Guest Post by Katherine Easer Author of Vicious Little Darlings

DISCOVERING SARAH

by Katherine Easer

Before I began writing Vicious Little Darlings, I thought I had a pretty good idea of who my narrator was. Her name was Sarah Weaver, and she was a brown-eyed, raven-haired seventeen-year-old from California. I knew Sarah’s religious beliefs, past experiences, fears, weaknesses, and talents. I even knew her thoughts on Justin Timberlake. Feeling fairly prepared, I began to write.

Thirty pages into my first draft, I realized I didn’t know Sarah at all. The pages were lifeless; her voice was flat. Sarah said what I wanted her to say, and she did what the plot required her to do, but she didn’t feel like a real person. She existed solely in the left hemisphere of my brain—though I didn’t know that at the time—and hadn’t yet come to life. I threw away my pages and spent the rest of the day trying to get to know her. Frantic brainstorming ensued. I interviewed Sarah, free wrote, drank a lot of coffee, free wrote some more. Still, she eluded me. Maybe what I needed was to relax, I thought, and to let my mind wander. I ran a bath. I lit candles and waited for inspiration to strike. Nothing happened. Frustrated, I decided to sit at my desk and try writing again, but three dull paragraphs and an hour later, I was exhausted. It was midnight, and I needed sleep.

When my head hit the pillow, a strange and magical thing occurred. I heard a voice in my head. It was a voice I didn’t recognize, but I knew that it belonged to Sarah. Though I had heard about this kind of thing from other writers, I’d never experienced it firsthand. My subconscious was now engaged, and Sarah, in her own words, was telling me about her life. She was sassy, snarky, and a little bit angry, and she wouldn’t stop talking. I turned on the light and wrote down everything she said.

Writing didn’t exactly become easy after that, but it became easier. I realized that it was when I stopped trying to define, control, judge, or even think about Sarah that she sprang to life. I learned that I didn’t have to force the writing; I just had to let go and trust my narrator. And when I did that, interesting things began to happen. --Katherine Easer

Katherine Easer is the author of Vicious Little Darlings. You can visit her at: http://www.katherineeaser.com/

THANK YOU Katherine for a brilliant guest post. Those are exactly the kinds of stories readers want to know. I wish you much success on the books release!

Be Sure and check out Katherine's novel VICIOUS LITTLE DARLINGS (Hits shelves June 21st 2011). It's one of my favorite novels this year! Put this one down on your to be read list IMMEDIATELY. You can read my review ->HERE<- and see how I gushed away about it even before I knew how awesome the author was. ;)

Monday Guest Blogging Post: Helene Boudreau of Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

Today on GotYA's Monday Guest Blogging segment, we have the lovely and talented, Helene Boudreau. She penned the ultra cool Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings!!


Cake and Books!

Probably two of my favourite things!

So it’s no wonder I was such a happy camper when one of my best pallies, Kathi of Sugar Honey Tea Cakes, offered to make a cake for my recent book launch of Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings.

Cake and books all in one place! Heaven…

Kathi had made me a cupcake bouquet for my birthday once, which is just the tip of the icing of her immense talent so I was REALLY looking forward to seeing what she’d come up with for my book launch.

The cake was to be a surprise (and what a sweet surprise it was) but afterward, Kathi shared her Cakerator secrets with me and guess what? I’ve come to realise that cake and books, and the creation of both, actually have a lot in common.



Her process for developing and executing her cake ideas are very similar to the way I write novels.



Observe…



Kathi begins her cakes with a list of ideas:

Kathi’s ideas are well organized and coherent.

I begin my books with a list of ideas:

My ideas are rambly, incoherent and written on the back of grocery lists. Apparently we needed hotdogs and a zebra shirt that day.

Kathi outlines her idea in a beautifully detailed sketch:

I also outline my book idea, but in a 9-step process, which I describe HERE.


And I get my 8 year-old to draw me a beautifully detailed sketch (of the setting of the book in this case).

Finally, Kathi applies her keen Cakerator skills:

And she works her magic to transform her initial idea into a work of art.



I look at my initial notes:





And can’t read my own handwriting, then I stare at my outline and wonder what the heck was I thinking. Then I start writing, and writing, and writing…

And, unlike Kathi, I’m not above using child labour to meet my deadlines.



(Okay. I guess this is where our cake-making and novel-writing paths diverge a bit…)

Kathi adds amazingly nuanced details, bringing the cake to life:

While I complete my 912th revision, hopefully adding amazingly nuanced details, bringing my book to life. (Well…that’s the plan anyway…)

So, there you have it!






Cake and books. Books and cake. It’s like they were made for one another.

Hélène Boudreau is the author of Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings. She’s never spotted a real mermaid in the wild but the writer in her thinks they are just as plausible as seahorses, flying fish and electric eels.

In a fun promotion, Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky is offering signed Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings bookplates with proof of purchase. More info HERE.

*You can find Hélène on Twitter, Facebook and on her Website.

Monday Guest Blogging: The Lovely & Talented Cory Jackson on Writer Friendships

Today GotYA is thrilled to have Cory Jackson with us today. Cory is a YA writer repped by Laura Bradford.


Friend of Writers

It’s not enough to Follow Friday them. It’s certainly not enough to give them a virtual pat on the back. Your friends have listened to you expound loudly and frequently on the hardships of publishing. They’ve commiserated when you didn’t hear back from that agent/editor like you wanted. They’ve talked you through plot problems and talked you into writing that story you weren’t sure about and talked you out of quitting when you thought you couldn’t keep on.

That’s an awful lot of talking and even more love. Especially if those Friends are not part of the publishing insanity. So have you thanked them lately for putting up with you?

Here are a few tips for giving back.

1. Send a handwritten note to say thank you, love you, or just thinking of you. We send dozens of emails a day and trade as many tweets. These things can’t possibly replace how it feels to open up the mailbox and see physical proof that someone cares about you.

2. Try not talking about your writing during a visit. If you are like me, you tend to obsess about your work. Maybe make it a point to share time with a friend when you don’t talk about writing, publishing, or any variance of either.

3. Buy your friend a coffee or a candy bar when they aren’t expecting it. People like to know you are thinking of them when you’re not together. Pick up their favorite treat and you’ll earn a smile.

4. Send an ecard for no reason at all. Don’t wait for an occasion to celebrate your friend. Ecards are a free, easy way to let your friend know you care.

5. Call. Has it been a while since you called for no reason at all? Try it. Let them know how much you appreciate them going on this journey with you.

And finally, when you get that deal, don’t forget who sat in the trenches with you, from eating ice cream in your flannel pajamas while watching Spongebob to celebrating that first big phone call from an agent/editor. Remember them, and appreciate how they jumped up and down with you when you got the news and didn’t act surprised in the least because they believed in you all along. And then send them another thank you.

*off to send an ecard to the Got YA ladies to thank them for having me*

Cory Jackson
corrinelj@gmail.com
www.corrinejackson.com

GUEST POST - Boys on Boys - Males Writing YA

(Our thanks to Ryan Sullivan for this thoughtful post!)

I’m in a strange place for a YA writer. I’m barely 21, so I myself am not that far out of my teens. I’m technically an adult by any standard, but at the same time, I still identify with, relate to, and feel a connection to teen culture. I grew up reading the books that are still current enough that they’re used to place my book in the market for submission. I read Looking for Alaska by John Green as a sophomore in high school, and Paper Towns my senior year, the week it came out. At the same time, I’m a writer on submission and I’m constantly immersing myself with the market and industry. So my views are shaped by this duality.




Men Writing YA



In the industry, there’s been huge debate of boys reading. One offshoot of this is that I’ve seen writers talk about the fact that boys aren’t reading male-POV books written by females. At first, I did think this was a bad thing. But, while talking about authorship in a discussion of a literary theory piece, I began to think about authorship and why boys might feel uncomfortable in this way. Children’s books have the distinct quality that they often provide a sort of counsel for adolescents who are confused about their world and what’s going on in it. Teens are constantly experiencing things for the first time, or that they aren’t very experienced with. The books they read have to reflect and capture that. But, a teen might feel like they wouldn’t get the type of counsel they would need from an author of a different gender.



Now, I don’t necessarily think the writer’s gender should matter, but I often can tell a writer’s gender through the details. An emotion may be the same across genders, but there are certain experiences a writer of a different gender just may not be able to do justice--experiences that teens need to see in at least a portion of the books they read. I, for example couldn’t (and wouldn’t) write about menstruation. I could look it up, or read about it, but I could never document that experience from a place of primary experience authenticity. “Boy” books written by women are no worse or better than those written by men, but they require a certain trust from a male teen reader--a trust that comes from reading books that they connect with (and often the books that they will seek out to connect with will be from writers of their own gender)--as well as coming with the expectation that certain things won’t be there. So, a boy might turn to a male author if they’re looking (consciously or subconsciously) for guidance. My hands-down favorite YA book is Ordinary Ghosts by Eireann Corrigan--a female writer who created a “boy” book that’s incredibly convincing and authentic. Boys definitely should be reading books written by females. But, to get there, they need to find books they can connect with, writers who document the experiences they deal with, and they will often look for those within the work of male writers.



Boys Reading YA



This is a strange concept to me--being a male writer of teen “boy” books. I’ve never been the most masculine person. I’m not into sports, cars, or any of those things. So being thought of as a male writer, writing for boys, with a male agent, who has many successful male writers, who write for boys, is a weird. But then again, it’s not. I may not fit the stereotype, but I can still speak from a place boys can connect with. I share their experience, regardless of our differences. Also, like many boys today, I was a reluctant reader. I was (and am) a slow reader. If you’d have told me five, or even three years ago that I would be a literature major, I would have laughed. But I found the right books. I found authors who I believed, authors who I respected and trusted. And now I feel that responsibility to uphold that tradition of honesty and authenticity that made me become a reader and a writer. But, regardless of authors’ genders, boys still aren’t reading.



One major problem in a tight market is that books begin to trend in a way that appeals to the broadest (and most profitable) audience. It makes sense--you can’t hold it against the publishers. And this isn’t to say they aren’t good quality, or that non-trend books aren’t being published--it’s just tighter. Unfortunately, the consequences of playing to a strength in the market is that we lose readers, most often the reluctant readers that need the most attention. Now, personally, I see boys buying books all the time. I don’t think the boys are doomed not to be readers. What I do think, though, is that YA literature has left them behind. The books we see becoming successful and the books we see turning into movies or TV shows are not books that boys are into. Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Twilight--they’re just not books boys are reading. Because of this, they get altered perceptions of what’s out there, which isn’t appealing to them, so they stop reading.



The Future of Boys Reading YA



All that said, I think the market is moving in the right direction. I would predict that in the next decade, we’ll see an increase in male readership of YA. Here’s why:



First, middle grade boy books are amazing right now. The market for them seems strong, the writing is terrific and there’s still interest in publishing them. I have a ten year old nephew who reads a lot, so I’ve seen first hand how when a book pulls him in, he’ll read it lightening fast. With books like the Wimpy Kid series, MG boys are definitely finding outlets, books that they can understand and authors they feel understood them. This creates strong readers as they move into YA.



Second, older “cool” guys are starting to find their way into reading. I’m talking the 20’s frat guys. With the rising popularity and population of “fratire” like I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, guys in their 20’s and 30’s are going to find themselves pulled into reading more and more. Having “cool guy” writers like Tucker Max makes reading more acceptable amongst guys. I think this will have a top-down effect. As older guys start reading, younger boys will begin to see that it’s okay to read, that it doesn’t have to be something that affects your masculinity or take time away from “boy” things. And you can see where YA and fratire are intersecting--books like Spanking Shakespeare are teen versions of the genre. Now, I know that the genre of fratire has scores of issues surrounding sexism and objectification--and I’m certainly not rubber stamping it or condoning it--but that’s another discussion for another time.



But, this does mean that there will need to be YA boy books for them when they get there. And there will be. We already have great books from the male perspective. We have great writers right now like John Green, James Dashner, Frank Portman, Scott Westerfeld, Ben Esch, Ned Vizzini and Stephen Edmond--and hopefully many more in the future. What’s also important is that these authors are working within what’s “cool.” Frank Portman’s music references and modern wit will definitely appeal to a certain type of teen that might not be your typical boy reader. Stephen Edmond’s graphic-novel influence will also reach out to new readers. (And so on.) As the market expands it’s outreach, while other markets grow in strength, boys will read more.



A Final Word



It just takes one book to change somebody’s life. I was an accidental reader. I don’t remember how, but I found out about a new (at the time) imprint of scholastic books called PUSH. It was summer, and we were at a big Borders, and the only PUSH book I saw (because they have distinct and matching formatted covers) was You Remind Me of You by Eireann Corrigan. I bought it, because the promise of PUSH books being “just like life” appealed to me. Even though I have very little in common with an anorexic teenage girl, it was the first book that made me feel connected to the author. The emotional honesty that Eireann’s writing has transcends gender and experience--and that’s what we need, as YA writers. Beyond gender or experience, we need pure, authentic emotional honesty. It’s a trust. Teens trust us to be honest. We owe them that much.



I encourage everyone to promote literacy--not just among boys, but among all children. Non-profit organizations like 826, To Write Love on Her Arms, Write Now Poets and the many others out there are terrific ways to do so. Get involved, and take a stand. Kids will read, they just need to find the book that will change their life. And they may need a little help to do so.


For more information about boys reading, please check out guysread.com

Visit Ryan at  www.ryansullivanbooks.com .

Monday Guest Blogging: Writing Meets Field Hockey

Today on our Monday Guest Blogging segment we have the lovely, Sarah Enni.

This is my second year umpiring high school women's field hockey, and my second year seriously pursuing writing. The two activities don't have the most obvious connection but I've found that a surprising amount of principles apply to both.

Do it for the right reasons. For some people, being an umpire is just one big power trip. These umpires are territorial, abrasive, and unbearably self-important. Needless to say, no one likes to work with them. Some writers are only in it to create the next Twilight (should be easy, right?) and rake in the dough. Odds are, their motivation (greed) will shine through, and no one will want to represent them or their work - or talk to them at dinner parties.

Be confident. When you're refereeing, you're the one making the call. It's intimidating, because you WILL make mistakes, but you have to call what you see and stand behind it (even when coaches and players enthusiastically disagree). As a writer, you have to stand behind what you create. It may not be perfect, but it's yours. Own it.

But don't be overconfident. Sometimes you make the wrong call. If you recognize it in time, fix it. Be mature enough to admit when you make a mistake. Writers have to be able to take critique. Though you may feel that Alpha readers, Beta readers, agents and editors are ripping the still-beating heart out of your manuscript, understand that they are trying to help you. Take their advice seriously -- don't blow it off! In the end it will be your name on the book, but those acknowledgment pages are long for a reason.

Every game is different. A huge number of factors -- grass or turf; private school or public; nice weather or bad -- will influence each game. You should never go into a game with any expectations based on prior experience, or else you may inadvertently affect the outcome. Each time you sit down with a new manuscript, it's a blank slate/notebook paper/computer screen. The variables -- genre; setting; point of view; gender of main character; amount of chocolate you've just eaten -- are likely to be completely different. Each new project will present its own set of challenges.

You can always, ALWAYS, get better. Umpires always have the opportunity to improve their skills and move up, from apprentice to veteran, high school to college, U.S. to international hockey. It takes dedication and the willingness to learn from your mistakes. Each time you finish a manuscript you've grown and become a better writer, with new and different skills. Every aspiring writer could get published if they worked hard enough and long enough. I truly believe that.

Sarah Enni
www.sarahenni.com

Thank you so much Sarah for guest blogging with us!

Monday Guest Blogging Post: The Fabulous Janice Hardy

Today on GotYA's Monday Guest Blog segment we have the fabulous Janice Hardy. I had the extreme honor and pleasure of meeting Janice on Saturday at a book signing for Blue Fire. She was approachable and friendly, and I'm so thrilled I got to meet her in person. Truthfully, I'm not really surprised to find her so nice in person since she's been that way since I met her. When I first started out on AbsoluteWrite, Janice was kind enough to review my YAUF query....several times! For the release of The Shifter, Janice held a contest on her blog where you could win an ARC for the best "why did the chicken cross the road" joke. I won with my education inspired "Why did the chicken cross the basketball court? Because the Ref was calling 'fowls'!"

On the biography front, Janice is a long-time fantasy reader. She always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, and BLUE FIRE from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel.

Are these FANTASTIC covers or what? Just GORGEOUS!

Unrequited Writing Love
I’m a fantasy writer, with a little science fiction thrown in. All the stories that come to me have some kind of speculative element. As much as I love these kinds of tales (I wouldn’t write them if I didn’t), I also love stories set in the real world with real problems. Dark problems really, tragic ones that I hope no one I care about ever has to go through, but I love reading about them. I’ve tried to write stories like those, and failed miserably.

We’ve all heard it. “Write what you love.” But what do you do when what you love doesn’t love you back?

Identify what you love about those stories
It isn’t the real world aspect that keeps me up late reading about a dying boy. It’s how he deals with his inevitable death and what he does with the time he has left. I realized I like stories about people facing horrific problems and handling them best they could. So when I plan a story, I think about the things I can do that tap into that idea. In my fantasy novel, The Shifter, I used the idea of losing your family and being forced to do terrible things to save the only family member you had left. In the sequel, Blue Fire, it was having to work with the people who killed that family. Survival in the face of tragedy and rising above that. I may have done it differently than my favorite real world writers, but I tried to create that same feeling I get when I read those stories.

Steal ideas. After all, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?
Naturally you don’t steal real ideas (that would be wrong), but if you love a concept, think about ways to apply that concept to your genre. If you’re drawn to tales of forbidden love, but you write techno-thrillers, looks at ways that forbidden love can affect the terrorist plot you’re working on. Make it more than just a subplot between the hunky hero and the sexy scientist he goes to for help. Make it thematic and let it influence the entire story.

Think outside the book
Every genre has its own tropes (common themes and ideas), but don’t be afraid to think outside of those. All fantasy must have magic? What if it didn’t? What if your fantasy story captured the feel of a historical novel? Westerns need to take place in the Old West? That didn’t stop Star Trek or Firefly. Both TV shows used the “trek into the wild frontier” idea and applied it to science fiction. Just because a genre usually has certain elements doesn’t mean you have to use them all. Maintain the essence of that genre (you can’t have a murder mystery with no murder, for example) and you can do pretty much anything you want. I did this with magic in my books. Instead of traditional fireballs and lightning spells, I made healing something dangerous, something that could kill.

Be true to your story
No matter how much you love one type of story, if it doesn’t work with the idea you have brewing, don’t force it. But that doesn’t mean you have to give it up entirely. If that forbidden romance will feel contrived, see if a forbidden friendship would work better. If there are no terminal illnesses in your sci fi world, then look at things that come to an inevitable end. The “death” doesn’t have to be literal. Concepts can be applied to anything, so find the concept that inspires you and see how that can enhance your story.

A little creative thinking can help you take the themes and ideas you love to read, and apply them to the stories you love to write.

Blue Fire Blurb
Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.

Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Link to Blue Fire Online Retailers
http://www.harpercollins.com/book/pre-order.aspx?isbn13=9780061747410

Website
www.janicehardy.com

The Other Side of the Story Blog
http://storyflip.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much, Janice, for guest blogging with us. I can't wait to snuggle up my coveted autographed copy of Blue Fire!!!

Monday Guest Blogging Post

Today on our Guest Blog segment, we have the lovely Regan Leigh.

Why Adult Women Connect with Young Adult Books

It's been obvious for a while that young adult books don't just appeal to teens. Adults are often seen reading and discussing young adult books -- and it's not just adult YA writers. ;)

I was thinking about this recently in terms of why YA books specifically connect so well with adult women. Why do we want to read about teenage girls when so many of us would never want to return to that confusing and sometimes painful period in our lives? What do adult women get out of teen angst and high school settings and how do they relate to teen girls today? Better yet, what do we -- the collective adult female writers -- feel we can share with today's teens? I'll list a few answers that came to mind for me.

- Why do we want to read about teenage girls?

1) We've been there. We know what girls that age are experiencing, which makes it easier to connect with the main character and root for them from the beginning.

2) It's always fun to read from a perspective of a character that does things far differently than we did as a teen. It's like reliving that age and testing new limits without actually having to do it ourselves.

3) Escapism. Have adult responsibilities you need to take care of? Bah. Take a break for an hour and go back to a time where there were no bills, taxes, jobs, or crying children. (At least not our own. ;))

- What do adult women get out of teen angst and high school settings and how do they relate to teen girls today?

1) Water cooler, anyone? Work settings are often just an older version of a high school situation. Cliques are formed, outfits picked apart, and friend building hierarchies can even effect your promotions and job status. (Well, I personally don't work in this type of setting, but I have many friends that do.) We still know what it's like to get THE look from another woman, sizing us up with their eyes in a way that makes us self-conscious or angry.

2) Sometimes we actually -- gasp -- enjoyed that time period of our life. Reading YA can bring back funny or bittersweet moments in seconds. The associations can be almost as insightful as a high school reunion. But more enjoyable. ;)

3) What do we have in common with teen girls today? Acne. Periods. Fights with friends. Family stress. (Um, I could go on. Sorry you younger gals, but those things still exist past 18. ;))


- Better yet, what can we -- the collective adult female writers -- share with today's teens?

*I think these answers are very individual for each writer, but I'll give my two cents.*

1) Hope. :D There is life after the crazy and exhausting teen years and there are so many things young girls have to look forward to.

2) A positive female example. I'm not a writer who insists books have to teach a lesson, but be cognizant of the example you may be giving without even realizing it. And why not try and create a character or situation that can inspire or strengthen?

3) Understanding. The biggest help you can give anyone is to show a willingness and desire to know and understand them. Be authentic and real in your writing. Show the reader you care about their lives and struggles. Show them you get it and that they aren't alone.

So what do you think? Care to weigh in on these thoughts I've been having while dodging my work in progress edits? ;)

Guest Blogging Monday: Jill Wheeler and Wow aka World of Warcraft

Today is the inaugral post of our new Monday Guest Blogging segment. We have the lovely Jill Wheeler as our guest blogger. Jill is a YA writer repped by Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary.

The first time I played WoW, I completely lost. I rolled an undead warlock (Azarelia) with blue hair, saggy boobs and spent hours hours wandering around Brill, randomly pushing buttons and hoping that would be enough to kill the giant spiders and wolves that roamed the land. My brother gave me one gold, and I thought I was the richest person in the world. I bought all the crappy green gear from the local merchants, not knowing there was an auction hall with much better stuff for more reasonable prices.

That paragraph probably didn't make sense to you if you've never played WoW, but that's okay because that's how I felt at the time--totally clueless.

I was much the same way the first time I tried NaNoWriMo in 2007. Though I had a pretty good premise in mind(well, a kind of generic premise if you count how many stories are out now with dead protagonists), I had no idea how to begin. My story began with the alarm clock going off and my main character getting ready for school. Yes, you guess it---she looked in the mirror as she got ready, which gave me time to describe her physical appearance.

The book didn't get much better after that. I had no idea how to craft a story, which scenes to skip, how to work in necessary details by slipping them in like medicine with the meat. I skipped around, choosing the best scenes to work on, figuring I'd go back later and bridge the gaps. I wrote endless snore-worthy scenes about characters making sandwiches, one that even my mother couldn't make sense of.

The thing that kept me going, though, was the word count function. Just as WoW addicted me with the constant progression toward the next level, my word count kept building to the magic 50K point. What I didn't know what that, by simply grinding my way to the next level, I was doing very little to develop my skill. In WoW, I was able to reach level 80 simply by repeatedly killing the same pathetic dinosaurs. Similarly with my novel, I was able to reach the 50K point, write a quick ending, and proclaim my done-ness. Whee! I wrote a novel!

Yes, I wrote a novel. And I'd write more novels, very quickly, some that actually kept people turning the pages to find out what happened next. But just because I reached the designated end point didn't mean I was finished. I read articles about revising and learned to print off my stuff, read it aloud, and slash words and paragraphs that didn't sound right.

What I didn't learn was that every story needs to be revised differently. Reading my novel out loud and slashing confusing sentences wouldn't more fully develop character and theme. And it wouldnt' strengthen the mystery element by making sure the clues all built toward a logical but unforseen conclusion.

In WoW, you have to play with a group to get the full experience. Everyone plays a role, whether it's a tank, healter, or DPS. And then, you all descend into the dungeon together, to stand strong against the boss. My beta readers and agent have become my team members in this novel writing business. They point out the weak areas in my manuscript, enabling me to improve my story 1000%. (Thank you, Sarah, and my lovely, lovely beta readers! I love you!)

As I complete my final pass of SLIDE, I envision myself loading my manuscript up with the best, fully enhanced gear I have. The challenge of submission will be the highest level i've reached yet, but I have the faith in my team. Together we can achieve anything.

Thank you so much, Jill, for taking the time to blog with us!!!

Guest Blog: Going to the Movies

Our esteemed guest blogger and Do the Right Thing for Nashville winner, Melissa Hill, has another awesome post for us.

I used to think movie adaptations ruined the book. In fact, if there was a book I really enjoyed, I avoided the movie because I was sure I would hate it. That changed about six years ago. I was flipping through the channels and came across this movie about a boy who found out he was a wizard. It was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (maybe you’ve heard of it???).

Anyway, I was so impressed with the movie; it inspired me to buy the book. Not only the first book, but all five that were out at the time. Every time another Harry Potter movie comes out, it inspires me to go back and read the book.

When the movie version is done well, it can enhance the experience of the book bringing to life the characters we love. How perfect is Alan Rickman as Severus Snape? Our imaginations can only go so far with setting and scenery. But on the screen, it is taken to another level. The eye of Sauron was truly frightening. And it is nice to have someone pronounce all of the crazy names that Tolkien wrote (which I no doubt butchered while reading The Lord of the Rings).

I think the key to being done well, is remaining true to the story. Don’t cut key scenes or change the ending. This is why The Firm didn’t work for me. The most exciting part of the book was left out and then ending changed. Don’t alter dialog too much. Writers spend time getting the dialog right. Why change it? When key scenes or dialog are not used, it makes the movie feel like a cheap, knock-off of the real thing. Sorry to all of you Twilight fans, but that is how the movie felt to me (New Moon was much better). Bella finds out the truth about Edward by reading a book instead of Jacob telling her the story. And the whole scene where Edward is essentially screaming at Bella to call him a vampire didn’t work for me. I enjoyed the car ride scene in the book much better.

One of the best film adaptations I have seen is the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth). It is long (300 minutes), but totally worth every minute.

You guys tell me—best/worst movie adaptations?

5-Minute Book Club

Our book pick this month is Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. You seriously have to click on her name to go to her site just to see the cow. I love it!

This is what it's about:

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard–falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High… until vicious rumors about her and her best friend’s boyfriend start going around. Now Regina’s been “frozen out” and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn’t come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend… if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don’t break them both first…

This is what we have to say:

Kathleen:

At first, I was very disappointed. I made it to page 152 before realizing that there would be no werewolves in this book. Total bummer. Everyone knows that werewolves are the cherries on top of the ice cream.

Despite the disturbing lack of werewolves, Courtney Summers again manages to prove that she’s one of the most exciting contemporary YA writers in, well, ever. I loved her use of present tense, I loved her voice, I loved page 111 which had just a single sentence. And I especially loved Michael. There are three writers who make me desperately wish I wrote contemp. Courtney Summers is one of them.

Jamie:

SGA had me turning the pages at light speed, hands glued to the cover, unable to put it down until the very last word. Inside my head I kept chanting, oh no, oh no, OMG, no way! Just when I thought the last twist had come, I ran right into another one. Raw. Real. This one stays with you. You want to start all over from page one when you finish.

Jennifer:

Some Girls Are was a major wow. I don't like the perfect- pampered-rich girls and bullies and complete high school angst that has become a cliché, so I was skeptical. But this was surprisingly refreshing and not a cliché. Regina gave as good as she got. I actually found myself sympathizing with almost all of the characters. I was drawn in by the voice. And my weakness, the boy love interest, was refreshing. Michael was the absolute best. I would read this again, it was that engrossing.

PS: Werewolves make hot love interests :P

Our super-de-dooper guest blogger, Melissa Hill:

This is Mean Girls, except meaner. The story examines how girls can be so cruel to each other in a way that makes me glad I’m no longer in high school. Despite having cruel intentions, I liked Regina and wanted her to get the guy in the end. I think the biggest strength of the story was the depth of the characters and the way you were never really sure how everything was going to work out.

Debra:

This book is seriously one of my Favorite. YA Contemps. Evah. I bow to Summers' brilliance at taking a thoroughly unlikable character--Regina--and making me weep for her not once, not twice, but THREE times in the course of the novel. Genius, despite the absence of werewolves (Kath made me say that.) The first person present prose was strong, powerful, and at times, gut wrenching, and the love interest was convincing. Even given the sort of ambiguous ending with the lead Mean Girl character, I really can't recommend this book highly enough. Go. Read. And be very, very jealous that YOU didn't write it.

Sarah:

I found it very weird to cry in frustration from a book. I don't think it's ever happened before. But there I was, seriously shedding tears because I felt so much pity for mean girl Regina. Not only does Some Girls Are keep you flipping pages violently until the end, but it puts things in perspective, shining light on the brutality of high school drama and gossip. Summers pushes the limits while avoiding a soap opera slope. And although I saw Regina's flaws throughout every scene, I still rooted for her until the very last page.

What are your thoughts?

It’s a Love Story…

This week, we continue with our guest posts from the fabulous Melissa Hill, winner of GotYA's Do the Write Thing for Nashville auction item. Be sure to look for Melissa's final post in September.
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It’s one month until the much anticipated release of Mockingjay (If you haven’t read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, what are you waiting for???), and it had me thinking about why I read YA. To quote Rosie O’Donnell’s character, Becky, from one of my all-time favorite movies—Sleepless in Seattle:

“You don’t want to fall in love. You want to fall in love in a movie.” Or in my case a book. There is something magical about falling in love. And especially for the first time. It’s something you never forget. Reading YA gives me the opportunity to fall in love (for the first time) again and again.

So I thought I would share a few of my favorite romances with you:

Romeo and Juliet—I wonder if Shakespeare knew he was writing the prototypic YA couple whom all others would be compared to.










Seth and Aislinn (Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr)—Seth is laid back and totally devoted to Aislinn. And he makes the whole body piercing thing very sexy.











Clary and Jace (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare)—Okay, it’s Jace. I don’t think I need to say anything else.











Gemma and Kartik (A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray)—The whole series is a little frustrating. Will they ever get together? But then they do and the scene is totally worth it. Even if it is short lived.










Ever and Damen (The Immortals by Alyson Noël) —Damen is patient and understanding and Ever is willing to do just about anything to be with him.

That brings me back to Mockingjay. Is it August yet? One could argue that The Hunger Games is about much more than a love story. And while I agree, the romantic in me still desperately wants to know who Katniss will choose? Peeta or Gale???

So you guys tell me, who are you favorite YA couples?

First Draft 15: How to deal...or not.

(A new plan from fabulous guest poster Hélène Boudreau)

Do you suffer from writer’s butt? Is your waistline expanding in direct proportion to your word count? Don’t worry; help is on its way.

Just like those extra pounds that plague freshmen in their first years of college, the First Draft 15™ is the near inevitable by-product of parking your tushie in a chair for the innumerable hours it takes to pound out a novel.

And is it any wonder? There’s the snacking, the sipping and the hours upon hours of near immobility as you put one word in front of the other. Now, perhaps you’re one of those hateful, naturally-thin whippets and this isn’t a problem for you *daggers* but for the rest of us, the First Draft 15™ is as unavoidable as paper cuts and chocolate stains down the front of our shirts.

But, how do we arrive at the First Draft 15™ value, you might ask? Well, let’s do the math. When I write a first draft, I can usually eke out about 500 words an hour (breakneck speed, I know…). My upcoming novel is about 45,000 words long.

500 words/hr x A hours = 45,000 words

Where A= 90 hours (thank you, calculator icon in my sidebar).

90 hours. Really?

It seemed WAY longer than that. Though, that doesn’t take into account all of the other hours when I just stared out into space, recalculating the distance from my chair to the fridge in metric and standard units.



But, nonetheless, those hours add up and they equal to the amount of time when your metabolic rate approaches zero. Cause, let’s get real: despite the fact that your fingers are busy, busy, busy, tapping out your masterpiece, those small muscle movements, astonishingly repetitive as they may be, aren’t doing much to maximize your aerobic output.

Your First Draft value might be 3 or 5 or 10 lbs but…my own personal metabolic equation is, 90 hours to the power of cheese divided by a variable and AMAZINGLY (or maybe not) this ALWAYS equals 15 lbs for me.

90 hours ^cheese = 15 lbs
____________________
B

The variable (B) is, um, variable for each writer. Your variable might be fancy Starbuck’s coffee or salty carbohydrates. Mine happens to be cheap chocolate.

I’m not gonna lie. I gained my initial First Draft 15™ quite a few years ago and wear it with pride but writing 2-3 books a year has the potential to add up (but, I won’t bore you with the math. I PROMISE.).

So, herein, I’ve come up with a few handy tips for writers to deal with the First Draft 15™(or not).

TIP #1: Choose low-fat/no-fat alternatives: This just makes good dietary sense. Cheese is still cheese, even if it’s made with skim milk. Plus, with the calories you save, you can cut the slab nice and thick and add a cracker. This makes for a more satisfying snack, necessitating fewer trips to the cheese block, ergo, increasing your writing productivity. And, isn’t that what we all want in the end?

A cautionary note about crumbs: for each crumb dropped, you decrease your overall intake, but you also increase the incidence of ‘whydoesn’tmyspacebarwork?’.

Practice safe snacking and always keep a source of compressed air handy for such occasions. For stubborn cases, view:

http://www.howcast.com/videos/165296-How-To-Clean-a-Computer-Keyboard


TIP #2: Don’t Drink Your Calories: Yes, yes…we all know that a can of Mountain Dew has enough calories to power a light bulb for six days and I suppose we should talk about that, but, even more concerning is the potential electrical hazard of drinking while typing. So, in the spirit of preserving your hard drive—instead of drinking your calories, I suggest hands-free, gravity-fed consumption for best results.



TIP #3: ‘Exercise’ is Not a Four Letter Word: In fact, ‘exercise’ is an EIGHT letter word. I haven’t crunched the numbers but it stands to reason that using exceptionally (13 letters) long words in your manuscript has the potential of increasing your calorie burn by as much as 63%. (Oops, I promised we wouldn’t do any more math…) Yes, I know I said that typing has negligible aerobic benefits but the numbers don’t lie.

So, there you have it; easy, practical tips you can implement RIGHT NOW to deal with (or not) your First Draft 15™.

* Results may vary.

** First Draft 15™ is not a registered trademark but the ™ just looks more official and adds credibility. Kind of.

*** I don’t have a third postscript. Just wanted to thank you for reading until the very end. If you are my agent or editor and you are reading this, I apologize for the chocolate stains on my last revision.
************************************************************************************

Hélène Boudreau fully accepts the realities of the First Draft 15™ though struggles daily to strike a balance between her love of cheese and cheap chocolate and marathon walk training in order to avoid the Fifteenth Draft 50™. She is the author of the upcoming tween novel, REAL MERMAIDS DON’T WEAR TOE RINGS, Jabberwocky, December/ 2010. You can visit her at www.heleneboudreau.com

Victoria Schwab Sits Down with Guest Blogger Melissa Hill

Today's interview with Victoria Schwab kicks off the first post in a three month guest slot from Melissa Hill, winner of GotYA's Do the Write Thing for Nashville auction item. Look for more great posts from Melissa in July and August.

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Victoria Schwab is the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Because of this, she has been known to say "tom-ah-toes", "like", and "y'all". She also tells stories.


Your debut, THE NEAR WITCH is scheduled to be released next summer. Can you tell us about the story?

- There’s an old ghost story in the town of Near. It tells of a witch that lived on the edge of the village, and gobbled up all the darkness, and sang the hills to sleep, and loved the children almost as much as the garden she kept beside her house.
Sixteen-year-old Lexi Harris has heard the stories her entire life. Everyone loves to tell the story, but everyone knows a different ending. Some say that the Near Witch blew away on a gust of wind. Others tell of darker things. Of murders and curses and buried bones. To Lexi, they’ve always been stories, nothing more. But when a strange and silent boy walks into the village of Near, and the wind begins to lure children from their beds at night, she starts to wonder if there’s any truth in them. Could the Near Witch be more than a ghost story?


When writing THE NEAR WITCH, was there a character that surprised you?

-NW actually went through a TON of revision (when it sold it was just this skinny little fairy tale) and over the course of those edits almost every one of my characters really surprised me. It's been an adventure getting to know them.


There is a lot of information about querying agents. Can you talk about what happens once you get to “yes”?

-When you say "yes", you eat a cupcake. It's mandatory. Then, you generally revise for your agent, tighten the book up, and send it out on submission!


How do you deal with the waiting game? Waiting to hear from agents? Waiting to hear from publishers? Waiting for your novel to debut?

-I don't deal well. Anyone who has followed me online, via blog or twitter, knows that I am HORRIBLE at waiting. Like, child-throwing-tantrum awful. I try to distract myself, but nothing makes it better. And there's A LOT of waiting. AND, what I've found is that news you're waiting on never comes while you're waiting. It waits until you FINALLY manage to distract yourself.


What are you working on now?

-Right now I'm finishing up the very last edits on THE NEAR WITCH, and working on the first draft of what will hopefully be the book to hit shelves after NW. I'm not allowed to say anything about it YET :p


What authors/books influenced you the most?

-Oh, HARD question. I would say, at the moment: Brothers Grimm (fairy tale influence), Neil Gaiman (all-around brilliant), Cassandra Clare (for her incredible sense of pacing), and Kristin Cashore (for her world-building).


Do you have any advice for the aspiring author?

-Finish the book. You'll hit this place, normally, where you kind of slow, or another shiny new idea distracts you, and you'll want to wander off. DON'T DO IT. Finish the book.



What is the most recent book you’ve read that you couldn’t put down?

-INFINITE DAYS by Rebecca Maizel. It comes out this August, and I LOVE IT. I almost never re-read books because I have SO many books to read, but I'm thinking of re-reading this one soon.


What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?

Eat chocolate, and exercise. The two don't seem to go together, but they go together VERY well. Namely I eat chocolate, and then I exercise. Sometimes I mix it up and exercise first.


You’ve worked a lot different jobs—caterer, personal chef, doggy daycare, etc. What was your favorite? Do you find inspiration from them now as a writer?

-It's going to sound wrong, but I draw inspiration from wanting to get OUT of those jobs. Writing is my dream job. The worst jobs I've had turned into motivation to hone my writing and get closer to publication. The best jobs I've had were fun and yes, sometimes inspired my work. The thing that most often inspires me is just watching and listening, when I'm on a walk, or working, or sitting on a bench somewhere.


On your blog, you have an awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe. Any other chocolate indulgence recipes you’d like to share?

-One of my favorite chocolate treats is SO easy. You take a box devil's food cake mix, and add two eggs, 1/2 cup oil, and choco. chips, and bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. Chocolate cake cookies. SO GOOD.


Thanks Victoria! Can’t wait to read THE NEAR WITCH (August 2011 by Disney Hyperion). You can find Victoria at www.victoriaschwab.com

Word of Mouth -- From Guest Blogger Catherine McKenzie

Last week, Kathleen briefly mentioned Author Effect in her post. This week, GotYA is thrilled to have the author behind the project, Catherine McKenzie, as a guest blogger.

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Word of mouth. That’s really all that marketing is, right? Just some people are better at it than others, and some people have more money, and some people have more access to mediums to get the words out of their mouths. So how does word of mouth work in today’s book marketing market? There’s the traditional way, of course. Big publisher prints a zillion copies of the book, gets other established authors to write blurbs about how fabulous it is, they buy shelf space in stores and advertisements in national newspapers and if the stars align you have a bestseller! Of course that formula isn’t a guarantee. And being published by a big publisher isn’t even a guarantee you’ll get that word of mouth treatment. Nope. In fact, most authors don’t. So what do they do?

Well, a lot of what they tell you to do these days involves social media. Get people blogging and Facebooking and Twittering about your book and you just might generate that word of mouth. But does it work? Really? Having just published my first novel, I wasn’t so sure. I know that I’ve certainly sold some copies of my book because I’ve spent many hours (too many) on these media. But I remain convinced that the main reason my book did well was because my publisher made sure my book was available and prominently placed in the national book chain.

But what about the others? My compatriots in the author business who’ve written great books but weren’t lucky enough to get the kind of placement I did in stores? What happens to them? And can something be done about it?

I’ve wondered this for a while and then I saw Betty White host Saturday Night Live. Because of a Facebook campaign. Mmmm.

A couple of days later I had started I group on Facebook called “I bet we can make these books bestsellers” (or the Author Effect for short) and had chosen two books by Wyoming writer Shawn Klomparens (Jessica Z. and Two Years, No Rain) as my test subjects. Why? Because they were the best books I’d read in the last six months that you probably haven’t heard of. But you should. And you should read them too. Because that’s what my group is all about. Sure, I’m happy to have members (over 600 of them so far – yeah!), but I’m hoping they do more. I’m hoping they actually buy the books and tell me – and the group – what they think about them. And because I’m not so full of myself that I think you should buy these books just because I say so (well, not entirely), I’ve gotten a bunch of book bloggers involved to review the books and tell us what they think too.

There’s been lots of positive reaction so far – I’ve gotten a lot of “what a great idea” messages. And I’d also say that about 10% of the group have actually purchased one or both of the books, which is pretty damn good. But not good enough for me. So, will you help me get the word out? And hey, while you’re at it, buy the books too. Because I – and some others – say so :)

Links

Facebook Group
Shawn Klomparen’s Website
Catherine McKenzie's Website

About Catherine

Spin is Catherine McKenzie's first published novel. Her second novel, ARRANGED, will be published in Canada in January, 2011. She lives and writes in Montreal, Canada.

Guest Post and Contest by Marilee Brothers!!!!

Today we are thrilled to have an amazing writer of both YA and Women's Fiction as our guest blogger. Here is the fabulous Marilee Brothers!!!

I wasted a lot of good years writing depressing poetry about life’s gloomiest and/or wackiest topics. Teenagers meandering down the highway of life searching for answers. My fear of spiders. Lonely old women who drink too much beer. Seriously. Some of it even got published. When I started my first book, a historical romance, I learned something important about myself and, in the process, found my true, authentic voice.

In the beginning, Castle Ladyslipper had the most dreadful, dark and dreary plot one could imagine. Sir Garrick of Hawkwood, my hero, was emotionally damaged, thanks to all the conniving women in his life, starting with his mother. (Why is it always the mother who screws up the son?) The opening scene was an epic downer. As my heroine, Emma, scurried across the bailey, she heard William, her brother, calling to her from an upstairs window. She looked up to see the poor lad plunge to his death, a victim of over-enthusiastic waving. Is it any wonder I could barely drag myself to the computer each day? When my output dwindled to nada, I finally realized I was fighting my nature and consequently hated what I was doing. I ditched the first scene and came up with a new recipe.

Step 1. A dash of magic in the form of a crystal, a curse and a ghost.

Step 2. A castle full of strong, opinionated woman.

Step 3. A hunky, chauvinistic knight who believed women were basically large children and should be treated as such.

Step 4. Mix thoroughly and see what rises to the top. I started to have fun, found my voice and completed my first book.

What does this have to do with YA fiction? Only everything. Kids can spot a phony faster than the time it took William to go splat after his plunge from castle window to cobblestone. I try to remind myself of that fact each time I sit down at the computer. As writers, as human beings, we all have to be true to our natures. When we aren’t, we’re fighting a losing battle that manifests itself in stress-related illness and depression as well as incredibly bad writing.

CONTEST!!!

Because I believe in keeping it real, I often use the names of people I know in my books. Long-time friends appeared in Moon Rise as a fabulously wealthy couple who built their own planetarium for Star Seekers. In the same book, my Canadian friend became an American citizen and a FBI agent. Would you like to see your name immortalized in print? I’ve just begun writing book 4 in the Unbidden Magic series.

All you have to do is leave a comment. If I draw your name, it’s possible your 30 seconds of fame may be right around the corner. Your name will not only appear in my book, I’ll send you a signed copy when it comes out in 2011. Don’t know what to say? I’ll make it easy for you. You can choose: (A) I want my character to be good (B) I want my character to be baaad (C) Surprise me!