 2011:

In JANUARY the paperback of The Espressologist was released.

I was super excited for this because B&N gave it a great display for Valentine's Day and when I saw it I had to buy one. I couldn't even wait for the publisher to send me some. I loved when the hardcover came out but the paperback had the little extras we added like recipes from the book and a fun interview. So exciting!

And the most exciting part of the month was seeing my middle grade, My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, come out at the Scholastic Book Fairs! I was seeing it everywhere-- in fliers and on posters at the kids' school. And the most exciting part was seeing it at the book fairs firsthand. I love, love, love Scholastic Book Fairs!

In FEBRUARY I got to do a book signing with my dear friend Kristin Walker (did you see she has a new hilarious book coming out soon?) and the super sweet Elizabeth Eulberg.

And I also got copies of the Japanese version of The Espressologist. So cute!

One of the most exciting things to ever happen to me in my writing career also happened this month. We're talking, just about ties with the time Meg Cabot blurbed my book (I'll never stop mentioning that! :-) ). My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours was a BESTSELLER for Scholastic Book Fairs!!! I still get giddy thinking about it.

In MARCH I got advanced copies of my third book, Just Your Average Princess, in the mail.

I sold Korean rights to The Espressologist this month too. I also did an hour long interview for author Dyanne Davis's cable writing show. That was so fun and I couldn't stop staring at the monitor. Total amateur!

In APRIL a super creative book club threw a Fauxpresso night to talk about The Espressologist. And I attended the annual Author Fair in Bolingbrook, IL. I also sold Indonesian rights to The Espressologist.

(picture from http://www.iheartmonster.com)

In MAY, I had what I call my Justin Bieber moment when I went to talk to a group of 4th grade girl scouts and they screamed when I held up my book cover. Again, I owe this to Scholastic Book Fairs. I don't think any of them would know who I was if they didn't see my book in their fairs.

In JUNE, I went to Chicago's Printer's Row to do a panel with some really great authors. It was so much fun, I hope to do it again.

In JULY and AUGUST I was busily brainstorming and writing proposals. I outlined a really fun YA and several middle grades. And I was also busily writing The Paparazzi Project (hopefully my fourth book!).

In SEPTEMBER I participated in Anderson's 8th Annual Young Adult Literature Conference. This was another super fun day full of panels and getting to sign my new book (that wouldn't release still for several weeks).

Reviews of the new book started to trickle in too. Here's one from VOYA.

OCTOBER was an especially great month because my third book, JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS released.

And I also got to go on a fantastic writing retreat with Deena and Emily to Frankenmuth, MI. Frankenmuth is a super cute Christmas village kind of town that everyone should experience at least once. And I got the first three chapters of my new middle grade written here too.

In NOVEMBER, I was a revising fool. I spent every free moment I had whipping The Paparazzi Project into shape to have it done by Thanksgiving. Also this month I sold Czech Republic rights to The Espressologist and my short story "Cart Princess" came out in THE FIRST TIME anthology of 25 awesome YA authors. It's only $2.99 and you should totally buy it. But if you want to read my story for free right now, go to the Amazon link and click on "Look Inside". It's the first story in the anthology. :-)

And in DECEMBER, I did nothing! Seriously! I guess I sorta took the month off and concentrated on Christmas parties, wrapping gifts, cookie making, coffee drinking, Christmas concerts & plays. But now it's back to work for me! I hope to have great news to share in 2012! And share your great news with us too!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

2011: A Recap Odyssey (or Everyone Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We?*)

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

*with apologies to The Cranberries

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Books are not coasters. Please do not use them as such. Thank you for your support.

It's that time of year -- the beginning! And time to reflect on the previous year.

In 2011, I read 178 books. To see my favorite four, check out my LiveJournal. Wow. So many great titles came out in 2011. Here's to many more in 2012!

And now for my month-by-month recap of the highlights:

January
--Successfully threw Dad a surprise 80th birthday party
--Sent my newly completed YA to my agent (FASHION)
--Started writing a new YA (the one that would become BLACKOUT)

February
--Got revision notes from agent on FASHION
--Stopped writing BLACKOUT to revise FASHION
--Sent revision back to agent
--Repeat

March
--FASHION goes out on sub
--Traveled to San Francisco to visit sibs; stopped by the legendary Books, Inc. bookstore

April
--Had planned on writing a proposal for BLACKOUT (synopsis and 50 pages), but I liked it so much I kept on writing
--Wedding dress purchased

May
--Rochester Teen Book Fest! Got to hang with awesome authors Selene Castrovilla, Shari Maurer, and many others
--Accepted as a new VOYA reviewer!
--Trip to Rhode Island with librarian friends
--Bridal shower, Paint-Your-Own-Pottery style
--Have received a handful of rejections on FASHION since March
--Still writing BLACKOUT
--Dad breaks his shoulder

June
--Dad-in-law breaks his arms
--Dad breaks his hip
--Try to keep the wedding jitters together despite the broken bones(!)

July
--Wedding!
--Send what I have of BLACKOUT to my agent
--Agent gets back to me that she doesn't love BLACKOUT and offers revision feedback
--FASHION has pretty much come back with a dozen rejections; editors "like the writing but contemporary realistic fiction is a hard sell right now"
--Revise BLACKOUT, a darker book of a speculative nature that I hope will resonate better with editors in this market

August
--Continue revising BLACKOUT

September
--Send revised BLACKOUT's first 60 pages to my agent
--European honeymoon!
--Read part of a novel on our new-to-us iPad with its Kindle ap on the airplane for my first time

October
--My agent still doesn't connect to BLACKOUT; after two years and two books that haven't sold, we amicably part ways
--Writing Retreat Weekend with Emily and Tina in Frankenmuth, MI!
--I sub FASHION to a few more editors on my own
--Decide to have BLACKOUT polished and ready to query new agents by December 1.

November
--Plow through revisions of BLACKOUT, excited to complete this book

December
--Send queries to agents on BLACKOUT
--A mix of rejections and requests for pages come from the queries
--Get a request from an editor for the full of FASHION
--Mom gets her MLS! Sibs come into town to celebrate
--Get a Nook for Christmas! Download and read my first full novel on an eReader.

Wow, it feels like a lot has happened when I put the whole year out there like that. Phew! Here's hoping for a busy, fun, successful 2012 to all of our blog readers!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Settling in is just the beginning

2012-01-03T05:33:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Happy New Year to everyone! Thinking of writing resolutions and haven't done it yet. Check out the Top Ten Most Popular New Year's Resolutions.

So last year my goal for the year was to go with the flow. All I wanted writing wise was to finish working on some of my projects, submit to a few agents, and renew the joy of writing.

Easy peasy. List accomplished.

To be honest, I wasn't really in a writing mood at the beginning of last year. After just having moved twice within the space of a few months and starting a new job in a familiar-yet-new-again state, it was kind of a writing buzz kill.

As a result, much of 2011 was spent settling in. Both in life, work, and with writing. For the first time in a long time, I'm living in a location that might be semi-permanent and instead of feeling in limbo, I had to start searching for what I wanted out of life again. Which required some soul searching and a bit of growing up. Which I'm not fond of. But is necessary in life.

Now that I'm apparently older and wiser, it's much easier to say no to the things I don't want and focus more energy on things I do want.

In realizing this I was kind of afraid writing might get tossed to the side. After all it is hard work and rejection is never fun.

But instead while "going with the flow" throughout the year, I think I found my drive again. Writing started to look appealing. I started to hear tons of positive things about people indie publishing eBooks, which opened up new writing possibilities and something to get excited about. And I managed to work on a few of those projects and start submitting to agents again.

Still nothing major happened. But it laid the groundwork for something to happen!

And I’m very excited for what that means is in store for 2012. I'm motivated and determined, which is a good mix for me and hopefully that means big things will be coming my way with all the hard work. Because if the world is ending in December of this year as those End of the World People want you to believe, then why not go out with a bang, right? And if it's not, then at the end of the year we might as well be even more settled in and ready to do great things in 2013.

Happy New Year!

--Emily, Miss Determined Writer

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Got an e-reader for the holidays? Check out this post on finding e-book deals.

Can you believe Author2Author has been "on the air" for four years? We have some very exciting plans for 2012, including introducing our newest Author2Author Miss, Megg Jensen. She'll be blogging every Friday, and you can see some of her book covers on the sidebar. We'll also be redesigning the site this winter in stages, so you'll see some small changes here and there.

This week, before Megg comes on the stage, we'll be recapping our year in writing for 2011. Was it what we expected? Oh, it never is!

I set a word each year for myself instead of a goal, and my word for 2011 was self-confidence. So naturally I got laid off from my day job in June. There were many personal challenges in my life, too. My father-in-law battled cancer with lots of help from my husband, finally losing his fight in May. In April, my youngest brother died suddenly. After all of this in the first half of the year, I was at loose ends in the second half. When you pick a word of the year, you often get challenged on it.

I started my new career as a freelance writer and editor. I had already been doing some fiction editing for Double Dragon Publishing, so that helped start the resume. I got an internship at Rhemalda Publishing, where I read manuscript submissions and help with publicity. That has been very educational and I can't wait to tell you all about it this year.

I received acceptances for two of my short stories from different places, one for an anthology and one for a magazine ... but NO CONTRACTS. How frustrating! So I can't make any announcements yet, other than to say I'm part of the frustrating waiting game now.

Other than that, I've been picking up ghostwriting work for short business ebooks and web copy. And naturally I've been working on my novel writing. So it's been a year of learning. Has my self-confidence increased? I think so. It's strange not driving into the city to work every day, but change is what keeps us growing. That may be something we all need to remember this year!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Happy Festivus!

2011-12-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Last Fun Friday and Happy Festivus!

Happy Holidays! Exciting News to Share!

2011-12-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Folow us on twitter at @A2AGirls.

Happy Holidays everyone! This Christmas totally snuck up on me and now I'm scrambling to get everything ready. I'm so pumped for it though-- no Grinch around here!

As we've done in the past, the Author2Author girls are taking a break for the holiday and will be returning to begin our fifth year (Wow!) of blogging just after New Years and back on our regular M-F schedule.

And we've got some exciting changes! You've been following us on our writing path these past four years, through the good and bad and we thank you! And like I was talking about last week regarding how the industry is changing and how authors are more and more getting into self-publishing, we've decided to invite a rockstar epubber to join our group! Starting January 6th, Megg Jensen will be blogging every Friday! You can read up on Megg here and she'll also introduce herself on the 6th. But just to give you a little info on Megg, she's a best-selling epubber with two fantasy trilogies both in the US and internationally. We chat a lot and Megg knows SO MUCH about the epublishing industry and will be full of great tips and advice for our readers who may want to give epublishing a try. We're so excited to have her!

So have Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Happy Kwanza and we'll see you in 2012!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Something For Everyone! (or What Can You Get a Wookee For Christmas?*)

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

*with apologies to RSO Records

Tip of the Day: Need last minute gift ideas? Buy books. Seriously. For everyone you know. Support the industry!

Every year I buy books for my friends and family for Christmas -- whether or not they want them. :) I considered buying ebooks for some family members, but I don't know how I would do that exactly. Buy B&N/Amazon gift cards? I'm sure there's another way but I'm not sure what it is right now. So I went with good old paper books.

What I bought:

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins for my two girlfriends who must read this book before the movie releases in March

UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand for my dad and uncle; both are interested in flying, lived through WWII, and hopefully can discuss it with each other once they've read it.

JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS by Kristina Springer for my sis and sis-in-law. My sister sometimes reads this blog, but it should come as no surprise to her since I buy all of Tina's hilarious novels for them to compete with the sometimes tough realities and less humorous situations of our lives.

AU REVOIR, CRAZY EUROPEAN CHICK by Joe Schrieber for my brother, who usually reads and enjoys the YA titles I buy for him. This one I think he will especially appreciate since it is hilarious and each chapter starts with a real essay question from college applications and he is getting ready to interview and universities for a professorship. It is seriously too funny.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami for my husband. I haven't read this one yet myself, but it's getting lots of buzz and he needs something else big to read while waiting for the next George R. R. Martin novel to come out.

I love having an excuse to buy lots of books! What titles did you buy for friends and relatives this holiday season?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Best of Em: The things you can learn on Wikipedia!

2011-12-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

Em's on break and we hope she has a very Merry Christmas! Here's a flashback to summer 2010.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The things you can learn on Wikipedia!

Tip of the Day: Wikipedia is sometimes not your friend :( Boo.

In an attempt to be more organized this summer, I actually had a blog post and idea ready to go today. But then my husband sent me a text message this morning, and quite frankly it was too funny not to share.

We are in the process of moving to another state. With that comes all the packing, planning, and the fun of finding a new place to live. We originally had an apartment lined up, but as I’ve gotten further into the job search, we discovered we might have to move a bit farther out from the city to be halfway between both of our jobs. So this morning, my husband was researching one of those small towns on Wikipedia, and came across this gem of a paragraph in the town’s local history section:

“Recently, scientists have discovered a time portal under a local farmers porch that leads to the Middle Ages on Planet 3GHJ8 in another dimension. This dimension is still being searched upon, it may either be the 8th or 9th dimension.”

Now I like to consider myself open-minded. As an avid reader, I love to suspend reality and believe anything is possible when reading a good book. But my hunch is telling me, someone is playing a joke on the good readers of Wikipedia.

And it is funny. It certainly gave me a good laugh this morning.

But it was also a great reminder that sometimes not everything you read on Wikipedia is fact. And for those of us that use Wikipedia as a resource (which face it all of us have done at one time or another when looking up a small bit of info. It’s just so darn easy and convenient not too), it’s nice to remember to go to other sources as well!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

Picture borrowed from: http://imagine8.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/weak-pedia/

Ta-Da! SLEEPERS Cover Reveal!

2011-12-19T09:57:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Follow a Twitterview interview today with J.S. Chancellor, author of 6 books and today's release ICARUS, by searching #Icarus.

Today I have the privilege of unveiling the new cover of a re-release of a great book: Megg Jensen's SLEEPERS!

To celebrate the re-launch of SLEEPERS in January of 2012, Megg is giving it a new cover with artwork from the incredible PhatPuppy.

So why do you want to read SLEEPERS? Here's the story. An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can’t calm the fires raging inside her.

Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she’s always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen’s alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?

And it's on sale now for only 99 cents! Sales outlets for SLEEPERS:
http://meggjensen.blogspot.com/p/where-to-buy-meggs-books.html

For reviews, check out Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11815829-sleepers. Or follow Megg around the Internet--

Megg on the web:
Website: http://www.meggjensen.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meggjensenauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/meggjensen

Thanks for sharing the new cover with us, Megg.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

P.S. Blogger is currently experiencing technical difficulties. I'll be back to fix the links later today.

Fun Friday: A Debbie Ridpath Ohi Comic from inkygirl.com

2011-12-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

What's your Crystal Ball Say?

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Check out Ally Carter's interesting post about how the industry has changed in the last six years.

Assuming you followed the tip and just read Ally's post, I thought we could share what our predictions for the future of YA are too. Ally first mentioned that ebooks are booming, and we've all noticed this too. Still, they keep saying it's only 10% of the industry. I'm wondering if this number is even valid anymore though. Considering Amazon says Kindle is the #1 selling product on their site, I'm thinking it's becoming more than 10% of books. And considering bookstores are closing around me and now we have to drive farther and farther to get to a store, well, yeah. I think ebooks are going to jump and take over more of the industry very fast.

And I'm seeing more and more traditional authors make the change to indie publishing as well. With fewer books being bought (publishers seem to be putting more money into acquiring fewer books in the hopes they will be big sellers) lots of authors are saying heck with it and making the switch to indie publishing. And doing pretty well with it. I've talked with a number of indie authors who are pulling in several thousand a month from the sales of their ebooks. On the flip side, Amazon is playing nice now and making it sweet for authors to put out their own books but they may not always play nice. Who knows, they may just be waiting until they have big enough control of the industry and then will flip the rules on the authors and cut their royalties. I do think they are the reason ebooks have suddenly taken off though. People think ebooks are a recent thing but there have been ebook publishers for a long time now. The first one I remember seeing was back in 1996-- Hard Shell Word Factory. But not many people responded to ebooks before Amazon and the Kindle.

And what about genre? Ally mentions that pink books are all but extinct (No! Say it ain't so!) and that even darker books seem to be winding down. Huh. But then what's next on the horizon? I refuse to believe that romance will ever die. People love to be in love. Love to read about love. It can't go away. And funny is, well funny! I can see darker books winding down a bit because the market is flooded but they won't disappear. The next big thing though? I can't figure it out. Any guesses?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: It's time to decide: Are you a Man or a Muppet?

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am getting an ereader for Christmas. *New toy excitement!*

While I have bought ebooks and have read some on my husband's iPad when we were on vacation, I have yet to read one since we've been home. With an ereader, that might change; I can see the ereader being an easy way to read books while on the exercise bike (now I favor reading paperbacks while on the bike).

However, since I will never be able to resist the allure of the paper book, I will always have piles of those all over the house. And since they are visual reminders of the books I intend to read, I wonder if I will still favor those over an ebook purchases/library check outs that I may make.

Or if I'll become a total convert.

Time will tell!

Are you receiving or giving an ereader for the holidays this year?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Christmas Time Spying ... um, Volunteering

2011-12-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Start a collection of unbreakable holiday ornaments. Someday your house may be taken over by toddlers, kittens, and/or large dogs.

I'm late with my post today because I was volunteering at my son's school to wrap donated presents for an inner city school. This is a great opportunity for the kids to volunteer in a way their efforts can be appreciated, and it's a great opportunity for me to spy on my future readers.

I hate to be sexist, but why is it that boys can't wrap presents but girls can? Don't men brag about having better spacial perception? And yet they are incapable of eyeballing a square of wrapping paper and realizing it's way too small to wrap the present in front of them. I am proud to say that today I sent several tween boys to wrapping school. Their parents will be impressed with their new skill, I'm sure.

The gifts on everyone's want list this year are basketballs, footballs, and Bop-Its. Have you ever tried to wrap those things? Spacial perception indeed.

Books are easy to wrap, even if you're a 12-year-old boy. Alright, maybe not then. For some great gift suggestions, check out Tina's YA and MG books on the sidebar for the young women in your life. Young boys will love the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. I read 3 pages and fell on the floor laughing. Books with military themes are also "in" this year, judging by my spying (I mean volunteering) at my kids' school book festivals. If you're lucky enough to have a local, independent bookstore, I'm jealous of you. Support it and keep that asset in your community!

And seriously, teach your kids to wrap presents.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday

2011-12-09T13:54:00.001-08:00

From: http://boscafelife.wordpress.com/tag/santa/

Merry Christmas! Gimme Free Stuff!

2011-12-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Did you know there's a Web site for funny books by funny writers for funny readers? It's fun. I wrote a post for them last week about the funniest book I've ever read. Check it out.

I don't know about you all but my credit card is seriously crying right now from all the Christmas shopping! Which makes it a perfect time to get some free stuff. Specifically download some free books for my kindle (ok, I don't have a kindle. But I have the free kindle app on my iPad and iPhone). So check out what I found this week:
From Saundra Mitchell,

Breathkept

By Saundra Mitchell
Cover Photo by Luna Vandoorne

Parker Nixon has never been away from home. She’s never been in love. And she’s never been wanted for murder… until now.

The boy Parker got caught kissing last night turned up dead this morning, and there’s no shortage of suspects. Her reclusive father leads a double life, and the people at Stone Well Ranch have their mysteries too.

But then there’s beautiful, broken Brandon Beauchamp. He saved Parker’s life once, and holds her heart in his hands. But he may be hiding the darkest secret of all.

Visit this page on Saundra's blog to download the book for free!

Next up we have Danielle Joseph.

Indigo Blues

By Danielle Joseph

Indigo:

I never asked to be famous—or infamous. Such is my fate for briefly dating (and dumping) Adam Spade. Yes, the Adam from the indie rock band Blank Stare who wrote "Indigo Blues"—the song that gave the band overnight success, propelled them to New York City, and stole my precious anonymity. Now I'm pawed by fans, stalked by reporters, and pegged as a vicious heartbreaker. And Adam is still calling me. Doesn't he have better things to do?

Adam:

With a hit single and a promising career, I should be on top of the world. People on the street are beginning to recognize me, which is cool. And scary. The band is counting on me to write another hit, but I can't stop thinking about Indigo. Why won't she answer the phone?

I believe Danielle's book is only free this month so act quick! Here's the link to it on Amazon.

And finally we have Megg Jensen.

Anathema

By Megg Jensen

Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.

Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.

Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?

Download it free here.

Enjoy!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Books I Have Loved (or When Real was the Deal)

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Is Amazon taking over the publishing world? They've aquired the children's trade list at Marshall Cavendish. http://bit.ly/vDkYC8

I was thinking about all the books that I loved loved loved when I was a kid reading novels in the children's section of the library.

My aunt bought me this Judy Blume novel and I became hooked on everything she'd written.

Bruce Coville provided me with ghost mysteries! So did Betty Wren Wright. I remember being seriously creeped out when the dolls acted out the murder!

This series by Candace Ransom was handed down to me by a friend in fifth grade and I remember wishing the books went for longer than ages 12-15.

This pink cover of Barthe DeClements has stuck in my head over the years. Gotta love girls doing makeup!

Barbara Park, in her pre-Junie B. days, was my hero. Her books were HILARIOUS. SKINNYBONES and OPERATION: DUMP THE CHUMP are other fab reads that I still recommend to kids today when they ask for humor.

As you can see, with little exception they fell into two categories: realistic contemporary fiction, or realistic contemporary ghost stories.

I know the advent of Harry Potter in 1997 changed the bookshelves in the children's areas at libraries across the country, but in the late 1980s-early 1990s, were there many historical ghost stories/fantasies/sci-fi books for kids?

What did you love reading in the rockin' '80s?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Is there ever really an end?

2011-12-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Christmas lights are so fun and inspiring to look at. Even better when the neighbor does all the work, but you benefit from getting to look at them when trying to work out a pesky character flaw in Chapter 15.

Endings are hard.

No matter what type of ending it is. Maybe it's the end of a relationship. The end of living in someplace you've enjoyed. Whatever it might be, even when you are excited to move on, ending something else can be a challenge.

So it's no wonder that for me writing the ending of a novel often feels excruciating. How on earth are you supposed to be able to nicely tie up all the loose ends of the novel, show your character's growth (but not too much), and do it all by staying as realistic as possible without falling into that going too far "overboard" category?

Basically wrapping up your novel and putting a shiny red bow on it! But not too perfect of a bow that it looks like you "tried too hard."

Ughh...

Sometimes it feels so challenging that I'm tempted to start writing my endings first and then work backwards.

Usually after plowing through it and then discovering nothing is really tied up yet, you sit down and six re-writes later the thing starts to resemble much more of a decent ending to a story.

Maybe endings are hard, because in real life nothing ever feels like it's ending. At least for me.

So a better strategy might be to think of the ending of your novel as setting it up for the sequel, even if no sequel is planned.

That's what I'm currently trying to do with another re-write of the ending of the book I'm working on. Wrap up most of the book, but still leave hints that the story will continue once the pages are closed. It's making it feel a bit more authentic, and still gives the reader enough closure.

--Emily

Doing Your Homework

2011-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Check out Cafe Press's line of Gifts for Writers from various vendors.

I never understand when someone says they don't like to research, as in "I wrote a contemporary romance because I hate researching." Researching is so much easier than writing. Look, here's me putting my feet up reading an interesting book or article. Yup, that's worlds more relaxing than stressing out over my seventh revision of Chapter 1.

I've been reading manuscripts lately, and I've only run across one where the author dumped in too much research without tying his information to the main character. Most manuscripts, even contemporaries, suffer from too little research. For example, a main character who wants to be a golf pro should think about golf, be seen golfing, own a set of golf clubs and be able to tell them apart. If I don't see that, I don't believe that character wants to be a golf pro. I believe that the writer didn't want to read a copy of Golf magazine.

I recently read a manuscript with a jail break. It was totally believable because the author researched the jail trusty system, which I didn't know about. Now, maybe a prison guard would have found it hard to suspend disbelief, but I bought it completely. And then the next day, I read in the newspaper about a local jail break where the escapee took advantage of being a jail trustee. (And then he got caught the next week hanging out in a nearby trailer park. Why do prison escapees always "hide" where they're so easy to find?)

So contemporaries need research too, and it's actually a lot more fun than some other types of research. I have a great idea for a post-disaster WaterWorld type story, but I'd have to research sailing ships and bosuns and rigging and mizzenmasts and such. I'm not sure I can stomach that, so that story's been on the backburner for a while. I may never write it just because I don't want to know what a forecastle is. There are way more interesting things to learn about.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Christmas Movie Celebration!

2011-12-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: want to take a break from writing this weekend? Especially if you had a busy Nov. by participating in NaNoWriMo or another writing challenge. If so, check out one of these original Christmas Movies.

A Princess for Christmas (Hallmark Channel, premiers Sat. Dec. 3)

When Jules Daly's sister and brother-in-law are tragically killed in an accident, Jules Daly (Katie McGrath) becomes guardian to her young niece Maddie and nephew Milo. On top of balancing the daily hysteria of becoming an overnight parent, Jules was recently laid off at work, her car is on the fritz, and the kids’ shenanigans have caused a dozen nannies to flee. When an ominous knock on the door comes late one evening, Jules wonders, what now? At the door is Paisley Winterbottom (Miles Richardson), a proper English butler, with a curious invitation: a Christmas holiday with grandfather, Edward (Roger Moore), the Duke of Castlebury Hall, who was absent from the kids' lives, but wants to reconnect out of love for his late son. Jules initially wants to decline the trip, but her eventual acceptance makes for a magical Christmas season for everyone.

Christmas Angel (Lifetime Movie Network, Dec. 4)

Out of work and permanently single in New York, Ashley (Kari Hawker) has an unsurprisingly cynical attitude to Christmas. But things perk up when her path crosses with charming journalist Will (K.C. Clyde) and her neighbour Nick (Bruce Davison) gives her a job that makes people happy. Yet while Nick would rather keep their good work a secret, ambitious Will sees it as a wonderful scoop. Cockle-warming seasonal fare.

For a list of other great holiday movies check out this blog!

--Emily, Miss Will Be Enjoying a Christmas Movie or Two this Weekend

Let's Discuss: Buying your Book Review?

2011-12-01T05:02:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Check out this list of Stocking Stuffers for Writers from author Sarah Maclean.

There's been some talk this week in the writerly hangouts about how Kirkus (remember them? The big toughie reviewer with the reputation of crucifying books?) is offering to review books by Indie Authors for a price. $400-$500 a book from what I hear. And here's the thing, the author gets to decide whether or not Kirkus includes the review in their newsletter. So if they rip you in two, don't include the review. But if it's glowing, please do include. Um, huh? I get that they're paying for it so why would they want to put out a negative review but something about it doesn't seem right to me. I've had an awful review from Kirkus that I wished they wouldn't have published but they did. And this buying of reviews-- does it make the reviewer more favorable to the book? I don't know. If someone gave me $500 would I not call it a giant stinking pile of dog poop? Maybe.

Which brings me to another type of "buying". Some publishers recently have been heard to be sending valuable gifts with their books to book reviewers. People are saying this is too a type of buying. Is it? If I have shiny new gift in my hand am I going to be totally truthful about your book and if I hate it say so? Or am I going to be so excited about shiny new gift that I'm just going to gush about your book no matter what you wrote. Hmm.

And then does it even really matter? So many things are bought now anyway. Kim Kardashian gets ten thousand dollars to tweet that she likes a new lip gloss. Who knows if she really likes it. Audrina Patridge takes home a check for holding up a tube of Colgate Total Whitening in the grocery store and giving a toothy grin. Does she really use that brand? I don't know. It is good though. I use it all the time (please send my paycheck for endorsement to...;-) ).

I think people do read reviews and make purchases off of them but is everyone evaluating where they come from? I've looked up books that have loads of 5 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads only to be disappointed when I started reading and the book is full of distracting grammatical errors, jumping back and forth between tenses and times and just plain old not good.

So here's some stuff to discuss. Do you think it's wrong to buy a review from Kirkus? Do you think it even matters (like, do teens even read or care about a Kirkus review?)? Publishers sending gifts to book reviewers- yay, everyone's doing it or nay, you're not going to get a true review. And how valuable do you find book reviews when making a purchase?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

My Printzesses (or Which Book Will Be Crowned?)

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Check out Lisa Schroeder's blog post on how Goodreads ads worked for her!

I love meeting with the Mock Printz Club girls to discuss books (it's open to guys, but none have joined us), and always learn so much from them, too! Right now the frontrunners fr our Mock Printz award seem to be:

Some other tidbits I've garnered from our Printz meetings:

--They love J. K. Rowling. She essentially can do no wrong. And they don't mind what I called the "info dump chapters" in book #7 because they'd rather have that than stringing the reader along with tiny clues until the "big reveal." :)

--They don't like how in practically every current YA book they read with a girl MC, the girl *always* either a) ends up crushing on/hooking up with the first boy she meets in the book, or b) ends up crushing on/hooking up with her guy friend. They say it is so unrealistic and completely unnecessary.

--They don't like MCs who are seemingly invincible. While most like THE HUNGER GAMES, many don't like how Katniss, for example, is a little too unstoppable.

--They are getting tired of "the same" dystopian stories being told over and over, and find a lot of them similar to THE GIVER.

Our last Printz meeting was supposed to last 45-60 mins, and some of the girls hung around talking to the HS Librarian and I in the HS library for 90 minutes chatting about books! I love it!

What are your Printz picks so far?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2011-11-28T09:52:00.001-08:00

Tip of the Day: Keep yourself from letting holiday stress invade your body. Stock up on yogurt and cranberry juice. Enjoy the last great apples of the season.

So in my past novels, for various reasons, there has been a focus on the main character's relationship with his or her father. Years ago, I heard Laurie Halse Anderson speak about writing as a male character, and she recommended exploring his relationship with his father. This really strengthened my first novel. The next time I wrote from a male point of view, I also focused on Dad.

But somehow it's never gone the other way. My female main characters have had more memorable relationships with their fathers than their mothers. But that's going to change soon. For my next novel, Mom is going to be a very important player. Unfortunately, she's also going to suck.

I feel bad about that. I'd like to model a healthy mother/daughter relationship, but I think if you have a wonderful mother behind you all the way ... well, you're less likely to be in the dire straights that a novel demands.

Some authors who have done mother/daughter relationships very well in novels I have loved are Deb Caletti, E.M. Crane, Elizabeth Scott, and of course Sarah Dessen. So I have some great examples to help me.

But in the end, I think this mother is going to be a bad person. Hopefully, she'll be fun to write, in any case. What about you? When you're writing about a female main character, how much thought do you put into the mother/daughter relationship?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Black Friday

2011-11-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: This is our 1000th post!! Wow! I feel like we should give away a car or something. But that's not happening. :-)

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY! Are you full of turkey and dressing? Are you sitting outside of Best Buy at 3am? Tell the truth-- to Black Friday or not to Black Friday? Me? I'm a not. I don't like fighting. If you went out, what hot deal did you get?

Thanksgiving Deadline!

2011-11-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

First, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all have a wonderful day with your family and friends! I'm excited to spend the day with my family and I'm also excited that I met my Thanksgiving deadline! Whoo hoo! I've been revising The Paparazzi Project (I posted a teaser of it last week) and my deadline to get it back to my agent was Thanksgiving.

I've been working on it every free minute I've had, which usually is whenever my littlest is in preschool, and evenings. And last night I was determined to not miss my deadline and get it done. The only problem? All four kids are sick (UGH! This is so not fun!) and now I'm sick too (sore throat and fever- boo). But still, I really wanted to get it done so that I'd have the holiday free and I was SO close so I worked through it anyway and e-mailed it to the agent at midnight. Yay!

So yeah, I'm thankful to be done (well, at least until I get notes back from my agent) and excited for a little break before I dive back into my middle grade project.

What about you guys? Did you meet your November deadlines?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Trekkin' Along on Track (or Oh God I Have to Rewrite 10 Chapters in 10 Days)

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: I tweet about bookish and library things at @bmlkidsteens if you want to follow me!

I'm here, checking in on my November goal!

Goal recap: To revise my YA WIP and have it ready to sub by Dec. 1.

And as of today, I'm on page 165/206 and feeling totally on track!

It hasn't all been easy. During my lunch breaks at work I tried really hard to get in a solid 45 minutes of revision, but sitting at my desk in a cubicle -- even with my headphones on and personal laptop powered up -- doesn't always keep the coworkers away. I love them and all, but but but...NaNoREMo people! :)

I also got feedback from my wonderful Helper Monkeys critique group...and I learned that, uh, there were some "issues" with the chapters leading up the climax. And the climax itself. And oh yeah, the resolution chaps need some clarity. Oh boy. BUT! I was so inspired by them as well -- they helped me brainstorm "fixes" and I could feel what a better book these changes would make -- so when I sat down to write, the words came easily.

This book is different from anything else I've ever written: It has two 1st-person povs, a speculative story with a thriller feel, and a faster pace with bigger stakes. I'm really excited about this novel and hope my revisions are making it into the story I imagine.

How is everyone doing with their NaNo projects?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

It's good to have goals

2011-11-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much pumpkin pie (oh wait...never mind...eat all the pie you want, you totally deserve it after working so hard this year!)

My November Goal: complete edits on the current book I'm working on.

The Progress: not so great

After completely switching what the book I'm currently working on for the month, I had a bit of a slow start. The switch turned out to be wise, though, and edits with this book are going much better. I've gotten quite a bit done, though there are several chapters I need to update and about two chapters to add.

Since I haven't worked on this book in about three years, there's been much time spent getting into the heads of the characters again. But it's been fun, challenging, and progressing forward has been rewarding.

To celebrate, I'm definitely eating some pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!

And then...it's right back to work. I still have eight days left in November to complete my goal!

Well at least right after I wipe my tears for the hundredth time today after watching X-factor tonight. Was I the only one that cried at like every story. I told my husband, I'd hate to be the singer without an inspirational story.

--Emily

The Goal Oriented Girl

2011-11-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Looking for a good YA read? TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper releases this week and is available in preorder now.

At the beginning of November, my Rochester face-to-face critique group and I set goals for the month. It's an annual tradition. My goal was to finish writing the ending of my YA novel work in progress. Those last few chapters are hanging over my head like a dead weight. So how did I do?

Terrible! I don't think I've written a word!

It's not true that I haven't written a word of anything, of course. But these past few weeks have been life changing for me. I lost my office job in June and my other, more long-term goal for the year has been to work as a freelance writer and editor. This has taken off tremendously all of a sudden. Every project I work on is a learning experience, and every client brings me a new set of skills. I can't wait to tell you all about it as I move forward. For now, though, my routine of looking for work most of the day and then doing some of my own writing is completely broken.

I did manage to rewrite my first scene after attending the Highlights Mastering Setting conference with Kim Griswell and K.L. Going. That was a hard-working conference, by the way. I like my new beginning a lot better. Naturally, now that I know what my ending is going to be, I have more of that tone infused into the beginning.

So I'm definitely making progress over here, but I am disappointed that I haven't been able to type THE END. In fact, not working on my fiction is making me very snippy. For Thanksgiving, I hope I have the chance to curl up with the next chapter. Too bad the school system lets the kids take off time for the holiday! (Just kidding. Sort of.)

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Winner of THE FIRST TIME Giveaway

2011-11-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

And the winner is.....................

THE SECRET

WRITER!

Congrats! I just

ordered your book

and you should

have an e-mail

with information

shortly!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Just Teasing

2011-11-17T06:08:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Remember, you have until midnight tonight to enter the giveaway for The First Time Anthology. Comment HERE. Winner announced tomorrow.

Right now I'm in the middle of revisions on my latest book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT. The teaser I'm including is from Chapter 2 when the main character, Livvie, is reading tabloids for an assignment in her Interpersonal Communication Class and notices the cute guy next to her.

I find the page and oh man, it’s true! It’s totally Shaz A.M.! Nasty, nasty, nasty! Man, she had to be scraping his denture cream off the back of her tonsils after this make out session. I flip the page for more pics. “Ok, seriously,” I say to the cute guy in the desk next to me in class, “you’ve gotta see this.” I hold up the magazine for him to see. “She’s going to make ol’ dude break a hip in that position, right?”

The cute guy laughs and his hair shakes out of his eyes. “That’s just wrong.”

I take a longer look at him. Wow. Why haven’t I noticed him before? Serious hotness. He’s got these crazy dark eyes and even darker hair. If he wasn’t dressed so preppy he’d almost look kind of goth. Not that I’m into goth. I myself don’t have any super interesting style. I’m your average whatever looks cute yet is still comfy kind of girl. Hence the worn-out jeans, tee, and converse I’m sporting today. I really want to talk to this big cup of cuteness some more though. “What are you reading?” I ask.

He holds up a National Enquirer. “Botched plastic surgery,” he says. “See, this one’s bottom lip looks like it ate her top lip.” He points to a picture of a woman who looks more feline than female.

I lean over for a closer look. “Whoa! You’re right!” I say. “I bet she wishes she could hit undo on that.”

He smiles. “My name’s Chas Montgomery.”

“Cool name, Chas,” I say, sitting back in my seat. I bet on the weekends he likes to kick back with a nice cigar after a rousing polo match with his buddies, Thurston and Chadwick.

“And you are?” he asks, holding a hand out like he just pointed to a letter on Wheel of Fortune.

“Livvie Peterson,” I reply. “Livvie’s short for Olivia. But I’m sure you already guessed that. Not much else it could be short for, right? Maybe Olive. But who would name their kid Olive? Outside of Popeye’s girlfriend’s mom. About a million and a half years ago. ‘I yam what I yam’, right? But, I babble. Yeah, anyway, it’s Livvie.” Wow. I am all kinds of smoothness here. I don’t know how he’s keeping his hands off me right now.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

NaNoREMo Teaser (or Public Viewing, Take One!)

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: There is still time to bid on some great kidlit writer items in Jean Reidy's Light up the Library Auction!

I am still plugging away at my revision to meet my goal this month. As I read through earlier chapters that have been in existence the longest, I find myself tweaking just words, so I know it is close! In the later chapters, I need to make some detail changes to the "science" part of the book, but I see how it is going to all come together.

My teaser is from the very beginning of the novel, BLACKOUT. The book is told in alternating povs, Leo and his younger sister Jenny. Chapter One starts with Leo's pov:

Dad and Jenny hugged goodbye. It was like they thought they’d never see each other again or something. I watched their silhouettes from the living room window. Like an outsider.

I never got that close to them. And they never got that close to me.

I shoved my duffle bag and portable amp into the back seat of the SUV, unzipped my guitar case, and strapped the Strat over my shoulder. I could compose an alt-rock hook in the time it’d take for my sister and Dad to say adios. The two of them could go on about solar cells or neutrons or whatever for days. They had gone on about it for days.

Leaning against the car’s door, I played around with a heavier riff. Dad had no neighbors to complain about the noise. Not for miles. For five days I’d been stuck with two people who didn’t know a bass guitar from a violin and didn’t care if they ever learned.

Mom’s side of the family had music going for it, but it also had an aunt who went nuts when she was 17. Like me. The age, not the crazy part. Not yet.

I didn’t fit in with Dad’s side of the family, and wasn’t sure I wanted to fit in with Mom’s.
###

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Teaser Tuesday

2011-11-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: my friend and critique partner Shana Norris just released another eBook this week called Surfacing. Check out the info about it here.

After spending time working on a variety of books, this is the current one I've been editing lately. Not only is it getting polished...again, it's also getting a new title. But it was formerly named Con Girl. I'm sure you can imaging why :) The new title is a secret (mainly because it keeps changing :) ) Hope you enjoy!

“Whit,” he said, catching me off-guard before I could initiate the plan. “I think we should talk about this. I never meant to hurt you or lie to you.”

He released his arms from me, but the feeling of his touch remained as my skin tingled. I backed up closer to the tree, trying to shoo the feeling away. Knowing he still powered over my thoughts made it harder to curl my arms up and touch the edge of his jacket, but shear will-power forced me to continue on with my plan.

I couldn’t move the light, down-filled coat much, but I did enough that I could feel something heavier in his right pocket like I had suspected.

“It’s water under the bridge,” I answered, turning on the charm and smile. I even made my hair flip out and fall, so it could seductively brush up against his hands. “I was actually coming to apologize to you. I felt bad about the way I treated you at the airport. I realize now you were just doing the job your dad and my parents wanted.”

He touched my hand as I was going lower on the zippered edge of the jacket. “Nice try, Whitney, but you do realize I know who you are, don’t you?” He pulled a set of keys out of his right pocket, pinning me against the tree again with his left hand, and dangled the keys out of my reach. “Fishing for these?”

At the sound of his voice, I got mad for a variety of reasons. First, I couldn’t believe I almost stole something. Even if it was just keys. I had never stolen anything in my life. Sure I’d been given many things under false pretences, but never took something. Even if I was going to give it back. Second, I couldn’t believe I had gotten caught. Preston always fell for the feminine charm. That’s how Tasha and I got him to stock most of the displays for us.

“Actually, you knew Whitney Campbell. Whitney Brown is much more forgiving.” The tree bark felt like nails clawing into my skin as I pushed further into it, but I didn’t care. “Like I said, I just came to apologize to you. Besides, I think it’s best for both of us if we just forget we ever knew each other prior to Copper Town.”

“You want me to forget everything that’s happened in the past two months? Our entire friendship?”

--Emily

Welcome to Teaser Week!

2011-11-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Thinking of publishing with a small press? There's never been a better time. Writer Beware has updated information posted about small presses and what you should consider.

This week we'll be posting snippets from our works in progress. This is from smack in the middle of my WIP about a teenage girl on the Moon searching for both her missing boyfriend and her kidnapped brother. She finds shelter in a lunar residence--a mansion owned by a very rich family. She's never been around rich people, she's not sure if she's breaking any laws, and there's a war going on besides, a war in which she has no idea what side her hosts take. The reason I picked this passage was because it proves to me that that book is written on revision. The first draft had her thinking about her confusion. "I might as well have been lost in the desert of Texizona." On revision, I replaced this with action.

... But she has me spooked. Unless we sneak out now without food or directions, we are completely in the power of these strangers. If Corinth connects us to the factory, he might decide we belong there, and I have no idea what the rules are out here.

The glider still must have me motion sick because the floor below us seems adrift. A gilt-edged mirror hangs on the wall across from the bed’s real wood headboard. I unpin my hair, sprinkle it with water, and comb it with my fingers. Carefully, I pull my hair back, pinning up the loose strands over my ears.

I like the idea of my main character fixing her hair to get herself under control rather than fretting in internal dialog. It's a small triumph, but those small triumphs are what makes this crazy writing thing worthwhile.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Give Away! THE FIRST TIME

2011-11-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

We're doing a giveaway this Fun Friday for the new YA e-anthology, THE FIRST TIME. Details about the book below. Giveaway info here:

All you have to do is comment on this post and we'll randomly pick a winner next Friday! Leave your e-mail address for faster delivery of the book or if you don't want to leave your e-mail, check back next week to see if you're the winner and then contact me: Kristina (at) KristinaSpringer (dot) com.

This books is in e-book format only and I'm sending it to you from Amazon so you need a Kindle (or download the Kindle app for free onto your iPhone or iPad) to read.

Now about the book:

You never forget your first...

In THE FIRST TIME, 25 young adult authors contribute 25 stories all about firsts: first loves, first kisses, first zombie slayings, and more. Featuring New York Times bestselling authors Carrie Ryan and Jessica Verday, plus a host of others. From humor to horror, and everything in between, these stories will make you laugh, cry, cheer, (and maybe even scream) as you experience something brand new from the authors that you love.

Contributing authors include: Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J. A. Yang, and Lara Zielin

Get it from Amazon

Get it from Barnes & Noble

If you don't have a Kindle, you can still read this eBook on your phone, computer, iPad, e-reader, etc. Just grab the Amazon Kindle app here.

If you prefer the Barnes & Noble Nook app, get it here.

My story is called CART PRINCESS. Let me know what you think of it!

Writer Party!!

2011-11-10T05:02:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Anyone going to YALLFest this weekend? They're going to have 26 authors on stage at once competing in storytelling games. Sounds fun!

You guys know I have four kids but you might not know that I'm a crazy overboard themed birthday party planning type of parent. I've thrown all kinds of parties for my kids in the last nine years from a Dora party where I hand-sewed purple backpacks and filled them with the items they'd need to go on an adventure (complete with The Map) through the backyard to a Strawberry Shortcake festival with carnival food, a huge tent, and all the carnival games and prizes you'd ever need to a Scooby Doo party with a mystery to solve ending with a zombie yelling that he would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids. Last month I did a super girly tea party for my 7 yr old with an awesome cake. Ok, cake picture has to be added.

And this weekend is the 9 yr olds lego extravaganza party with, of course, lego building, lego board games, lego wii, lego movies, and lego goody bags.

All this party got me thinking, why doesn't anyone throw me a party? Like a WRITER PARTY?

Wouldn't that be fun?! Ok, so for my Writer Party (if you're planning on throwing me one), you have to invite only other writers and promise me that they'll moan and groan with me about all of their writerly problems. And look really sympathetic and nod a lot when I tell them mine. They'll bring me gifts like new USBs, notebooks, books I have to read, and contracts for film deals based on my novels. Oh, and did I mention that everyone HAS to come in their pajamas? Well, they do. And please none of you show offs with your matchy new looking stuff. Sloppy pony tails and no makeup and/or crusty leftover eye makeup from day before is also a must. Decorations will be blown up covers of my favorite books hung all over the walls. Food will consist of chocolate in every form known to mankind, booze, and a fountain of coffee. And for games we can hang up any old bad reviews (ahem, Kirkus) and throw darts at them or play What's the Next Trend? and develop characters like shapeshifting winged turtles with magic shells that can forsee the future. And goody bags. There HAS to be goody bags filled with more chocolate, post-it notes, colored pencils for revisions, and Starbucks gift cards.

Did I miss anything? If not, get to work and I promise to look surprised!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Where Are Her Parents? (or Make Her Behave Creatively)

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: Check out kidlit author Kate Messner's blog for a photo recap of the amazing Children's Book Festival held this past Saturday in Rochester, NY!

I've been reading a lot of middle-grade novels lately, and something I've noticed that I've loved in them -- especially compared to recent YA novels -- is the Parent Involvement with the main characters.

For example, in THE AVIARY, even though Clara's father is missing, her mother notices when Clara sneaks around and she calls her out on it. The author could have easily let Clara get away with her secret curtain signal to her new friend, for example, and made Clara's mother be completely oblivious. But in reality most good parents, like Clara's mother, are *not* oblivious and I appreciate the way this was portrayed. It also ups the creativity that Clara -- and the author -- need to have in order for Clara to get what she wants.

In the middle-grade novel SPRINKLES AND SECRETS, Sophie lies to her best friend at one point, but her mom quickly finds out about the lie and confronts Sophie, telling her that she needs to correct her behavior. Again, life would've been a lot easier for Sophie if she was able to keep her secrets and lies to herself, but because her mom is an attentive parent, she corrects Sophie's behavior. Sophie is forced to deal with the truth and reality because it's the right thing to do, which adds more tension and conflict in the book.

Meanwhile, I'm 1/3 of the way through a YA novel that takes place in a boarding school. The MC's parents live a few hours away and when a serial killer leaves his victims in the vacinity of the boarding school, the MC's parents are casually mentioned as asking her to temporarily move back with them. The MC refuses and her parents apparently drop it, though they are said to call her frequently.

Now don't get me wrong; I am really enjoying this book. But it seems that the potential conflict that caring parents can add to a plot is abandoned. Overall I have seen this omitted more easily in YA novels; the parents just need to be removed from the MC's life/physical location so "things can happen." When the parents are cast as good parents, though, it is less believable and it lets the MC -- and author -- more easily find "solutions" to her problems that won't be checked by an adult. I find that this "absent parents" tactic only truly works in instances where the parents haven't been made out to be "good" parents to begin with.

I love how in MG novels, attentive parents can be good for the main characters' morals and family life, but bad for their ability to sneak around and behave "badly" or in a way that a good parent would not approve of. I love that parents are obstacles for kids in MG novels that they need to work on the up-and-up to get what they want.

What are your takes on parental involvement in YA and MG fiction?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

It's not all sunshine and roses

2011-11-08T22:14:00.001-08:00

Tip of the Day: can't believe it's November. Enjoy the nice weather while you can!

My trouble for the month is staying focused. I've always had a wandering mind, so it's no surprise that one of my hardest tasks as a writer is concentrating on what I'm supposed to be working on.

So far this month, I've been editing not one, but three different books. It seems like every time I get something completed, I'm called to a different book and lose focus on the task at hand.

I know it's the evil writing fairies trying to prevent me from finishing.

But they are so convincing with their promise of sunshine and roses on the other side of the fence (or I guess, book in this case).

I'm not so sure it's a bad thing, because I am making progress. Even if it is on three separate books. And progress is progress. So I'll take it.

But man, I think it's going to get to the point soon, where I'm going to have to tone out the evil fairies and plow through the bad stuff on the one book I'm supposed to be working on.

Betrayal, the Perfect Plot Twist!

2011-11-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

Tip of the Day: GalleyCat is doing their own NaNoWriMo Tip of the Day, and today they tell you how to download 6 free writing ebooks from Writer's Digest.

Let me start this post by explaining that I'm happily married. I don't have any axe to grind against love in general. I just love to punish my main characters, and when it comes to teenagers, who could deliver the deepest betrayal better than the love interest?

As I think about plotting out another book, I realize that betrayal may be my favorite plot twist. Just think of all the great betrayals in books and movies that keep us hooked. Like remember in Aliens when Sigourney Weaver realized that her employers actually expected her to bring an alien back to Earth? Oooh! Or in the Shining, when Danny's father goes psycho on him, turning from protector to killer? Ah, the betrayal of the mentor figure, whether employer or parent. That's a good plot twist.

But somehow my mind always leaps first to having the main character's boyfriend sell her out. Which kind of prevents the happy ending. Unless I've cleverly set up a love triangle, which I have to admit, I never have. Hmmm.

I've also done betrayal by the best friend, which can totally shatter a teenager's world. It's done a lot, but it's also something we can all relate to. When you're a teenager, somebody is going to betray you at some point. That first time will hurt the most.

Actually, my biggest problem is resisting the impulse to have everyone betray my main character. Like J.K. Rowling wanting to kill off Ron Weasley, I also have to resist making things so miserable that my main character can't get out of the hole she's in. And I have to admit, I don't like books where the only "bad guys" are love crazy, jealous females willing to stab each other in the back. Jealousy is one reason for betrayal, but there are so many other reasons: money, greed, revenge, love, selfishness, desperation, anger.

All I know is that around two thirds of the way through my novel, someone is going to betray my main character. The mother? The crush? The best friend? The neighbor? The kindly mentor? Colonel Mustard in the library with the lead pipe? Right now, I suspect them all.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: You Tube

2011-11-04T09:35:00.001-07:00

I love this!

Crazy Writers

2011-11-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Deena mentioned yesterday that the anthology I'm a part of with 25 other wonderful Young Adult authors released this week. But did you know that you don't need a Kindle to download the book? If you have an iPad or iPhone you can download the Kindle app for free from the app store and read it on your device.

What is it about November that makes us all want to work so hard on our writing? Tons of writers I know are trying to get an entire novel written this month as Em mentioned earlier in the week. I write very fast but I've still never given this challenge a try. Instead, this month I'm revising a book and I've given myself until the end of the month to have it complete. Normally revising is my least favorite part of the process. First drafts are my fave. But this time I'm really getting into it. I find that I'm talking to myself (out loud sometimes. You can imagine the looks.) in the voice of my main character and then I race around trying to find something to write on before I forget. Or I pull over the grocery cart at the store and e-mail myself from my iPhone. The worst is when it happens when I'm driving. Then I record myself talking on my iPhone. My kids think I'm nuts half the time. I imagine they'd probably think that anyway so I really can't blame that on the revising.

Are you crazed when you're revising?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

My Job is Awarding II (or Why Can't I Ever Spell Newbery Right the First Time?)

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Tina has a HILARIOUS short story on a teen's first job in a grocery store in this new YA short story anthology of firsts! I bought it -- I mean, it's only $2.99. You can't lose!

In addition to the Mock Printz Club at my local high school, I am also attending the meetings for the Mock Newbery Club at the junior high. I've only read three of these so far, but have two others on hand that I can't wait to read. And the books selected by the committee of librarians and English teachers are:

(Yes, Gary Schmidt's book is on the Mock Printz AND Mock Newbery lists. It really straddles readerships, though I think it will resonate more with older teens.)

(The poems in this book are amazing! Multiply layered and brilliant.)

These two are "extras" since some of the selection committee thought MISS PEREGRINE could be too creepy for their 6th graders, and some thought EMERALD ATLAS was too commercial/not "literary" enough. But let me tell you, I can't wait to read MP!

What are your picks for the Newbery this January?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

The most wonderful time of the year!

2011-11-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: when people warn you, you will get 400 trick-or-treaters. Plan for 500. That way you don't have to tell poor innocent children you've ran out of candy and pop.

November...it's that time of year when all the crazy people gather in one location and commiserate with one another, while sipping on strong coffees and downing chocolate candies by the handful.

Thanksgiving?

Black Friday?

Nope. It's NaNoWriMo Time!

I've participated in the past, but I'm not officially joining the ranks of crazy this year. But I am participating in a mini NaNoWriMo-like challenge (just like Deena!) where I'm trying to get a final revision on one of my books done.

And just like I've started every NaNoWriMo challenge in the past: after one day, I've got completely nothing done! Yay for consistency.

But my goals have been set and since goals are to me like candy was to the trick-or-treaters at my house last night, I'm confident work will progress soon. Because there's nothing getting in between me and my candy!

--Emily, Miss Semi-Crazy NaNoWriMo Girl

How Hard Can They Make It to Find a Scary Story?

2011-10-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Today is the last day to sign up for Rhonda Stapleton Helms's Plotting Workshop. It starts tomorrow. I'm signed up!

Yesterday, I was really in the mood to read a scary novel. I own a Nook reading device. In general, I'm very happy with it. It's great for travelling, it's backlit so I can read while my husband sleeps, and I love the instant gratification thing. Sort of. Because what I don't like about the Nook is the Nook store, which frankly sucks.

I searched Horror*General and Ghost Fiction, both Nook store categories. But all I could find were 99 cent self-published short stories. I didn't want a short story; I wanted a novel. There were no Halloween recommendations on the store and no way to sort by short story vs. novel. The search options are "best matches," which as far as I can tell has absolutely no meaning whatsover; "best sellers," which are all the free downloads of public domain or self-published short stories; and "price." Aha, I thought, I'll sort by price and get to novels that way. Nope. It gives you the lowest price first. After scrolling through 20 pages of short stories, I gave up.

Fortunately the Nook has a web browser. I searched "best scary novels" on Google. Google Books, by the way, is in its unique way as horrible as the Nook Store. You can't search genres of fiction from the Google Books store. Does this make sense to ANYONE? Goodreads and CNN had scary novel recommendations, but they were all books I had already read. (I love scary stories.)

Now, to B&N's credit, they have a Nook blog that is not half bad. Although it's not exactly easy to get to from the Nook store. The blog recommended a list of Halloween novels and pimped them at $2.99 each. I loved that I could download the first chapter for free as a sample. I tried two out, but they were VERY male-centric. In one, I loved the writing, but the only female characters were hookers with hearts of gold. The other belonged to the "gorgeous woman falls in love with fat, nerdy protagonist for no particular reason" genre. I can't remember what that genre is called, but I'm pretty sure it is a genre of its own now.

Finally, I found some recommendations on a message board for horror fans and downloaded THE HOUSE by Bentley Little. It's incredibly creepy and awesome. Teen librarians and teachers, do NOT recommend this one to younger teens. The disturbing images are beyond R-rated; nothing gory, just all out disturbing. So it's awesome and I stayed up too late reading it.

But instant gratification? I could have driven to the bookstore twice and bought a coffee in the time it took me to find this novel. Seriously, B&N Nook Store, you need more customer involvement and WAY better search options.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday

2011-10-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

What's Your Writing Schedule?

2011-10-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Today's my birthday!! Want to get me something? :-) If you've read any of my three books (The Espressologist, My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, or Just Your Average Princess), could you go review them at Goodreads and/or Amazon?

I'm always curious about the writing schedule of your average author. Maybe it's because I feel like I never have enough time to write. I look forward to two years from now when all of my kids are in school all day I'll have that time to work. But for now my typical schedule is two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays (when the little guy is in preschool) and then the occasional hour at night or on a weekend that doesn't happen often enough. It's not a whole lot of time. I wondered what other other author's writing schedules looked like.

Aprilynne Pike says she writes from 10am-4pm during the summer months.

Tammi Sauer writes from 9:30am-3pm on school days.

Gena Showalter writes a chapter everyday, 7 days a week. Even if it takes her all day to write it.

Kerri Maniscalco writes 8-14 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. (Wow!)

What's your writing schedule like?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

My Job is Awarding (or The Printz is Coming!)

2011-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: I just finished watching all of Martha Alderson's Plot Whisperer Tips on YouTube while taking notes. Wow. I know this will help me as I go through my ms one last time in November. Have you watched all 27 parts yet?

Some awesome teens at my local high school are doing a Mock Printz Club and invited me to sit in. I love hearing their thoughts on different titles! Here's their short list. I agree with many of them and have read 8 out of 11. Three of these are my faves of the year (along with RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer), and one was a fave of last year (I read the ARC) so I was thrilled to see them on the high schoolers' list!

The teens vote on their faves in January. Which have you read and loved?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Dress up time!

2011-10-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: get your candy ready!

Check out these great writing/literary-related Halloween costume possibilities...

Can you guess who they are?

Creepy Things

2011-10-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Tina's on virtual tour with JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS. Here's the Teen Book Scene schedule to see where she is today and where's she's been.

Today I took my son to the bus stop and nobody was there. Usually there are four boys at his stop. The absence of other boys crunching through the dead leaves was eerie. It would have been like time stood still, except then black clouds moved in from the west, eclipsing the sunlight. If it hadn't been our regular bus driver who pulled up with her usually cheery smile, I would have been afraid to let him on the bus!

It was a reminder that everyday events have the potential to suddenly be creepy. Remember that feeling of walking or bike riding home from a friend's house this time of year? And it's darker that you expected. When did the days get so short? And suddenly you feel like you're being watched. You hear footfalls and rustles, but when you look behind you at the deserted street, all you see is your shadow stretched out from the streetlights and you decide to get home REALLY FAST.

We can create this creepy atmosphere with the five senses: shadows, leaves rustling, growling noises, birds screeching, chills, cold wind, pounding hearts. (Yes, even smell. If you've ever been terrified of the sudden smell of gas or burning, you know what I mean.) But what about other senses, like the sixth sense? That little voice that says, something's wrong here. The feeling of being watched. The activation of some sort of caveman instinct that kicks in our "fight or flight" responses. The things that make you pull into a supermarket parking lot and suddenly decide today is a very bad day for shopping and you don't park your car after all. You go home with the feeling you just had a close call but you'll never know from what.

Scary things don't have to happen in a graveyard. There could be someone right behind you now. Do you see a reflection of something in your monitor?

-- Kate, Miss Getting Ready for Halloween

Fun Friday

2011-10-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

Living on the Edge

2011-10-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Check out this interesting article in USA Today about a super successful traditional author turned indie author.

I had a great time at the Joliet Author Fair last weekend! It was my first event since my new book, Just Your Average Princess, came out and it was fun getting to sign it. And fun seeing friends and family, and people who've read my other books come back for the third one.

I talked to a lot of teens and parents at the fair and while talking to them today's topic came to me= Edgy Books. I don't get them. I mean, of course I get them as in understand their sometimes very deep topics like rape, incest, drug abuse, bulimia and so on. I get that some teens identify with the characters in the books or they're just interested in learning about people that go through these various issues. What I'm not getting are the books that almost seem to be going for the shock value. The ones that use the F word every other sentence or have the main character have sex three times before the end of chapter one. What is that about? And who is buying these books? I know someone is because the publishers keep buying them and putting them out there. But here's the thing, and I'm not exaggerating, I'd say probably 3 out of every 5 parents/teachers/librarians that I talk to straight up ask me "Is there swearing in your book?" "Is there sex in your book?". They ask these questions in the first minute or two of our conversation. And they always seem relieved when I say no. So obviously this is a concern on most of their minds. If this is the case, why are there still so many overly edgy books? Who's buying them? Is it the teens buying them and their parents just don't know? What's your take on this?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

NaNo-WHAT-Mo? (or Writing & Turkey Month!)

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: I'm sure you've picked up the sweet and hilarious JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS this week. But have you also tried Lisa's just tasty MG, SPRINKLES AND SECRETS?

Thanks to the bounties of the internets, most writers are now familiar with NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I participated in it twice, "won" once (reached a 50,000-word draft), and then in the following years I realized I couldn't always get my projects together so that I was ready to start a new novel in November.

Instead, my CPs and I started coming up with November Writing Goals, which could be drafting a 50,000-word novel a la NaNoWriMo, but it could also be something like "Send picture book ms to 10 editors" or "Revise YA novel." Having the support and cheers and commiseration and check-ins of the Helper Monkeys throughout November is what is more important than the goal itself. No matter how "big" or "small," it is something that each of us seriously wants to complete before the end of the year.

This year I am going to complete my "final" revision of my sci-fi light adventure YA told in dual 1st-person POV -- a first for me that I am loving. And because I know this is my November goal already, I am working even harder on my ms through the end of October to up my odds of "winning" my November challenge. :)

Cheating? Maybe. But the ms will be ready by December 1!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

My new favorite thing...

2011-10-18T21:29:00.001-07:00

Tip of the Day: if you've been living under a rock like me, you might not have heard about all the commotion the National Book Award nominations have caused this year. If you want an honest recap, check out Libba Bray's blog post. And we can all be reminded once again why Lauren Myracle is so amazingly fabulous and incredibly nice.

This weekend I've finally been brought into the 21st century in terms of editing my books. My new favorite thing...

Two monitors!

Why oh why haven't I gotten these before now? It's already made editing so much easier, and eliminates the time consuming switching between windows. My finger muscles are already thanking me.

For those of us that weren't blessed with fabulous memories, it's nice to have an outline open the same time as the manuscript you are working on. Or two of the same book, for all those pesky little details you have to search for.

And I'm sure I'm about to find a million other uses.

So what piece of writing equipment can't you live without?

--Emily, Miss Excited for Editing

Thoughts on Trees

2011-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Even for a fiction book, start a bibliography. It's so handy to be able to re-read an article you used to establish your setting months after you first read it.

I grew up on Long Island, so my tree identification skills are limited to scrub pines, maples, and if I'm really stretching my memory cells, oaks. I'm somewhat aware that Christmas trees can have large or small needles, and I could identify holly and birch bark, and that's about that.

Obviously this is not going to cut it if I'm in the head of a main character who grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I can't say "She hid behind a tree and listened to the bird yell at her" without her sounding four years old.

Oh, and birds. I've always owned cats, so birds are usually yelling, as far as I can tell. I can recognize a hawk, a cardinal, a crow, a robin, a heron, and a blue jay by sight, but if I had to pick out a sparrow or a nuthatch from a lineup, he'd get away clean. I'm almost positive they live in my yard, though! Many times I sit in my backyard and observe them chattering away to each other about the cat, and I think to myself, "Yup. That's a bird."

So may I recommend that we all take advantage of this time of year to take a few observational hikes, hopefully with someone who knows nature. This weekend I learned that a hemlock is an evergreen, which I did not know before. I told my daughter and she didn't know either, and I'm afraid that if I tell my husband, he will roll our eyes at both of us, point to a tree from out our window, and say, "That's a hemlock right there!"

I think for my story idea about the Blue Ridge Mountains, I'll look for tree and bird flash cards.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: And the Winner of Just Your Average Princess is...

2011-10-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

JessWiz

Congratulations! I'll e-mail you for your address and get the book off to you.

Have a great weekend everyone! And if you're in the Joliet, IL area I'll be signing books at the Joliet Author Fair. Info below.

October 15, 2011 - 11:00am-3:00pm
Joliet Regional Author Fair
Joliet Public Library-Black Road Branch
3395 Black Road
Joliet, IL

Competition-- It's Genetic

2011-10-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

TIP OF THE DAY: DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!!!! THE MORE COMMENTS YOU LEAVE THIS WEEK (ON ANY POST M-TH), THE BETTER YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. WINNER ANNOUNCED TOMORROW!

I have three brothers and growing up, I tended to be most competitive with the brother closest to my age (he's a year and a half older). There wasn't any one thing we were competitive about. Anything was fine. We'd try to clean faster than each other, build better snow forts, and skate faster. And if there was ever a time I wasn't clearly winning in a board game well then I'd just quit. He STILL complains about this to this day.

My four kids aren't any better. In fact, they're worse. They compete from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed. Starting with who can get dressed faster. Then it's who's going to get the "special" plate (note: none of them are really more special than the other. The kids will deem one special and then they'll all fight over it), who gets the pink cup, who gets their hair brushed first etc. It never ends. It drives my husband and I nutso.

And if you think it gets better with age, I'll point you to my mom. She has multiple medical problems as does her sister. But let there be a sale on a senior citizen's discount day and there be coupon's in hand and you just better step out of the way or you might be trampled. They'll hunt for the same bargains and one will always come out ahead. Luckily they're both very good at it so no one sister wins all the time.

Does competition run in your family? What is it about family that makes us want to compete so much with each other? Friends don't seem to do it nearly as much.

Remember, comment on any and all posts this week, Monday-Thursday, for a chance to win an autographed copy of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Competing Cousins! (or Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better*)

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

*with apologies to Irving Berlin

** DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!!!! THE MORE COMMENTS YOU LEAVE THIS WEEK, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

Tip of the Day: Looking for a cute town with charm and a Koffee Haus that lets you write at their tables all day for a writing retreat? Try Frankenmuth, MI!

I don't remember too many family "competitions" in my teens, but I do recall being a tween and receiving bags of hand-me-downs from "cooler" older kids, like our cousins or family friends, and my sister and I, who were the same size (she's 17 months older than me) would scramble through the bags, trying to claim the "best" stuff for each of us. If Mom caught wind of the situation, she'd tell us to SHARE all the clothes, but once they were in the dresser drawer and morning came, the race to get the "best" shirt could be on! I specifically remember these two sweatshirts with pandas on them that just SCREAMED cool. :)

My sister may read this and remember it differently, but at the time, having the cool clothes from our older cousins seemed soooo important!

What did you compete for with your relatives as a tween or teen?

Comment on any and all posts this week, Monday-Thursday, for a chance to win a copy of the hilarious and perfect-for-the-pumpkin-patch-season JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Growing up with brothers

2011-10-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

* DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!!!! THE MORE COMMENTS YOU LEAVE THIS WEEK, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

Tip of the Day: Just Your Average Princess hits stands today! Make sure to check it out.

To celebrate Tina's new book, we are talking about rivalries this week. Growing up I was closer in age to my brother than sister, so most of my rivalries involved him. So needless to say they weren't of the "which one can wear this shirt better" or "you stole my Barbies" variety. Ours usually involved competing for the biggest and baddest snow fort or seeing who can jump off the roof of our house from the highest location.

When it came to Snow Fort Wars, we usually involved my neighbors. Two of my neighbors (both girls) and I would work as one team and my brother was often a team of one. We'd compete to see who had the most elaborate fort. Including the most rooms, the better tunnels in between the rooms, the comfiest snow chairs, and so on. No one ever really judged, it was just an honorary title. Each of us thinking ours was the best (unless the other one did something so cool, we couldn't help but admit how awesome it was--like a snow cubby that kept you warm and required two people to get you in and out of).

In the Jumping off the Roof Contests, these started off simple enough. Growing up in the country, we had a barn that had a low roof. So it pretty much started as a dare: my brother betting me that I wouldn't jump. And when I did, then he thought we should go even higher with the house roof (is it any wonder that I'm slightly afraid of heights now?). The loser was pretty much the one too chicken to jump that day (which I admit was often me--but not every time).

When I think back now, these are probably some of my fondest memories of growing up. You got to love sibling rivalry.

It's probably why I also like to write girl characters that are often tough on the outside, but not so tough on the inside. Because I never wanted my brother to think of me as anything but tough and strong.

And it's why I also love to read books like Tina's Just Your Average Princess where I can pretend I had a girly childhood and experience a different way of life!

Enjoy!

--Emily

Just Your Average Liar

2011-10-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS releases tomorrow! Read on to win your autographed copy, and Happy Book Baby Tina!

It's my favorite kind of week here: we're celebrating a new book release. Tina's JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS, out in stores tomorrow, is a novel about Jamie in constant competition with her cousin Milan. Milan moves to town and takes over Jamie's life, from getting Jamie's family's attention, to trying to steal the guy she has a crush on and even entering the Pumpkin Princess competition that Jamie has planned on competing in since she was a little girl. So we Author2Author authors asked each other: which family member did you compete with as a teen?

Well, I didn't have any sisters or cousins close in age. That was a real bummer in my small Catholic town. EVERYONE I went to school with had brothers and sisters and cousins to watch their backs. Everyone but me. Why, my best friend had cousins in every grade in high school. My other best friend had so many siblings, we could walk to almost any town hot spot and find someone to give us a ride home. So I did what any other reasonable person would do: I lied about having cousins.

It started with my mother's best friend's niece. Mom's best friend had been my day care growing up, so I knew all the family gossip and had attended the parties. I started calling Michelle my cousin when I saw her in the hallways. "Hey, we are like cousins!" she said. There was only one problem with my plan. Michelle actually DID have cousins in our high school. (Remember, everyone but me.) Before I knew it, though, they were calling me cousin. It turned out everyone was just as competitive about having the biggest posse as I was.

My adopted cousins and I took it seriously enough that they only dated my friends and never me. When one of them moved to another town, he drove back for my high school graduation. Thanks, "cousins"! It was an honor just to be allowed to compete in the cousin contest. Only, you know, most people knew they weren't really my cousins, so that part was kind of pathetic. But I made some great cousin-friends along the way.

You probably didn't compete FOR fake family members. But did you compete WITH family members, like Jamie and Milan? All you have to do to win an autographed copy of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS is leave a comment today through Thursday! We'll pick the winner on Friday. So tell us about your competitive side and maybe you'll win!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday

2011-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

JYAP Release Around the Corner!

2011-10-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: The Espressologist is bargain priced at $3.60 right now! Check it out! Also, My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours was just nominated for a 2012 YALSA Quick Pick! Whoo hoo!

It's a crazy week for me as I'm getting ready to leave for a writing retreat (YAY!) and trying to fill out a million interviews in preparation for the release of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS on Tuesday! So excited! So today I'll just post a summary of the book and I hope that you'll check it out-- it's a perfect read for the fall!

Jamie Edwards has loved everything about growing up on a pumpkin patch, but ever since her cousin Milan Woods arrived, things have really stunk. Jamie can’t imagine it was easy for Milan to leave her life back in Los Angeles and move to Average, Illinois, population one thousand. But it’s kind of hard to feel sorry for her since (a) Milan’s drop-dead gorgeous; (b) she’s the daughter of two of Hollywood’s hottest film stars; (c) she’s captured the attention of everyone in town, including Danny, Jamie’s crush since forever; and (d) she’s about to steal the title of Pumpkin Princess right out from underneath Jamie!

Available 10/11/11 from Indiebound, Amazon, and B&N.

My First E-Book Experience (or What the AUDIENCE Wants)

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: If you are in the Rochester, NY area during Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-22), stop by one of Linda Sue Park's presentations. She's our library system's Greater Rochester Teen Read feature author with her amazing book, A LONG WALK TO WATER.

My husband purchased a used iPad before our trip to Europe. While it ended up having many handy uses while overseas, one of his primary reasons for wanting it was so he could download George R. R. Martin's A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and read it on the Kindle Ap since lugging the 1020 page hardcover version he'd started seemed very impractical. Intrigued by the option of reading an ebook on the plane, I downloaded two self-pubbed YA ebooks before we left.

Since I'd already committed to reading a library book I'd brought with me, it wasn't until the flight home that I broke into the ebooks. And I was so disappointed! The series were very popular on Amazon, had great reader reviews, gorgeous cover art, intriguing premises, and tons of sales -- but the writing was very unpolished to the point of distraction for me.

Let me clarify: the books were NOT bad; they just felt like they needed another revision and polish before they were ready to be read by the masses. For example, one book had very stilted and unrealistic dialog in order to fill the reader in on things that were obvious to the characters; and the other (written in 1st person) had the main character constantly asking herself questions to make sure the reader understood that something strange was going on in the fantasy world instead of showing the reader that it was not the norm (I caught this one because I am also guilty of it). I didn't finish reading either book because I found myself editing them as I read instead of enjoying them.

BUT -- does it matter what I think? Obviously I am not the target audience. Teens are.

Or am I as a YA Librarian and YA writer?

The books are selling well, and it helps when some of them are offered free for a limited time, or for under $3 per book. But if the teen readers who post glowing reviews are really enjoying the books and keep buying them, who cares what I think, right?

I think for self-pubbed ebooks to get the same shots at professional reviews and library collections as traditionally published novels, self-pubbers should hire professional editors and/or copy editors. They need to make sure their books shine for every one who picks them up, not just teens or kids who may not be spoiled like I am, surrounded by well-crafted and edited novels at my day job.

Or am I wrong? Is speed in getting a YA e-series out more important than editing them to beauty?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Celebrate good times, come on!

2011-10-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: never apologize for celebrating or taking time for yourself!

Doing a little happy dance for finishing something this morning that I’ve been working on for awhile!

To celebrate, I’m taking a break for a few days and getting a treat (preferably a chocolate one) for dessert this evening.

With all the rejection in this business, I think celebrating the small victories are one of the most important things you can do to keep your sanity.

Because writing a book is hard!

Very hard.

Not to mention going back and spending months and months revising it.

And for accomplishing that alone we should be celebrating with champagne and trips around the world.

So kudos to all you writers out there!

How do you celebrate? A day off? A treat? A massage? Or maybe a night out by yourself?

Chapter Counter

2011-10-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Do you know about growth disorders? Read this MigWriters post for Growth Disorder Awareness Day and win free books--plus $1 for every comment will be donated until October 7.

When do you know how many chapters are going to be in your novel?

Some people outline each chapter before they start writing. Some people don't know how many chapters they'll have until they type "The End." I'm somewhere in between. Usually after I pass the halfway point of the first draft, I can map out how many more scenes I need and guess how long each scene will be. It's not 100% foolproof, and I've certainly had to go back while revising to insert "Chapter 3A". But after I'm half done with the first draft, I can make an educated guess as to chapter count (and a less educated, but somewhat accurate word count).

So today it's time for a poll. When do you estimate how many chapters will be in your book?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday

2011-09-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Anderson's 8th Annual Young Adult Literature Conference Recap

2011-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Kindle just announced their Kindle Fire tablet, priced at $199. Looks very iPad-ish. Check it out.

The Anderson's YA conference last weekend was absolutely awesome! I had such a great time. First thing I saw when I got there was that they had my new book for sale! Two weeks early. I was so excited to get to start signing it already.

My first panel didn't start until 10 am so following the breakfast I went to see "The Edge" panel. I knew I'd learn a lot since my work is as edgy as a soccer ball.

On the panel were Elizabeth Scott, Sarah Darer Littman, and Jeanine Cummins.

Their books were fascinating and wow, lots of heavy stuff. Kidnapping, murder, rape, internet predators, bulimia...yeah. I kinda wanted to go drink afterward. Just kidding. It really is so different than the light-hearted books I write though. Do you think I'll ever do an edgy book? Hmm. Well, I never

say never.

I also caught the Urban Voices authors talking about their work and reading from their books.

On the panel were Coe Booth, Paul Griffin, Torrey Maldonado, Paul Volponi, and Jacqueline Woodson. Great stuff!

I participated in two panels (sorry, no pics!) with Franny Billingsly and James Kennedy, called Write Down the Street. We represented the local YA authors in the Chicagoland area. They were a lot of fun and the audience asked great questions.

We watched a number of featured speakers. Favorites were Patrick Carmen and the picture of him in one of the priest collared shirts his very catholic mother used to make him (so funny!) and Sharon Draper and her reading the amazing letters she gets from children. I also really enjoyed Lisa McMann (pictured left). Her new book, The Unwanteds looks great!

I had a blast signing books and meeting librarians and teachers. And when it was over I stuck around and stock signed a ton of books (pictured below) for Anderson's. If you're looking for one of my signed books you can go to their web site and order it (or visit if you're local).

It was a wonderful event and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Livres en francais! (or Riding on the Me-tro-o-o*)

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

*with apologies to Berlin

Tip of the Day: Give in to the siren song of the e-reader if you plan to take a long vacation that involves multiple train and plane rides. The freedom of not lugging along books in luggage for 15 days was worth it!

On the multiple Metro rides I took while in Paris for four days, I noticed something very cool: billboards advertising novels along the walls of the Metro stations, right along side the billboards for movies, makeup, and theater productions. Many of them! In fact, I was so exposed to one book that when I saw it for sale in a bookstore window, I wanted to buy it. Then I remembered that I'm not fluent in French.

(See the book, LE PASSAGER, in the picture below)

The Metro is the perfect place for book ads since many people waiting for the train are often bored, antsy, or just looking to pass the time. The billboards could make them think, "Of course! I need to bring a book on the Metro!" And if your Metro ride happens to end in a larger train station that sells books, even better.

A new fun image to imagine: my YA novels selling, being translated into French, and posted on the walls of the Metro! Why not?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Good news for Kindle lovers!

2011-09-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: spiced cider. Yum.

So Amazon finally wised up and is playing nice with libraries.

Last week they announced that you can now check out books for your Kindle using the Overdrive service at your library.

Despite not having a Kindle, I think this news is exciting. Our library has been waiting for it for awhile. And now we don't have to tell angry patrons with Kindles that the eBooks won't work on them.

But another part of me also wonders what this will do to eBook sales of independently published books on Amazon. After much decision, I decided to try to self-publish one of my older books in eBook format. For the past month or so I've been doing some re-editing and getting it ready for publication. While at the same time still working on newer books to send to agents to try to get traditionally published.

After doing a bit of research of those self-publishing it appears more indie books are bought on Amazon than any other retailer.

Now with this new development, from a writer's perspective, particularly looking to possibly self-publish on Amazon, I'm not sure this will help. Because if people have the choice between $0.99 and free, I'm guessing they will pick free.

I don't think it will kill all the sales, but I do think there will be a slight drop down.

Only time will tell. We shall see what happens.

Does anyone else have any predictions?

--Emily

Conquering Doubt

2011-09-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Did you know about Marvelous Middle Grade Monday? Google that phrase for fantastic book recommendations, interviews, and contests.

I can become overwhelmed with doubt when I'm stuck in the middle of a novel. The beginning is bright and shiny. The end means I get to start something new soon, even if it's just a round of revisions. I prefer revising to writing a first draft, which can be like drawing blood for me. The middle means I have tons more to write and THEN tons of revision work on top of it. I can't do all that work!

So now that I'm stuck in the middle, here are some methods I'm using to counteract doubt:

1. Take advice I give my kids. It's probably good advice or I'd keep my mouth shut, right? Like "Don't say you're too stupid to do that. You're very smart; you're just looking for an excuse not to do it." Or "You're never motivated to do something until you've started doing it." Or my son's favorite: "Soonest begun, soonest done." (By favorite, I mean every time I say it, he rolls his eyes so far back in his head, he almost falls over backwards.)

2. Yoga stretches. When I'm feeling overwhelmed at the keyboard, a few stretches and focused breathing make me feel better.

3. Stop aiming for the perfect first draft. Honestly, that should be in all caps, but I respect your eyes. I write like I shop for groceries: get in everything that's possible so I don't have to go back again any time soon. It doesn't work at the supermarket and it definitely doesn't work for writing. I've been sweating over setting descriptions, and my writing buddies Debbie and Christy said, you can insert them on revision. You know, I totally forgot I'm allowed to do that.

4. Open the Word document. Leave it open. Make it as easy as possible to get going. Trust that someone or something will help me fix whatever mess I put in the file.

I don't think it's that unusual for writers and other creative people to have a list of ways to conquer self-doubt. I'm always looking to add to my list of techniques if you have any tips.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Creative Pen Names

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: check out these creative writing comics by Phil Nelson.

If you are still thinking about Kate's discussion of pen names a few weeks ago, you'll definitely like this one...

Baby Pics!!

2011-09-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Are you going to Anderson's 8th Annual Young Adult Literature Conference this Saturday? It's my first time (I'm on two panels) and there is a list of amazing authors attending!

Look what I got in the mail this week! It's a finished copy of Just Your Average Princess!

Sometimes I'm totally on board with ebooks and how easy they are to download onto my ipad and how I can store a ton of them on there and they're so convenient. But then I get to hold a new baby and I fall in love.

Isn't it so cute?! I love the yellow binding with the blue letters and the fun font.

I a million times over love all the vines and stuff all over the back cover and on the inside pages.

I love that they pulled part of the story and put it on the back of the book. And it's a good part too.

And I love the page where I sign. It's so so so cute!

So yeah, I'm awfully proud of my new baby and glad to have her home. Next week I'll post pictures of her first bath, first bottle, and grandma holding her. Ok, no I won't.

Look for Just Your Average Princess in stores on 10/11/11!

kRISTINA, mISS aUTHOR iN aCTION

Back to Reality....

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Arrived home last night! See you on the other side of jet lag with some tidbits I picked up on:

1) my first ebook read

2) good writing and no plot v. so-so writing and a clear plot in published novels

3) book advertising in France

4) browing the YA book section in a London shop

5) seeing YA books front and center in an Italian bookstore display window
6) taking a writing break

Must organize notes and photos!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Love the smell of fall!

2011-09-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tip of the day: warm cider is magnificent on a nice fall day.

I got too distracted by all the bright, shiny new tv shows to remember to blog this evening.

Oops. Hazards of fall: my favorite time of year!

But every year I love to check out new shows to see what's hot this year. It seems that whatever is popular on TV eventually makes it's way to the Book World.

Loving that there's been a resurgence of comedies in the last few years (and dare I say it, but not as much dark stuff). Hopefully that's a good sign for books!

Some of my favorites so far:

2 Broke Girls: gotta say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Set in a cafe, I wasn't so sure. And I was kind of on the fence about Kat Dennings, since I wasn't a huge fan of hers in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. But I think this is a great role for her, and I'm curious to see where they take this show. Had some great one liners!
New Girl: they are pushing this one a bit and luckily they were showing fall previews On Demand. Funny enough show. Wasn't as good as I was hoping, but I think it's just because it was the pilot. Hoping this one gets better. And I'm curious to see how the new roommate works out due to the casting change of Damon Wayans Jr. (which I'm completely fine with...as long as they don't cancel his other show Happy Endings now--which I'm avoiding those rumors as much as I can in hopes they will go away, since I really enjoyed the first season of that show as well. Funny stuff.)

Is it a coincidence both of these shows start off with the girl walking in on their boyfriend's cheating on them, which causes a new living situation?

Hmmm...

Does that mean if I have a cheating boyfriend book that's a good thing?

Let's hope so!!!!

--Emily, Miss Loving that It's New Season Time

* No this is not me or my dog, but a stunt dog. Unfortunately my dog is not nearly as fond of TV as I am. Hopefully that habit will get broken soon. Because if he's to be a member of our family, he'll have to properly watch TV like this dog.

Keep Your Distance

2011-09-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: Jennifer Hubbard explains narrative distance in this short and crystal clear blog post.

We are used to getting inside our character's head when we write. What does she see, what does she smell, how does she feel? Describing our viewpoint character from the outside, as if seen from a distance, is the cardinal sin. We want our reader to identify with our viewpoint character.

Except when we don't. Because sometimes we won't. (To quote Dr. Seuss.)

Sometimes we don't want readers to identify with the viewpoint character too closely. Sometimes we don't want readers to like the viewpoint character at all. That's when narrative distance comes in. Terms like "he thought" instead of just typing out the character's thoughts add some distance. And distance can come in handy when we don't want readers to think that our viewpoint character is important past their one viewpoint scene. Here's an example:

Zombie Thomas Jefferson paused. Life had been full of moral dilemmas, and now death was proving just as confusing. He needed brains--oh how he needed brains. But was it right?

Zombie Thomas Jefferson lurched down the hallway of Monticello, groaning, "Brains, brains," as if he were unaware of his grand surroundings.

Both samples describe the same moment in time. If I want you to eventually root for the zombie presidents, I would use example one. If my main character is going to be chased by Zombie Thomas Jefferson in a few chapters, I would use example two.

For a fun exercise, pull a few books off your shelf and open them to random pages. Read a paragraph from each book and rate them in terms of narrative distance, from "totally inside this character's mind" to "as objective as a newspaper article." Which characters do you like the best? In a multiple viewpoint novel, look at a paragraph from a "good guy" and a paragraph from a villain. Does the narrative distance change?

No, it really is a fun exercise, I promise.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Prepare Your Pirate Talk!

2011-09-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: want to brush up on your pirate speech for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Monday? Or planning on writing a pirate-themed book soon?

If so...check out this website.

Enjoy, Mateys!

I'm Such a Floater

2011-09-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: If you're in the Chicagoland area and you're a young adult writer, librarian, or other publishing related industry type of person, come to the first ever Chicagoland Kidlit Drink night this Saturday. Details on the facebook page.

I'm such a floater. If you've ever watched Big Brother (finale was last night! Don't worry, I won't spill in case you've DVRed) a floater is the person who never really commits to one side, just bounces back and forth between the different teams in the house. And doesn't give any of the competitions their all. Because they know they can bounce back to the other side at any time.

Sigh. That's me this week. I can't commit to a project. I'm all geared up to write a new book but which one? I had started a YA before this last book that I wrote but put it aside to concentrate on said book. So it's still there, all pretty and outlined (chapter by chapter too I should add-- I spent tons of time on it). And the first three chapters are polished. I should just pick it right back up and go.

But, there's that new idea that's been nagging at me this week too. I think it would be a great hook and a fun book. But it's starting from scratch. So maybe I should hold off and go back with the one I already started.

Oh, but there's that middle grade too. I wrote a synopsis for it and it would be so cute and fun to write. And I haven't written a middle grade in awhile. I should definitely start there.

See what I mean? I've been bouncing between projects all week and can't seem to settle on one. Do you ever find that you're a floater with your writing?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

On Holiday....

2011-09-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Be back in one week!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

The art of writing the title

2011-09-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: if you read Meg Cabot's blog, you've probably read this blog entry that she re-posts every year about her experiences on the day of 9/11. If you haven't, you should go read it. It's a great summary of someone's experiences in NYC on that horrible day and how it felt waiting to hear from a loved one working near the World Trade Center. And how it's important to never forget that day and all the people that lost their lives and loved ones.

Okay...moving on to something not as serious...

After trying this attempting-to-be-published thing for a few years now, I've grown to realize just how important a good title is to selling a book.

Not only to the public. But to an agent. And to a publisher. And so on and so forth.

If you have a good title, it helps everything.

You'll get more attention with agents. The interest will build. And everyone will want to read the book.

The writing then sells it. But the title get the interest.

But if you are anything like me, you are horrible at titles. Like really bad. You can come up with decent ones, but nothing that really gets the whole body of the book summarized in a cute, concise way.

So much so that I'm tempted to come up with titles before even starting my books. And until I come up with a good title, I won't even start writing page one.

Has anyone done this? Worked from the title first. I imagine lots of people have. But usually my titles start out as "Ally's book," "untitled," or "that one where something happens." Nothing that's inspiring or relatively likely to remain the title of the book.

And then coming up with a good title after the fact is hard. I usually put down random words and try to start making combinations. There there's lots of internet searching for common phrases that having anything to do with my topic that can be modified in a cute way. And 200 potential titles later, there's still no good options. Nothing that seems to fit exactly with the book in the best way.

And so the process continues.

If you are a master title maker, please share your wisdom with us!

--Emily

How Many Obstacles Are Too Many Obstacles?

2011-09-12T10:32:00.001-07:00

Tip of the Day: Editor and writer Rhonda Stapleton has a great post up about what editors are looking for in your main character in the first three chapters. And Karen Berger at CreateWorkLive blogs here about getting rid of dead wood words in your final polish.

So here I am trying to get my characters from point A to point B, and like a good little writer, I am throwing in lots of obstacles. They've lost something important, they've gotten caught stealing, they've been tied and gagged, they've been chased. But it's obvious to me that they have to get to point B sometime, because point B is going to be an interesting place. My readers want to be at point B. How much patience are they going to have if I throw in yet another obstacle?

Because this could go on endlessly, really. Someone can twist an ankle, break a knee. They could get caught yet again. Do I keep letting them get just a little closer to point B and then yanking it out from under them? More importantly, how much of this will a reader tolerate?

I still remember trying to read Lord of the Rings. 150 pages for the hobbits to make it to the tavern to meet the wizard, and then the wizard wasn't even at the fracking tavern. I never picked up that book again.

See, the longer it takes me to get to point B, the more point B has to be Super Fantastic Awesome. But if it's too easy to get to point B, I have a boring book with no tension. How do you find the middle ground?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Random Fun Announcements

2011-09-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

If you're in the Aurora, IL area, I will be appearing with a big list of authors at the local Author Fair tomorrow, from 1-4pm. More details here.

In preparation for the release of Just Your Average Princess, I'm going to be giving away some books on Goodreads. Click here to enter to win The Espressologist. An advanced copy of Just Your Average Princess will be available on Goodreads in a day or two. Check my blog then for details.

And, if you're a book club that wants to read Just Your Average Princess and skype with me, check this blog post and if you're one of the first three, I'll send you an arc of the book asap.

Have a good weekend!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Interview with Danielle Joseph, author of PURE RED

2011-09-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: In preparation for the release of Just Your Average Princess next month, I'm going to be giving away some of my books over on goodreads. Click HERE and enter for a chance to win The Espressologist.

Today is the release for Danielle Joseph's third YA novel, PURE RED.

About the Book:

Orange is for energy, pink means love, and I, Cassia Bernard, do solemnly swear to find pure red—my passion—this summer. Dad's raison d'être is art. When he's painting, no one can reach him, not even me.

I'm giving basketball a chance. But what I really want to score this summer is the adoration of Graham Hadley—a.k.a. Cutebutt. Then when Dad agrees to mentor Graham with his art project, all of Cutebutt's attention is on Dad—leaving me feeling as colorless as the Miami sky on a rainy day. But I'm not giving up just yet.

Our Interview:

KRISTINA: What inspired Pure Red?

DANIELLE: I have loved art ever since my mom volunteered at my elementary school in the art appreciation program. I wanted to write about someone that is passionate about their art.

KRISTINA: Are there any things you must have when you're writing?

DANIELLE: When I write I like to have a cup of coffee and a comfy chair but not too comfy or I might be inclined to take a nap. I often write from my local Starbucks because there is no pile of laundry staring me down and they usually have good music in the background. I also often meet a writer friend of mine and we can bounce ideas off of each other.

KRISTINA: What advice would you give writers trying to get published?

DANIELLE: I would tell anyone that is trying to get published to never give up. You are never too old or to young to get published. Also, to be a good writer you have to be a good listener. Listen to the world around you and it will shine through in your writing.

Danielle is also running a release contest for a chance to win Pure Red on her Web site so be sure to check it out.

Hook up with Danielle at her blog, facebook, or twitter (@DanielleJoseph1).

The Honeymoon Period (or Things I Love)

2011-09-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tip of the Day: The LET'S GO travel book series is still my favorite, years after I ceased being a "student traveler."

Today is the first day of my honeymoon! I love my wonderful husband, and I love to travel, and I love Europe. Good times are ahead!

This is also the first day of my honeymoon period with my WIP. I have finished the first draft of the whole book, and sent off my polished opening chapters and outline to my agent to see what she thinks. I will be away from my novel and loving it, not seeing its flaws or anything. :)

I'll check back in a few weeks!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing