My writing group recommended this website to me when I asked them how they knew a publisher, editor, agent, or contest was reputable. As someone new to the industry, I have found this site to be a tremendous treasure chest of recommendations, advice, contests, magazines, book publishers, and much more. The site is dedicated to helping writers in all aspects of the publishing process and industry, and also at giving tips on uncovering which companies/agents are trustworthy as well as questions to ask in testing their credibility.
Truly, I could spend hours on this site! Whether you are new to the industry or a veteran, check it out. There is something for everyone.
Yesterday, I rambled on about my writer’s block and today, I’m happy to report that I’m cured! How did this happen so quickly, you ask? Well, for one, I had a good night’s sleep. And two, and most importantly, I found my muse again.
Where was this mystical entity hiding??? On my couch, it turns out.
Yep. My husband is my muse. (For today, at least.) He was my sounding board. I was having issues with the logic of the sequence of events – the plot – leading up to the end of the book. People keep telling me that it’s okay to take liberties because it’s fiction, but the power of my story comes for the possibility of it being real. How can I ask my readers to stick with my character and her escapades if they’re too unrealistic or disjointed, or simply illogical? I want to base the story in fact, or at the very least, science-based theory. No matter what genre you’re writing, the plot has to flow and make sense, right? And, if my character is, say, trying to escape something, then I want to know that my escape plan is probable.
So, in the end, I turned to my husband to talk about my concerns and we brainstormed together. I researched some of our ideas, reported back to him, and we continued to nail down the details. As we always tell people about our relationship, I am all heart and he is all logic. Together, we’re a perfect team. He doesn’t really get my love of books (he’s all about planes and anything on the Discovery Channel) and doesn’t always understand how all-consuming writing can become. But, man, I’m lucky he’s a great listener.
Thanks, honey. You’re the BEST.
(Now you can go back to watching Deadliest Catch.)
I’m nearing the end of my novel and am having trouble moving forward and pulling all the pieces together.This is writer’s block, I guess.I have already planned for the end result, but getting there is proving to be a challenge.
My answer to my students has always been simply to keep writing (and frankly, stop over-thinking things) and see what comes out.I always remind them, this is the rough draft stage.I think someone used the term “madman” writing.I like that.Write now and make sense of it later.Crazed, passionate writing.
Good advice, right?Except that I seem to be finding more and more reasons to stay away from my computer.There are suddenly a million other tasks that need to be completed.And not enough time in the day.Excuses, excuses.I know.
Avoidance.Denial.Procrastination.My passive-aggressive side is rearing her ugly head.
Most of the time music helps.Themed music, of course.My husband knows that I’m working on my novel when he walks into the room and hears what he refers to as “nerd music.”I’m writing YA sci-fi so I play haunting techno-trance music to set the mood.Besides, what other type of music would a “word nerd” listen to?
But music isn’t helping.
I read over previous chapters, outlines, timelines, and random jotted down ideas I’ve stored on my computer, but nope. Nothing.
So, what’s the solution?
Probably stop blogging and get focused, for one.And two, listen to that smart teacher who says to stop over-thinking and just get writing.
Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), and Simon & Schuster will be debuting a new website (http://www.bookish.com) this summer that is dedicated to connecting readers with authors and new books. It is a site that will inform avid readers on author news and new books from various genres and allow readers to make recommendations to others.
It sounds like a great way to stay up-to-date with the literary world and get feedback from real people on worthwhile reads.
It definitely seems worth checking out. Read the above link to find out more.
Ahhh!I’m terrible!It’s Children’s Book Week and I just found out TODAY!What kind of children’s lit lover am I?
I apologize profusely for my oversight, but it’s not too late to make things right. Right?
This year Children’s Book Week is May 2nd-May 8th.What a great time for all of us (teachers, librarians, parents, kids, teens, etc.) to take a break and sit back with a good book.Basically, it’s time to celebrate children’s lit and promote literacy.
I encourage each one of you to pick up a children’s or young adult book this week to read yourself or read aloud to a child.It is so important that we hook children into reading now so that they can grow into perceptive, knowledgeable, tolerant, creative, inquisitive adults.Don’t let the opportunity pass you by!
Here are some great links for recommended books and ideas on incorporating author studies and children’s literature into lessons at home or in the classroom.
5.
And if you’re interested in e-books, here is a site one of my writing group colleagues recently got published on.Actually, she was runner-up in a book contest (she is author and illustrator).Check out Who is the Most Beautiful Bird in the Barnyard? and other children’s books:
As for me, I’m going to take a break from my current read – the adult mystery novel In the Woods by Tana French (although it’s very good!) – and head out to my library to grab a YA novel.
This April, Clare’s newest installment of the Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels, hit bookshelves (and e-books) around the country.It was an immediate success, appearing on the New York Times bestseller list at #1, The Wall Street Journal fiction bestseller list at #1, and the USA Today bestseller list at #2.
That’s great news for Clare, publishing giant Simon & Schuster, and fans of the series.
While City of Glass was intended to be the final book in the series, the success of the series convinced Clare and her publishers to continue the story.Instead of focusing solely on former main character, Clary, the point of view of this book is divided by the perspectives of Clary, Jace, and most particularly Simon.The main story surrounds Simon’s gradual transformation into and acceptance oflife as a vampire.When tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters escalate, it is the reluctant Simon who must work to bring peace.
Buy or check out a copy of City of Fallen Angels at a bookstore or library near you.I know that I will!Let’s see if the fourth book lives up to the reputation of the rest of the series.
This YA book definitely offers some spine-tingling thrills and excitement. It is a paranormal thriller about a town whose teenagers are slowly beginning to disappear without a trace. That, in itself, is spooky, but add to that fact a desk in an old classroom which seems to call out to whoever is sitting in it and it makes for nonstop, page-turning suspense.
Kendall lives in a small Montana town where her family owns a potato farm. In the town, everyone knows everyone. There are few secrets. Kendall is unique as a heroine because she has OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), but manages to hide her illness from most of her classmates, with the exception of her best friend, Nico. When Nico disappears, it is Kendall’s OCD that leads her closer to some answers and the risk of her own tragic disappearance.
Kendall knows where every desk in the small classroom of high school students belongs and who sits in each and every desk, as she sneaks in early every morning to straighten up the rows, the whiteboard markers, and wastebasket. She also knows every word of graffiti on each of these desks. After Nico vanishes without a trace, she notices that the desk he had been sitting in once belonged to another girl. The girl who disappeared the spring before Nico did. What’s more, there seems to be new words etched onto the surface of the desk, begging for help – as if Nico himself is calling out to her.
Confused and concerned about what she’s witnessed, Kendall questions her sanity and also questions the innocence of a tough new guy whose family’s arrival in town coincides with the first girl’s disappearance. Unwillingly, she finds herself falling under of the spell of both the new guy, Jacian, and the supernatural persuasiveness of the desk’s messages.
This book is immediately engaging and remains captivating throughout. Kendall is likeable as a girl struggling with a fairly common mental illness who is trying to understand herself and her own desires, as well as come to terms with the loss of a lifelong friend. The book is full of mystery, suspense, and not a little creepiness.
The ultimate explanation for the paranormal activity doesn’t completely satisfy me, as it defies basic logic and I was a bit disappointed by this. However, overall, I found the book to be enjoyable and it is definitely a quick read.
If you enjoy a little horror and the paranormal in your reading, I recommend this book to you. It was a fun ride.
