Living on the Edge

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!)

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...

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

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...

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

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*)

*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