Archive for October, 2009
October 13th, 2009
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“The worse advice I ever got was write what you know. I would encourage aspiring writers to write whatever they can imagine, dream, and research well. Also, my definition of a writer is NOT someone who gets published. My definition of a writer is someone who writes a little bit most days of the week and who finishes the pieces they begin. Write a little bit every day and you will keep your sub-conscious juices working on the story all the time, even when you are not writing. Then you will have wonderful ah-ha moments when ideas snap together in your brain. That is one of the most fun parts of writing.”
~ Dia Calhoun
Aria of the Sea
Buzz Tip of the Week
Sometimes when you’re cruising along with your goals, it helps to see your progress visually. I’m a big believer in making charts that I can check off because it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing great things. And really, who can resist shiny gold stars?
But I also love technology, and this little gem is a fun way to track your progress on your goals. It’s called Joe’s Goals and you can enter your weekly goals, check them off (it puts nice little smiley faces when you accomplish a task), and see at a glance how you’re doing. And it’s not just for writing either. It’s great for tracking all of your weekly goals, from household duties to practicing to working out. A very Jack-of-all-trades kind of tool (or a Joe-of-all-trades, as the case may be.)
www.joesgoals.com
Check it out and see if it motivates you to keep up the pace with your weekly writing goals!
Your Weekly Challenge
How did you do on your writing last week? Comment below with your weekly results from last Tuesday through today so we can cheer your progress! And let us know how you’re tracking your progress each week. Do you have something you get to check off when you complete your writing assignments?
The Teen Author Challenge Contest
Throughout the year-long Teen Author Challenge (TAC ends June 2010!), I’ll be giving away a book of the winner’s choice from my personal writing shelf. Why am I doing this? Because becoming a skilled writer has two important parts: learning about your craft and practicing your craft. That’s why active participation in each weekly challenge is so important!
So what can you win? Books to choose from include:
1. The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
2. The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
3. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
4. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
5. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
6. Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon
Everyone who participates via the comments on the Teen Author Challenge posts will be entered into this monthly contest.
Go forth and be creative! 
October 12th, 2009
Want to know how I’m doing on my Five? You know, the five ways I want to make a difference in the world? Come on over to LivingYourFive.com and check out my progress report. This week, it’s all about gratitude and going green!
Be sure to keep stopping by to see how my fellow Founding Fivers Alyson Noel, Becca Fitzpatrick and Tera Lynn Childs are doing on their Fives too.
And don’t forget, the first Friday of every month is Honorary Fiver Day at Living Your Five! Honorary Fiver Day is your chance to share your Five and join us in the Living Your Five Quest to make a difference in the world. We want you aboard!
Are you ready to Live Your Five?
October 12th, 2009
Bundle o’ Bookmarks impromptu winner!
What is Bundle o’ Bookmarks? It’s a collection of awesome bookmarks from some of your favorite authors! Here’s today’s Bundle o’ Bookmarks swag pack:
It includes bookmarks from:
– Alyson Noel (Blue Moon/Evermore)
– Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush)
– Lindsey Leavitt (Princess for Hire) *signed*
– Bree Despain (The Dark Divine)
– Lindsay Eland (Scones and Sensibility) *signed*
– Stephanie Kuehnert (Ballads of Suburbia)
– Stephanie Kuehnert (I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone)
– Jennifer Hubbard (The Secret Year)
– A.S. King (The Dust of 100 Dogs)
– Julie Kagawa (The Iron King) *signed*
– Taylor Morris (Total Knockout)
– And, of course, me (a bunch of The Cinderella Society and Great Scavenger Hunt Contest stuff!) *signed*
As always, sometimes I’ll tell you it’s an official Bundle o’ Bookmarks giveaway day, but other times I’ll just pick someone who commented in the last week or two to be a spontaneous Bundle winner.
Today is a spontaneous giveaway day! Congratulations go out to:
Claire
(aka Bookworm)
Congrats, Claire! Please contact me here with your mailing address to receive your Bundle o’ Bookmarks.
Happy Monday!
October 8th, 2009
Huge congrats go to our latest monthly winners of The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest national reading program! Please join me in cheering on the winning hunter:
** Emily E. **
And the winning librarian:
** Bonnie Mickler **
from Dubois, IN
Enjoy your prizes!!!
October 8th, 2009
Check out the October 2009 additions to The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest program for teen and youth librarians!
Bravo Zulu, Samantha! by Kathleen Benner Duble (MG/Tween)
Confessions of a First Daughter by Cassidy Calloway (YA)
Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe (YA)
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (YA)
Little Black Lies by Tish Cohen (YA)
My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman (YA)
Rampant by Diana Peterfreund (YA)
War Games by Audrey Couloumbis (MG/Tween)
October 7th, 2009
Happy Wednesday!
As some of you know, I’m hard at work on book 2 in the Cinderella Society series (working title: CINDY ON A MISSION) due to my lovely editor next month. As luck would have it, my copyedits for THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY arrived today and are due in two weeks.
The good news is that THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY will be that much closer to final book form by the end of the month! The bad news is that between writing, copyedits and upcoming travel, time’s a wee bit tight. Sooo… some of the regular blog features will be taking a short nap until November 1st. (They deserve some R&R, don’t you think?)
But never fear, I’ve got tons of great Booklover features, book chats, inspirational fun and giveaways lined up for November and beyond!
Oh, and yes, the Teen Author Challenge is going strong no matter what. So you can still tune in every Tuesday for your weekly dose of writing inspiration and great tips for writers. Write on!
October 6th, 2009
Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’… keep those pages rollin’! To help you along, here’s our weekly dose of inspiration…
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“Writing is not a talent, but a skill. Practice practice practice.”
~ Sarah MacLean
The Season
(Scholastic, 3/09)
Teen Author Challenge, Week 12
Now that you’re getting into the swing of things with our productivity challenge, you may be having a reality check of sorts. You may have bitten off more than you can chew with your weekly goal or, on the opposite extreme, you may find that your weekly goal isn’t large enough to keep your momentum going. (Or you may find out you’re like Goldilocks and your goal is “just right”.)
If your goal needs adjusting, it’s okay to make that adjustment now. Better to belly up to the writing bar with more realistic expectations than have your progress go belly up because you give up in frustration (or fizzle out because you never gain the momentum you need to make writing regularly a habit).
The big thing to remember is to be realistic. Take into account the craziness that you may encounter from school projects, work projects, travel, etc. Make your goal something you can still achieve even when those things interfere with your best laid plans. Or if you think your goal isn’t big enough yet, go ahead and bump it up a notch… BUT make sure to keep a healthy dose of realism handy. Achievability is key!
Buzz Tip of the Week
If you’ve never seen the Writer’s Digest “101 Best Web Sites for Writers” list, it’s a terrific directory of online resources that can benefit writers at every stage of their careers. It’s updated every year with the best of the best and, for your convenience, is divided into eight categories:
– Agent blogs
– Writing communities
– Publishing resources
– Jobs and markets
– Creativity and challenges
– Genres/niches
– General resources
– Fun for writers
Check out the full list here:
www.writersdigest.com/101BestSites
Your Weekly Challenge
How did you do on your writing last week? Comment below with your weekly results from last Tuesday through today so we can cheer your progress! If you’re going to take advantage of this opportunity to tweak your goal, post about that below and let us know how it’s changing. Up, down, sideways… whatever will make the best approach for you to reach your goals and still have fun in the process.
Because writing may not always be fun. But if it’s never fun, that’s a problem that needs a’fixin pronto!
The Teen Author Challenge Contest
Throughout the year-long Teen Author Challenge (TAC ends June 2010!), I’ll be giving away a book of the winner’s choice from my personal writing shelf. Why am I doing this? Because becoming a skilled writer has two important parts: learning about your craft and practicing your craft. That’s why active participation in each weekly challenge is so important!
So what can you win? Books to choose from include:
1. The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
2. The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
3. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
4. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
5. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
6. Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon
Everyone who participates via the comments on the Teen Author Challenge posts will be entered into this monthly contest.
Go forth and be creative!
October 2nd, 2009
Did you guess Kelsey’s lie from her Booklover of the Week feature? Be sure to check out the updated Wednesday post to find out!
And now, on to our book topic of the week…
I LOVE when books surprise me. You know how you sometimes go in expecting a book to entertain you and then lo and behold… WHAMMO! It completely knocks your socks off?
Best. Thing. Ever.
That’s actually happened to me twice this year. (And it’s only October!) So I thought it would be fun to share what made me fall head over heels for these books.
LIFE AS WE KNEW IT
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
First, a caveat… I usually read books to be entertained and to escape from the real world for a while. Escaping, for me, does not mean diving into the depths of someone else’s horrible issues. As you might guess, dark, intense, edgy books are generally not my cup of tea. I figure there’s enough darkness in the world that I’d rather escape into something that makes me feel energized and positive.
But every once in a while, my friends (or my agent or editor) try to get me to read something outside my comfort zone. My friend Tera Lynn Childs was the one who told me I really needed to read this book. So I finally bucked up and took her advice.
Smartest thing I’ve done all year.
Even though it made me walk around feeling like I had to stockpile emergency supplies for weeks afterward, this book was utterly amazing. Sue’s ability to draw you in and make you care deeply about these characters against the backdrop of catastrophe is really extraordinary. The third book of the trilogy comes out a few weeks before The Cinderella Society, and I keep joking that I’m almost more excited for hers than I am for mine. (Almost, mind you. I’m haven’t completely lost my faculties.)
WHEN YOU REACH ME
by Rebecca Stead
Hands down the best 2009 release I’ve read. I kept hearing about it and finally went and picked it up. I’ve been on a middle grades kick lately, so it was right up my alley. I spent the entire first half of the book wondering what on earth was going on.
Then I thought I knew.
Then I thought I didn’t.
Then I thought I did, but I didn’t know why.
Then I found out why. And then I cried.
If this book doesn’t win the Newbery, I will be so disappointed. Definitely a modern classic that we’ll be talking about for generations.
So what about you? What books have you read in 2009 that knocked you off your feet?
October 1st, 2009
Happy October 1st! Did you guess Kelsey’s lie from yesterday? She really kept you guessing! Check out the updated post to see if you guessed correctly.
So here we are… a new month, a fresh start and, best of all, I get to announce the latest You 2.0 blog monthly winners!
But before I announce the monthly winners, I just discovered that I never mentioned who the winner was for Lauren Bjorkman’s debut YA novel, MY INVENTED LIFE! I had offered up my very own ARC of this book back on 9/4 and then forget to announce who the winner was. No wonder it’s still sitting here waiting to be mailed, for goodness sake. (Btw, check out the interview I just did with Lauren on Tenners!)
The long-overdue winner of my MY INVENTED LIFE ARC is…
Jen Petro-Roy!
The winner of the Teen Author Challenge monthly giveaway (who will get to select one of the “craft of writing” books from my own personal writing bookshelf) is…
Erica!
(aka BookcellarX)
The winner of the You 2.0 blog prize dive (who will get to select an item from the official You 2.0 prize basket) is…
Jessica!
(aka Chick Lit Teens)
And the winner of a signed ARC of The Cinderella Society is…
Kelsey!
(aka The Book Scout)
Congratulations to all the winners! Please contact me here with your mailing address to receive your prize. Thanks to everyone for all your comments throughout the month. They really make my day!
And keep commenting for more chances to win next month. Happy reading!
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