Cowabunga, Dude!

I'm heading out on a surfing camp field trip with my 7th graders tomorrow and won't be back until Friday night.  It will be an absolutely EXHAUSTING, but I'm sure fun and exciting time and I can't wait!  We leave at the crack of dawn and I won't have internet access (or access to much technology period) for a while.

In my place, my sister - who is incredible and smart and funny and artistic - has graciously decided to help me keep up with blog posts now that school is in session. So you may be hearing from her on here this week and in the future.  She's a little nervous about entering the blogging world, but I know she'll be warmly accepted.

Have a great week and say hello to my sister, Jacinda.  She's the cooler of the two of us, trust me. :)

My sister, Jay, and I at her wedding this summer in the Dominican Republic. Isn't she beautiful?

Review: The Maze Runner (YA Dystopian - Exciting Read!)

In The Maze Runner James Dashner has created a world in which teenage boys become an experiment in will power, perseverance, and survival.  Thomas awakens in a world surrounded by a maze with no memory of his past.  The only residents of this strange and dangerous new world are other teenage boys.  They are given everything they need to survive through what they call “The Box,” which is an elevator shaft that opens up every two weeks with supplies.  Once a month, the Box delivers another amnesiac boy.

But this month is different.  They day after Thomas’s arrival, the Box delivers a teenage girl, breaking the two-year pattern of the Box.  After this, their entire world, as they know it, begins to unravel.

The maze encompassing their living space is vast.  For two years, they send out “runners” to find the patterns and secrets of the maze – hoping to break free of their prison, because every night, the maze closes off from them and reorganizes itself.  If any of the runners are not back my night, they will be locked within the maze and the horrible creatures roaming the maze at night will find and destroy them. 

The book is immediately exciting and intriguing.  There is no break in the action.  Dashner has created a unique world – unlike anything I’ve read so far – and even given the boys a language, or dialect, specific to their new life and completely believable for boys (“shuck-face", "shank", etc.). 

The characters are well-developed.  Each one has a distinct personality.  Although, I have to admit, it took some time for Thomas to grow on me.  He struck me as a bit too full of himself  and, at the same time, whiny at first.  Once the girl arrived, I was able to see and appreciate a softer, more likable side of Thomas and the mystery she provided kept me turning pages. 

This book will definitely appeal to boys – even reluctant readers.  I have proof of this because my husband is one of those “boys” and he devoured the book, and then the sequel (The Scorch Trials), and yesterday, I bought him the third book of the trilogy, The Death Cure.  I also think that this book will appeal to girls.  It is creepy, exciting, and action-packed.  Dashner even managed to add a hint of romance – although still mixed with mystery – which girls can appreciate.

The end of the book, much like The Hunger Games, will leave you hanging and begging for more.

I definitely recommend this book.  If you enjoyed The Hunger Games, then I think you will enjoy this. 

Checkout the trailer:

CONTEST!!! (Through Writer's Digest)

http://www.writersdigest.com/your-story-competition/your-story-38-submit-now 

Writer's Digest has given you a prompt, which is a picture, and all that is required is an OPENING SENTENCE (25 words or less).  I know, sounds simple, right?  Not so.

If you have been working on a novel or story, like me, than you know how crucial that very first sentence can be.  But whether you win or lose, what a great exercise!

So give it a shot.  I know that I will.

And good luck!  :)

The Woes of Revision (and Finding the Time to be a Writer)

Honey, if only you would stop being so cute and sweet,
I could get some things accomplished!  (Seriously, can
I really complain about this?)

I’m in the revision process.  The first revision.  And this is my first novel.  So yeah, I’m a bit overwhelmed for two reasons: 1) I have a full time job which is turning out to be more of a time commitment than I initially believed and a husband who likes spending time with me and is quite frankly, a bit jealous of my time at the computer, and 2) the first draft was 100,000 words and I still haven’t decided if it’s two novels or one! 

Based on advice I’ve heard from publishers, it is best not to write a series – especially for a new author.  The one book should be a complete story and if it happens to do well, then maybe a sequel can be planned.  With this in mind, I have cut 10,000 words already from the book, which is quite a feat (and I’m a bit proud of this, actually), but ANOTHER 10,000 words? Yikes!

In some ways, this is a very enjoyable part of the process.  I get to work out the kinks.  I get to use those suspense-building techniques I’ve been reading about and try the formulas recommended (I know, formulas!  Crazy, right?)  However, some days I want to bang my head on the table because the project seems so immense and insurmountable. 

Number 1 is my biggest obstacle.  People say, get up earlier.  I get up at 5 a.m. and work on schoolwork (or occasionally vent on my blog).  Plus, if I start writing before school, I won’t want to stop.  I hate to be interrupted.  It puts me in a terrible mood. 

People say, stay up later.  Write in the evenings or at night.  I am neurotic.  Besides the fact that my husband wants my attention in the evenings, writing before bed doesn’t work either because then, I don’t sleep.  I stew.  I can’t stop thinking about the book. 

As for weekends, well, that has been my only time and even then, commitments infringe upon that time.  It’s frustrating.  It’s discouraging. 

Sometimes, right after school, I pull out my computer and try to crank through a page or two, but it just doesn’t seem like enough time. 

So, what’s the answer?  More hours in the day?  A simpler life?  I wish. 

Someone give me advice, please. 

Good Blog with Simple Advice, Ideas, and Inspiration for Writers

Writing assignment: Make your character do something for the first time | onewildword.

This blog, OneWildWord, has great tidbits of information or inspiration for the creative writing process.  It leaves you with things to think about and try in your own writing.  Check it out! :)

Review of YA novel: Imaginary Girls (by Nova Ren Suma)

There are some books - maybe far too few - that you finish, but they stay with you.  You can't stop thinking about the book.  It affected you.  It did its job.  Sometimes, I don't realize how invested I was in the book until I can't get it out of my head.  Then, I know.  The author did his/her job beautifully.


Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma is one of those books. As I read it, I couldn't put it down.  I finished it in a day.  Even as I was at times frustrated with the main character, I kept on reading and long after completing it, I continue to think about it.  Did I like it?  Didn't I?  I think the answer to that is yes and no, but the fact that I'm STILL asking myself that question says a ton about my reading experience.  Sometimes, there is no simple answer.

This YA novel, geared towards older teens, is about the deep, possessive and frankly, creepy relationship between two sisters, Chloe and Ruby.  Growing up with an alcoholic mother, Chloe depended heavily on her older, charismatic sister Ruby to raise her.  Ruby took the responsibility very seriously and came to love Chloe with an intensity closer to that of mother and child, rather than that of a sister.

Set in a small New York town, nestled next to a lake with a haunted past, the book is more of a ghost or horror story than contemporary fiction.  One night, while swimming across the lake to prove herself to the other teenagers in town - and because Ruby believes she can do it - Chloe comes upon a drifting boat in which lays the dead body of a classmate.  Life as Chloe and Ruby know it is never the same.

With the image of the dead girl branded in her mind, Chloe leaves town to live with their father while Ruby works to bring her home.  She will do anything for them to be together again, because there is no one Ruby cares about more than her sister.

Ruby is a magnetic, enigmatic girl - irresistible to the townspeople and especially her sister.  She entrances people with her smile and her beauty.  She has a power over people and is chillingly careless with it.  Individuals do not matter to Ruby, only Chloe and herself matter.  She is as ruthless as she is loving.  As a reader, I hated her and I loved her.  I couldn't get enough of her.  I, too, fell under her spell.  The writing is that good.  

While Chloe is the main character - and often makes decisions you want to shake her for, it is Ruby who drives the storyline.  It is Ruby who will captivate you.


This haunting, exquisitely-written novel leaves you with questions: What would you do for the person you love?  How far would you go?  How much would you give up?

Is there such a thing as loving someone too much?

It is a creepy, hypnotic read.  You may not "like" it in the traditional sense, but you will never forget it.

Review: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen (one of my favorite "feel good" authors)

Sarah Addison Allen has the most amazing ability of pulling me into a story.  She starts with a hint or glimmer of magic and mystery, enchanting the reader and leaving us wanting more.  I love her written style.  Reading her work is as effortless and enjoyable as spending the day with a best friend.  You laugh, you cry, and you have faith – in her characters, in the storyline, in magic. Her characters are well-developed and her stories are both beautiful and intriguing.  Can you tell I am a fan?

This story begins with a magical invitation which keeps popping up regardless of how many times Willa Jackson tries to hide it from her sight – as if it is teasing her, beckoning her to attend the event to be held at the newly-renovated Blue RidgeMadam.  The old  mansion was once owned by Jackson’s ancestors, but has long since been out of their possession and the family name is no longer synonymous with wealth and notoriety.  The house now belongs to the infamous Paxton Osgood, a former classmate of Willa’s, whose money and class leave Willa bitter, and a bit envious.

Willa Jackson is a woman desperately trying to act “adult” and repress – or atone for – her prankster reputation in high school, which she believes ultimately led to her dad losing his job.  She wants to redeem herself and – although he died in an accident – prove to him, or his memory, that she can be someone he could be proud of.  She stays in the town of Walls of Water to provide for her grandmother, who is under care for Alzheimer’s, but she wants nothing to do with her old life, especially Paxton Osgood.

Paxton Osgood has spent her entire life trying to live up to the standards put on her by her mother and herself.  Her quest for perfection has affected her personal life and left her tightly wound.  On the surface, Paxton and Willa are complete opposites, but deep down they want the same things: love, acceptance, and a good friend.

When renovations uncover the body of a salesman from sixties years ago, the two women are pulled into the mystery surrounding his death.  An unlikely friendship develops in their search for answers and as they allow themselves to let go of their pasts and the restraining weight of their self-inflicted personal expectations, they find love and come to understand who they are and what life is all about.

Although it isn’t my favorite of her books, The Peach Keeper is still an enjoyable read.  I would have liked more mystery, suspense, and magic surrounding the uncovered crime.  There were traces of it, but I was left feeling a bit disappointed in this aspect.  The romances were sweet, if predictable.  The strength of the story lies in the women’s journey of self-discovery.  I do recommend it for adults, however, as it is a quick read for someone who needs something light and uplifting.

Author’s Website: http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/the_peach_keeper.html