Archive for December, 2009
December 30th, 2009
Do you love chick lit? That fun, snappy voice that begs to be read and enjoyed? Then join us for:
The 10 in ’10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge!
Co-hosted by YA author Kay Cassidy (that’s me!) and teen book blogger Jessica (www.chicklitteens.com), the 10 in ’10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge is your chance to read some fabulous teen chick lit books with other chick lit fans. The challenge runs from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. (But you can join anytime throughout the year!) Here’s how to play:
1) Grab the official 10 in ’10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge logo above and put it on your site with a link back to this page to let people know you’re playing.
2) Choose 10 teen chick lit books to read in 2010. Or select the ones you know you want to read and leave the rest of your list open to see what comes your way in 2010. (We’ll be talking about the great teen chick lit books we’ve read each month, so you may find some new ones that catch your eye!)
3) Click on the Mr. Linky button below to share your list if you’ve posted it on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, simply comment below with your choice of books and let us know you’re in like Flynn.
4) Each month, Jessica and Kay will alternate hosting the official check-in post where you can share the books you’ve read for the challenge. And be sure to let us know what you thought of them!
Oh, and did we mention PRIZES???
We know you’ve got a ton of books in your TBR pile. To make it even more fun to read the teen chick lit ones, we’ll be doing fun, impromptu giveaways throughout the year for participating challengers who check in with their progress!
And, of course, we need to have an awesome grand prize you can drool over, right? For challengers who read 10+ teen chick lit books during 2010 and let us know on our monthly check-in posts, we’ll be putting them in a drawing for a fabulous prize basket filled with great chick lit books, cool swag, and even some DVDs! Watch the monthly check-in posts for super secret peeks at the grand prize package.
And even more cool chick lit stuff…
We love all things chick lit, so we want this to be more than just a reading challenge. We want it to be a challenge where readers can come to talk about the chick lit books they’re reading and loving and get to know some terrific chick lit authors too. So…
In addition to the monthly check-ins, we’ll also be featuring exclusive chats throughout the year with some of your favorite chick lit authors! Stay tuned to the monthly check-ins for more details about how to get involved in the chats and to see who’s coming on board.
And now it’s your turn!
Are you ready to join the fun? Excellent! Then grab the logo, share your 10 in ’10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge reading list via Mr. Linky below and gear up for a fabulous 2010!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I know if a book is “chick lit”?
A: If you think it is, it is! There’s no standard definition for chick lit, and we definitely don’t want to be the chick lit police. 
So we’re leaving it up to each challenger to decide if a book qualifies for the challenge. If you’re looking for examples to guide you (there are oh so many!), books like Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries series, Jen Calonita’s Secrets of My Hollywood Life series, Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls spy series, Kate Brian’s Private series, and Tera Lynn Childs’ Oh. My. Gods. series are all great examples of teen chick lit. Even slightly darker books like Alyson Noel’s Immortals series still have a brilliant teen chick lit voice. And these are only a few of the many great teen chick lit books out there!
Q: What if I don’t have a book blog?
A: No worries at all. Simply share your progress in the comments on the monthly check-in posts on Jessica and Kay’s blogs. Better yet, share your thoughts in places like Goodreads, Shelfari, Amazon, and BarnesandNoble.com too. Let your voice be heard!
Q: What’s the deal with the chats? Are these real-time chats or interviews on the blog?
A: Real-time chats. Our guest authors will be joining us on Chatzy at a scheduled time to chat about all things chick lit (including their books). It’s a fun, informal chat that will be open to all. We’ll be sharing the schedules in the monthly check-in posts, so keep your eye on them for more details coming soon.
Q: I LOVE teen chick lit. Can I read more than 10?
A: Absolutely! 10 is the minimum number of books needed to be eligible for the grand prize drawing, but you can read as many teen chick lit books as your heart desires and check in with them all. The more, the merrier!
Happy reading!
Kay and Jessica
Share your 10 in ’10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge post here:
December 30th, 2009
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“There are two pieces of advice that I’ve gotten about writing that I’ve taken to heart. They are:
1. Write what you believe in. If you don’t, guess what? Your audience won’t believe it either. Write from the heart and tell the stories that sing to you.
2. Your writing can always — ALWAYS — be better. Take the time to reflect, to revise, and remember that when it comes to writing, there is always be something new to learn.”
~ Elizabeth Scott
Living Dead Girl
(Simon Pulse, 9/09)
Teen Author Challenge
As so often happens at the holidays, I’ve been reevaluating my work life and considering what changes to make in the new year. One of the things I’ve been thinking a lot about… a LOT about… is the Teen Author Challenge. I know many of you read the challenge each week (thank you for letting me know how much you enjoy it!) and it’s been neat putting together posts over the last six months.
In looking at the actual comments over the last few months, however, I’ve realized that the challenge has become a fairly solitary endeavor for most people. When I began the challenge, I had hoped that it would become a support group of sorts, with all of the participants sharing their progress and cheering each other on to success. And although I know most of us would love to be part of something like that, I also know that life can interfere with even the best laid plans. Goodness knows it did with me when I was on deadline this fall!
I want this feature to be fun for you and fun for me too. I love sharing quotes and tips from other authors and will definitely continue to do that. But I also want to keep the blog lively and fun for everyone, writers and non.
So… after being on deadline for the fall and finally getting the wheels back on the blog for the new year, I’ve decided that this will be the last official post of the year-long Teen Author Challenge. Instead of the year-long TAC (which I know can be tiring!), I’m going to change things up and do some shorter mini-challenges throughout the year on a particular topic. Look for the first one (on editing, with tons of cool strategies from your favorite authors) coming in Spring 2010!
Also, in early 2010, I’ll be doing a post asking you, fabulous blog readers, what you would like to see on the blog. We’ll be chatting about things like the Booklover of the Week series, the Author Cave series, You 2.0 interviews with authors and librarians, and some fun new ideas I have for the blog. And tomorrow, I’ll be announcing an awesome new reading challenge for 2010 that I’m co-hosting with teen book blogger Jessica from Chick Lit Teens. (I can’t wait!!!)
Thanks again for reading the Teen Author Challenge, stay tuned for all the great reading challenge news tomorrow, and happy (almost) 2010!
December 24th, 2009
I can’t believe it’s Christmas Eve already. Weren’t we just celebrating Valentine’s Day??? I swear this year has flown by!
I have a confession. As many of you know, I am not exactly adept in the kitchen arena. However, it is truly sad even for me that I have not really thought through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meal planning until… um… about four hours ago.
Oh, I had some ideas. But since we’re just having a quiet Christmas at home this year (a good thing since I’m now on my FOURTH round of antibiotics since the beginning of November), it’s hard to drum up excitement to make a small family meal that’s still festive.
However, I decided to include some of my favorite holiday yummies.
Tonight we’re having chicken, prosciutto and cheese stuffed tortellini with alfredo sauce. Tomorrow morning, I’m baking cinnamon rolls for our morning gift exchange followed by brunch (which is one of the few meals I do well). I LOVE brunch. I could eat brunch three meals a day and be a happy little camper. Eggs, sausage links, pancakes, hash browns, smoothies… it is heaven on a plate, I tell you.
Christmas dinner is a little unusual, but will include chicken cordon bleu, scalloped potatoes and glazed apples and cranberries. And yes, there will be vegetables with both of those dinners, but I haven’t figured out what yet.
In addition, I finally managed to find eggnog today! Our grocery store has been out all week, hence the reason for me braving the Walmart crowds on Christmas Eve to find some.
Mmmm… eggnog…
Happy holidays to you and yours this season!
December 22nd, 2009
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“Finishing one imperfect piece of writing will teach you far more than starting and abandoning twenty others halfway through.”
~ Elizabeth Kay
Jinx on the Divide
(Scholastic, 8/07)
Teen Author Challenge
I love this week’s exclusive TAC quote because it’s so true in my experience. I had started and abandoned half a dozen manuscripts before I finally finished my first one. And I learned more from finishing that one manuscript than I did from the other six combined.
This week, I wanted to talk about another common thing that writers hear all the time. Write what you know.
There are pros and cons to this, and it’s good to know what they are if you’re a beginning writer.
On the pro side, writing what you know gives you an easier connection to the subject matter. That can make the character’s voice truer, the emotional grip of the story more authentic, and the details more realistic. And when you consider yourself a “subject matter expert”, whether it’s on being a teen or on dealing with a particular issue, you may write with more confidence knowing that you have something real and valuable to say on this subject because you’ve lived it. You know what it’s like to be in that situation or be the friend of someone going through a particular ordeal.
But writing what you know isn’t always the best approach. It can be. But not always.
“Don’t simply write what you know. Write what you love! Write the story only you can write, the one that is so unique, so much you that you’ve never told it to anyone. When that story reaches the page, it will be universal.”
~ Marion Dane Bauer
“Go with what grabs you.”
~ Tish Cohen
“Write the book that only you can write, something no one else has ever read before. It’s tempting to write a “better” version of something that already exists, but the reason that book was a success was because it was something no one else had ever read before.”
~ Brent Hartinger
(Do you recognize that last quote as one of the exclusive TAC quotes from earlier this year? Yep, it’s one of my favorites.)
The authors’ points are well taken. What if J.K. Rowling had only written what she knew? What if Stephenie Meyer or Scott Westerfeld or Neil Gaiman had only written what they knew?
As with all writing advice, write what you know is best taken with a grain of salt. Only you know the story that needs to be told from your fingertips. Don’t ever doubt that you can write the story in your heart because you are the only one who can. It wouldn’t be in there if you weren’t. For reals.
Buzz Tip of the Week
Have you ever heard the term literary scout and wondered what it meant? Literary scouts can be an author’s best friend, especially when it comes to selling foreign rights. Here’s a great post that gives you a sneak peek into the harried world of the hard-working literary scout.
http://publishingperspectives.com/?p=9028
Your Weekly Challenge
Only four weeks left in our productivity challenge! The productivity challenge part of the year-long TAC ends on January 19, 2010, so be sure to keep that date in your sights. After that, we’ll be shifting our TAC focus to editing… with tons of great tips from authors on making your first draft shine.
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 happy holidays to you and yours!
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 Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
2. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
3. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
4. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
5. 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!
December 16th, 2009
I love reading about all the things you’re grateful for! Family, friends, hubbies with positive attitudes, new jobs, new degrees, a warm day… it’s just plain awesome, I tell you.
(By the way, I so remember the days of being in school… first regular school, then undergrad, then grad school… and literally counting the hours until my last final was over. I hear ya on that one!)
As promised, there will be TWO winners of the fun Bundle o’ Bookmarks coming your way today to celebrate the 2-book deals that TWO of my fabulous writing buddies netted last week. (Congrats, Kris Kennedy and Myra McEntire!)
Congratulations go out to:
Holly
(aka Writer’s Block Reviews)
~ and ~
Laura Robinson
(aka Tattooed Books)
Enjoy! Please contact me here with your mailing address to receive your prize.
And everyone, keep commenting on the blog for your chance to win in the next Bundle o’ Bookmarks giveaway. I’ll be doing lots of impromptu giveaways for recent commenters and you never know when it’ll be! (Plus, new bookmarks coming soon in the bundle!)
December 15th, 2009
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“The best advice I ever got is the advice I always give: write from your heart, the rest will fall in place.”
~ Valerie Hobbs
Sheep
(Square Fish, 4/09 pb reissue)
Teen Author Challenge
It’s that time of year. With the various holidays, year-end chaos at work, finals for those still in school… this is crunch time, baby.
But there are ways to continue making progress even when things are super crazy. Here are just a few of them.
1) Write in bits and bites
This doesn’t necessarily mean writing while eating (though it can!), it means trying to write a little here and a little there as time allows. Many of us can’t allot large chunks of time right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t write at all. Try setting a goal of writing as much as you can for 20 minutes or 45 minutes or whatever you can manage. It doesn’t work for everyone, but you may be surprised at what you accomplish.
2) Brainstorm at odd times
I know. There are lots of odd times this time of year. 
What I mean is, use those times when you’re just being idle to doing something productive for your story. I keep a notebook with me in my purse so when I’m stuck in the long checkout lines at stores, I can jot down ideas for the story I’m working on. I’ve come up with some neat twists and a couple of zingy one-liners when the only other thing I could’ve been doing is wondering why they didn’t have more people manning the cash registers. I think that was time well spent.
3) Give yourself a break
If this time of year wears you down like it does most people, cut yourself some slack. That doesn’t mean giving yourself permission to slack off, but do be kind to yourself and do your best. This hectic period will come to an end, just like it always does, and you can get back to your normal routines. In the meantime, pat yourself on the back for the progress you do make whether it’s new pages or new ideas. It’s all good.
Buzz Tip of the Week
I love this post from agent Jessica Faust on what an agent really does. As the title of the post indicates, they do a lot more than just sell books. A good agent is worth his or her weight in gold AND chocolate. And that’s sayin’ something.
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/10/agents-do-more-than-sell-books.html
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!
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 Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
2. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
3. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
4. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
5. 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!
December 12th, 2009
In honor of yesterday’s fabulosity–having not one but two dear friends accept multi-book contracts!!–I’m celebrating with not one but two Bundle o’ Bookmarks giveaways!
What is Bundle o’ Bookmarks? It’s a collection of awesome bookmarks from some of your favorite authors! Here’s the current 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*
For your chance to win, comment below with one thing (or many things!) you’re grateful for today. Big or small matters not at all, as long as it’s important to you.
And to make it even more fun for those of you who follow regularly…
+2 for Google Friend Connect followers
+1 Facebook friends
+1 for TCS Facebook fan page fans
+1 for Twitter followers (@kaycassidy)
Be sure to note which extra points you qualify for in your comments. Winners announced early next week! Good luck!
December 11th, 2009
Now, some agents do like fine wine, but this is not that kind of blog.
My fellow Tenner, the fabulous Kody Keplinger of the I-So-Cannot-Wait-To-Read-And-Has-Been-Optioned-For-Film The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) coming Fall 2010, came up with a lovely idea to have a whole day dedicated to the awesomeness that is our agents.
What is not to love about this blog topic, I ask you?? I’m so in.
My agent is Holly Root of Waxman Literary Agency. Not only is she hilarious and charming, she’s an ideal business partner for me. Our strengths complement each other’s beautifully. Here are just some of the many reasons I heart her:
1) PATIENCE - There are many days where I am Kay of a Billion Questions. It’s hard being a writer with an MBA because I always want to know about the business side of how this all works and, truthfully, authors simply aren’t privy to a lot of that. Holly does a fabulous FABULOUS job sharing what she can and easing my mind about the things we just don’t know.
2) LAUGHS - Holy moley, I can’t tell you how big this one is for me. Being a debut author is like being on a 20-month roller coaster ride. Some days are up, some days are down, and some days you’re pretty sure the quesadilla you had for lunch is on its way back up. The best medicine for this crazy adventure? Laughter. It helps a great deal that we have a similar sense of humor because there have been times when I was so distraught/anxious/frustrated/(insert ill feeling here) and she has sent me an email in response that literally made me laugh out loud. Laughter in business is highly underrated, I’m telling you.
3) CHEERLEADING - I know this seems like my forte as a former cheer girl myself, but when you’re having doubts about your skills as a writer or about the crapola level of your current manuscript, having an agent who is there to help you get back on track mentally is awesome.
4) BRAINSTORMING - We’ve always been really good about brainstorming together, but the more time goes by the more I appreciate how fortunate that is. We have this natural way of going:
ME: “So here’s what I’m thinking…”
H: “Ooo… I like that! You know what would be neat…”
ME: “OMG, yes! And then she’d have to…”
H: “LOVE!!!”
This has happened on more occasions than I can count. Not only is it super helpful, but it always gets me jazzed up to get back to work. LOVE. THIS.
5) CUPCAKES - You may think this is a shallow and empty (caloried) reason to heart your agent. But I promise you are missing something if you write it off willy nilly. Or even just nilly. Cupcakes = love + kindness + fluffy “who cares about tomorrow, I just want to be happy right now” goodness. Cupcakes are, in many ways, just like a writing career. There are days when you just want to wallow in a good cupcake moment, especially when the chips are down. Having an agent who understands your cupcake needs is worth its price in frosting. (Plus, when you go visit them, cupcake bakery outings make for a fun agent/author getaway. Ours is scheduled for next spring.)
So there you go. Just a few of the ma-a-any reasons why I heart my agent. I seriously would have run away screaming into the night on many occasions if not for her support, guidance, and well placed one-liners.
Rock on, Agent Extraordinaire. Rock on.
For more reasons why we love our agents, be sure to check out Lisa and Laura Roecker‘s blog today too! They’re compiling a list of links to all of the agent love blogs for Kody’s brainchild. I’m heading over there now.
December 8th, 2009
Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week
“The most important thing a writer can do to improve their craft is to read! Read often, read widely, read everything you can, because the books you like, and the books you don’t like—they all have something to teach you! And then write! Write stories, poems, essays—write grocery lists, or keep a journal. Just get in the habit of writing, freely and without judgment—you can always go back and fix it later!”
~ Alyson Noel
Shadowland
(St. Martin’s Griffin, 11/09)
Teen Author Challenge
Do you ever get in a rut with your writing? Where the dialogue isn’t snappy, the prose is stilted and boring, and the description feels as flat as a bad hair day? Don’t fret, it happens to every writer. It’s not fun, but it’s not the end of writing as we know it. You can bounce back!
Everyone has their own ways of handing the writing doldrums, but one of my favorites is the first line grab. Here’s how it works:
1) Grab 12 books off your shelf. Preferably books that you love.
2) Open a document on your screen and type the first line of each book so they’re all on one sheet. If you need to type the first few lines because they’re kind of a package deal, that’s fine too.
3) Group the first lines on your screen into categories: dialogue, setting/atmosphere, characters, and plot. Most first lines will fit into these categories, though you should feel free to add categories of your own if they make more sense to you.
4) Look at the first lines in each category and see what works about them. Most authors spend a lot of time sweating the first few lines of their books, so these are often very effective examples of how to write that particular category well.
5) Choose a part of your manuscript (any part will do, though a part you’re struggling with is best) and see how you can tweak it based on what you’ve seen in the first lines you picked.
This isn’t a fix-all-ills kind of exercise, but you may be surprised at the Aha moments it leads to in your own work. Have fun with it and see where it leads!
Buzz Tip of the Week
This week, the second of two awesome posts from agent Rachelle Gardner about the financial side of publishing. This time, it’s all about crunching the numbers on the publisher’s end.
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-your-book-worth-it.html
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!
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 Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
2. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
3. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
4. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
5. 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!
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