Awesome looking books of 2011

Tip of the Day: Don’t forget to comment here to be entered into our Sarah Dessen giveaway. Lots of awesome books to win, all by one of my favorite authors!

I have to admit that I'm not really on the up-and-up with what's new this year. Luckily someone on goodreads made a list of upcoming YA books. Here's what looks good to me (and I have to say there is an awful lot of supernatural books. It was like trying to play hide and seek to find anything else.):

Abandon by Meg Cabot (April 2011):
Not only am I a sucker for a book with filigree on the cover I also enjoy all of Meg’s books (which should be well documented in this blog). This one I’m particularly excited about, since it’s a supernatural YA. One of my favorite series by her is the Mediator series. This new trilogy sounds similar in tone and appeal and may have even more darkness and edge. Whoo hoo. Plus, it involves the Myth of Persephone. Pretty much sounds like a winner!

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (May 2011):
Continuing on with the theme of some of my favorite authors and delightful book covers, I’m really looking forward to Sarah Dessen’s new book. It also has an adorable cover with an awesome yellow suitcase that I’d love to have a replica of. Sounds like traditional Dessen at its best with the main character finding herself and falling in love along the way. The main character’s name is Mclean, which has to be one of my favorite Dessen names.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir (January 2011):
Since I haven’t really been keeping up with what’s new, I don’t really know much about this book. But it’s about a high school student who discovers a diary that takes her back in time to 1910. Sounds very interesting, involving an old mansion and family secrets.

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman (February 2011):
Mainly looking forward to this book, since the title makes me laugh, and it’s about a girl going undercover at an all-boys boarding school. Sounds interesting.

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt (March 2011):
Love Lindsey’s blog and always thought this book sounded really interesting and funny, with a girl concentrating on a guy’s head to harness her emotions when she discovers her dad has multiple sclerosis. Very excited it’s available soon!

And of course I’m looking forward to The Day Before (June 2011) by Lisa Schroeder and Just Your Average Princess (fall 2011) by Kristina Springer (which doesn't have a finalized cover yet, but I'm super excited to see)! We really do have wonderful talent, past and present, here at A2A. Keep up the good work ladies!

--Emily

I Can't Wait to Read You!

Tip of the Day: Go Jets! Celebrate your favorite occasions (like the Jets winning the playoffs) with a Bellini: champagne and peach nectar.

2011 looks to be a fantastic year for novels, and I love to get recommendations. There are a few novels I'm especially anticipating:

THE WATERLOO PLOT by Marissa Doyle. I stayed up all night reading THE BEWITCHING SEASON and then stayed up another night reading THE BETRAYING SEASON. THE WATERLOO PLOT takes place in the same world, and I'll be running out to read it as soon as it's released. These Victorian historicals are packed with romance and magic.

THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder. I love Lisa's books and I love novels in verse. The description for THE DAY BEFORE sounds like a novel I'll devour: Amber and Cade set out to spend the perfect day together, but as Amber falls for Cade, she realizes he's living like each moment is his last.

SOMETHING LIKE HOPE by Shawn Goodman. I met Shawn at a SCBWI retreat and was privileged to hear some of this novel while it was a work in progress. Then it won the Delacorte YA award! In this novel, Shavonne struggles to redeem herself in a large juvenile lockup hundreds of miles from home. And we have an interview with Shawn coming up here at Author2Author later this month!

Speaking of novels I want to read, don't forget there's still time to enter our Sarah Dessen giveaway. Click here to enter to win three Sarah Dessen novels. Awesome.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Fun Friday: Sarah Dessen Giveaway!

It’s our first Fun Friday and we’re celebrating by giving away the Sarah Dessen Deluxe Gift Set! It retails for $29.99 and includes three highly acclaimed novels by Sarah: Lock and Key, Someone Like You, and Keeping the Moon. It also includes a key pendant inspired by Lock and Key and a special message from Sarah herself. And it comes in a collectible jewelry box with hinged top! So freaking cute!

Comment on this post for a shot to win this awesome gift set. Mention that you became an A2A follower for an extra entry. Blog, facebook, and/or tweet about this giveaway (and tell us where) for bonus entries. Please note, we can only ship to the US and entries must be received by midnight EST, Thursday, January 13th. Winner will be posted next Friday the 14^th.

And remember to check in each Friday for various fun posts! Lots of guest bloggers, interviews, giveaways, and fun to come in 2011!

Happy 2011!

Tip of the day: Want to check out my 2010 overview of my writing year? Click here.

Happy New Year! So far mine has been off to a great start and I hope yours has too. I'm determined to have an awesome year and to begin with there will be no resolutions! I'm giving myself the year off. Oh sure, I've got stuff to do. But I'm not going to outline it in a list so I can beat myself up next New Year's Eve. I know some of you drink champagne and watch the ball drop on New Years. Me, I look at the list from the previous year and tick off what I got done and what I didn't. And then I'm annoyed because the didn't list is always longer. So nope, no list this year! This year I'm just going to keep trucking on ahead and do what I can.

I like how Kate has a word and Em has a motto for the year. Mine is going to be "Don't Give Up." A lot of times I want to give up on things when they seem way too hard. Like trying to get an agent or get published was but then I did those things. And even now, when I look at what I have to do and the deadlines for various projects I sometimes feel so overwhelmed that I just want to do nothing. So I need to stop that. I'm going to work on knocking off the deer in headlights approach and just give each project my best.

Look at the 2000 glasses creators. You know the ones that had those nifty New Year's Eve glasses from 2000-2009.

Brilliant how to 00s were always perfect to look through right? And then when 2010 was about to hit I fretted, what will they do? There are no 00s to look through! But they pulled it off.

Clever right? Then here comes 2011 and I think ok, this is it. They're definitely done with the NYE glasses. You couldn't possibly look out of a 2011. I wondered what people would wear on their faces at NYE parties and how many NYE party glasses companies would be going out of business. But did they give up? Nope. They came up with the glasses AGAIN!

Ok, yeah. They're ugly. I agree. But people wore them and that's what's counts. And the companies that make these silly things make it another year. So see? If they can keep making these stupid glasses then we can all do anything we put our minds to! And I WILL get all of my writing projects done in 2011. Books will get written, revised, edited, and polished! Whoo hoo! Happy 2011!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Visions of Success For 2011 (or "Is This a Vision in My Mind?"*)

*With apologies to Stevie Wonder

Tip of the Day: I read 177 books this year. Want to see my favorite three? Click on my LiveJournal link.

Happy 2011, Readers! Hope your New Year has kicked off right. I'm glad to have survived the shortest day of the year and am happy to be back posting on A2A! It also means that the publishing peeps in NYC are coming back to work!

We're talking about our writerly visions for 2011. Some of you may recall my completely failed and derailed goals from last year. Um, yeah, new approach this year:

1. First, to be literal, I am envisioning myself:

a. writing with excitement and enjoyment every time I sit down in front of Word, and
b. being able to write harder books with new skills (for the YA with alternating time period chaps, and the YA with two first-person povs I've got percolating).

2. I'm visualizing my YA PfF going out into editor world, and I'm hoping that editors will love reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

3. I'd like my labor of love YA, SDT, that I worked on at the Falling Leaves Retreat in November, to reach the point where it's ready for the light of editor world.

(Hey, I can't be Miss Subbing for Pubbing without putting it out there for this (3.) and (2.) above!)

4. I have a vision of preparing two YA book proposals for my agent (the ones alluded to in (1.a.) above).

5. For A2A, I see weeks of fun post, collaboration with my writing peeps, and all new interviews and guest posts -- another great year!

6. I'd like to read 200 books in 2011, but with an impending wedding and honeymoon to plan and attend, I won't be too sad if I don't reach it again this year. :)

Anyone else planning a wedding on top of writing and working this year? ;-)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Emily decides to go with the flow

Tip of the Day: hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year!

For the past two years the new year has felt like a new beginning. Big things seemed to be in store; so much so that I could almost feel it in my bones. The anticipation of the year kicked off in January with a bang. At the time, I had thought some of it might be writing related. But in actuality much of it had to do with changes in my personal life, two big moves, a new job, turning the big 3-0, and lots of other fun stuff.

But this year? To be honest, I kind of didn’t realize it was the New Year. Sure I watched the ball drop in Time Square on TV like I do every year, but this year hasn’t really felt different at all yet. It is only January 4. So maybe this year has just been slow to start. We’ll see.

I’ve never been one to make formal New Year’s resolutions, mainly because in my personal life I’m not much of a planner. Instead, I’ve had things I’d like to accomplish throughout the year and a general game plan in the back of my head of how to get there. Writing-wise I might even have a general to-do list, but not really formal resolutions. This year is no exception.

I love Kate’s idea of having a word for the year. Going off of the only word I can think of for the year is to go with the flow. So I guess that’s four words for me this year.

I’d love to finally finish one of the books I’ve been working on and actually submit it. I don’t even want to look at the calendar and try to figure out how long it’s been since I’ve submitting anything to agents (definitely haven’t lived up to my Miss Querylicious name in the past two years). Writing has definitely taken a back seat in my life while I’m pursuing other hobbies and furthering my other career. However, it’s still important to me, and for that reason I would like to move forward a little this year. Continue to grow in my writing and continue to find enjoyment out of it.

I also wish for world peace and a wonderful vacation this year, but somehow I don’t think resolutions are supposed to work like wishes (or are they?).

But I guess that’s the fun part of starting a new year, in that you have the choice to do whatever you want and put the work in to make your dreams become a reality.

I love that with life you often aren’t finished with anything and how often the journey is just as important as the destination. When I started writing five years ago (wow, has it been that long?), I never imagined I would still be writing just for the fun of it, with no book contract or anything. It’s not how I would have planned it, but it’s been a fun journey nonetheless and I wouldn’t change it. Otherwise it wouldn’t be my journey.

Good luck in the new year to all of those with resolutions, goals to accomplish, books to write, and for those of us just going with the flow and trying to find enjoyment out of life.

Emily, Miss "To Be Determined"

Revamps and Reboots: Get Ready for 2011!

Tip of the Day: How did you celebrate the New Year? I watch SyFy's Twilight Zone marathon every year for some of the best writing (and most memorable plot twists) on television.

We're starting out 2011 with a new look and a new format here at Author2Author. We're very excited about our new ideas for Fun Fridays. Every Friday, we'll have a guest blogger, or an interview, or something fresh, fun, and different! And we're starting off this Friday with a BANG with a Sarah Dessen giveaway, so be sure to "tune in" this week for more details.

What else is in store for 2011? Personally, I've been facing some challenges in my family life, my career, and my writing life. I don't make resolutions, but I pick a word for the year. This year, the word I've chosen as my 2011 guide is "self-confidence."

In 2010, I chose "love" and that worked out well. I spent a lot of time with my husband and children and did my best to keep those relationships strong. How will self-confidence shake out? With more self-confidence, will I take more risks, send out more writing to agents and editors, and believe that I can be a writer? Hey, how do you get this magic "self-confidence" anyway?

I like this quote from A Year of Creativity by Brenda Mallon: "Celebrate the fact that the health, looks, and personality that you inherited have sustained you until now and have given you joy."

2011 will be a year like no other. I've never felt so much like I'm starting over. I hope you'll join us as we continue our journeys as writers--a journey that never ends.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages