Welcome to Teaser Week!

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

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!!

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)

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

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!

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

I love this!