Hush, Hush Giveaway at Stephanie Writes!

It's official. Blogger hates me. I just noticed it didn't automatically post this post on Sunday. What gives? Sorry, Stephanie! I knew I had one more giveaway to blog about. Here goes:


Stephanie Writes is starting a book giveaway series for the month of December, so get on over to her blog and check it out. First is Hush, Hush, which I know I'd like to read. Details follow:

Post a comment below to enter. If you blog about the contest, you’ll get an additional entry. Tweet about it? Another chance to win. Simply post a link to your blog and/or Twitter with your entry. The contest for Hush, Hush ends on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at noon. Stay tuned for the next book giveaway as I’m currently reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Good luck!
Stephanie

The Red Ink Blues, or, Revising Your Novel Without Pulling Your Hair Out, Part I

So things have been going pretty well with my revisions of Mara's story. Forgiven, is that a terrible title? That was one of the biggest words when I Wordled the entire manuscript.

Hmm.

Oh well, there'll be plenty of time to second guess my title choices before I'm ready to query.

Meanwhile, since I know so many of you made so much progress in November and will be revising soon, I thought this week I'd share some of my favorite resources for novel revision.

Today's pick is NaNoEdMo, a site devoted to editing your manuscript. There are great articles available, including one by Tabitha Olson, whose contest I recently featured. "Tell Me First" serves as a great reminder that it's okay to "tell" in a first draft, but to go into greater detail for your revisions. Another article that I'll remember while revising was "Cut it Bigger", by Christine Taylor. Don't be afraid to use all the senses, she advises, and remember to get deeper into your character's head in the re-write.

But the most useful to me was Amber Cook's "Ask Not Only What You Can Do For You, But What You Can Do For Your Editing (When March Is Over)" I've pasted in the bit that really helped me below:

"Establish what you’re editing towards.

Start general. I want to write a good book that people will want to read. Make a list of your favorite books and ask yourself what is it about them that made them such favorites. Why did you read them, and why do you care about them? Especially books you’ve either read repeatedly, or stories which stand out vividly in your mind (even if you only read it once). When you figure out what makes them, in your own opinion, so good, you’ll have an idea of what you want to be shooting for in your writing.

Now get specific about your novel. Do you want it to be a really scary story? Gut-wrenching drama? A humorous piece of refreshing escapism? A place to share your experience with a traumatic event in the hopes it can help other people going through the same thing? Which is all another way of saying: what kind of experience do you want to give your reader?

Look at what revved you up to write it in the first place and what drove you to actually sit down and write it. What makes it something you would love to share with other people?"

The bolding is mine, because I wanted to stress the importance of this sentence, which is something I never consciously think about during my rewrites. But it's something I thought of all the time while I was planning the novel, in the pre-writing, and even the initial writing stage. Somehow, once I finally get to the revision stage, I'm so caught up in what I have to do to make it perfect, I forget what it is I loved about the work in the first place.

So pop on over to NaNoEdMo for all the great editing resources there. They even have a forum, one more site to suck up the time you should be spending writing, LOL. But you don't have to be a member to benefit from their wisdom.

Happy Revising! ;)

Yes! It's raining book giveaways!

Hop on over to Writer Musings for Tabitha Olson's December Book Giveaway! Her YA novel Royal Rose is currently on submission with publishers. Celebrate the season with her, and enter to win!





Not only can you win two books by Barrie Summy, three great piles of books are up for grabs.


"Pile #1:
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - ARC
The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley - ARC
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Alchemist by Michael Scott
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Pile #2:
Liar by Justine Larbalestier - ARC
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams - ARC
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Ash by Malinda Lo - ARC
Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan - ARC
How To Steal A Car by Pete Hautman - ARC
Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem

Pile #3:
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - ARC
Fallen by Lauren Kate - ARC
My Big Nose And Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter - ARC
Demon Princess: Reign or Shine by Michelle Rowan - ARC
Three Witches by Paula Jolin - ARC
How To Be Popular by Meg Cabot
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer"

Good luck, everyone!

Great Book Giveaways! Who Loves You, Baby? ;)

Nothing I like better than book giveaways. Today I've got two to satisfy your contest cravings, YA Highway, and The Enchanted Inkpot. Let's start the weekend with a bang!

In honor of their blog reaching over 100 followers, YA Highway will be awarding books to TWO lucky (U.S.) followers:

How to enter: YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO ENTER AND WIN! We're all about celebrating our followers this time around. And, we're only able to ship to our US followers right now (so, so, so, so sorry, but we're working on getting you a prize, too, our wonderful internationals).

You automatically get one point by commenting [on the YA HIGHWAY blog]. Here's the point structure to earn even more chances to win:

+3 if you are a DEVOTED follower (follower before this post)

+1 if you are a NEW follower (follower after this post)

+1 for tweeting about this contest

+2 for blogging about this contest on your own blog

Tally up your points and post them along with your comment below. Contest ends THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2009, so get crackin'!

Stop by their blog to enter to win the books shown above and other great prizes.

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Then there's The Enchanted Inkpot.
If you're a U.S. or Canada resident, check out the livejournal group, The Enchanted Inkpot, to enter their amazing contest before December 9th. You could win one of three book gift baskets. There are two ways to win, just read the contest rules below--

There will be a grand prize winner and 2 runner ups. Winners will be based on the following criteria:

1. The Grand Prize winner will have first pick and choose one of the book gift baskets AND will also win a $25 gift card to Powell’s Books AND a copy of ICE by Sarah Beth Durst. The winner will be chosen based on who provides the most online promotion points for our contest, via blog, facebook, twitter, etc. One point is awarded for the type of promotion and the number of times such promotion is provided. For example, a person who tweets and blogs about it for all 14 days of the contest will earn 28 points. Honor system is in place so you will be required to tally up your points yourself and we’ll check’em. YOU MUST COMMENT ONLY ON THIS ORIGINAL CONTEST POST IN ORDER TO QUALIFY.

2. Second runner up will choose from the remaining 2 baskets. The winner will be the person who comes in second with the most online promotion points.

3. Third runner up will win the last remaining book gift basket and will be chosen from a lottery. Anyone can enter the third prize drawing. All you have to do is answer one of the following questions. What MG/YA fantasy would you like to read over the holiday break? What fantasy book most reminds you of the Holiday or New Year season?

Contest ends on December 9th, 2009. And our apologies, but due to the large size of the prizes, the contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. Don’t forget, all contest entries are accepted only in the comments section of this contest post. Comment as much as you like and help spread the word!

Check out their livejournal to enter to win the books shown above and other great prizes!

Good luck everyone! And happy reading this holiday season!

Honest Scrap-- Hey, That's Me!

Recently received the much coveted "Honest Scrap" award from Shannon Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe! Thanks so much, Shannon!

And in the time I dawdled, sweating over picking such worthy nominees, I was also given the award by the best cake decorator I know, Karen Denise at I'm Always Write. I really appreciate you thinking of me! Thanks you!

In order to truly earn my award, I must divulge ten things about myself. I'm going to do 11, since I received the award twice, so here we go--

1. At Thanksgiving I like to mix everything together on my plate and liberally drown it in cranberry sauce. Mmm. Thanksgiving mush. It's awesome, but I'm a food mixer to begin with. Always have been.

2. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to do it since I'm thirty, but I can touch my elbows together behind my back. Step right up, folks! The 9:30 show is completely different from the 7:30 show. Just a dollar a ticket!

3. Sometimes I wish I was born a century ago, and then I remember how much I like vaccines and showering. And elastic. And the internet.

4. I hate olives. All kinds. I even try them repeatedly because everyone loves olives and my husband will come home from work with a tray of them and tell me that I'll like these olives because they're real and expensive and didn't come out of a can. But I still can't eat a whole olive. Don't ask me to eat anything puttanesca, either, because I can't do it. It's my shameful secret and what keeps me from thinking of myself as a gourmand. I'm just a foodie.

5. I just watched "Up", and I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would. Too many talking dogs made it a bit too silly for me. I'll stick to "The Incredibles" for my Pixar fix.

6. I've read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", but not "Pride and Prejudice" without zombies.

7. I hate football and dislike most other team sports in general. I'd rather go to a game than watch one on television. Except curling, which I could watch on the t.v. for hours-- it's too cold to watch in real life.

8. My favorite junk food is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Zapp's Crawtators potato chips.

9. One movie I could watch a thousand times is "Spirited Away." When I was younger it was "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and when I was really little it was "The Last Unicorn". Guess I like Miyazaki, huh?. Terry Gilliam's not too bad either-- though you can watch "Tideland" at your own risk.

10. I love to sing showtunes when no one is listening. And sometimes when people are listening.

11. Finally, I can no longer eat turtle soup. I have a pet musk turtle and I just can't do it. Somehow I couldn't care less about the politics of veal and foie gras, but I think it's horrible to eat turtle. Especially since two species of turtle were wiped out to make turtlesoup in the 19th and early 20th ceturies. Say no to turtle soup! Who wants to eat green meat, anyway?

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for--

For putting so much of themselves into their blogs, I decided to give this award to:

1. Renee at Midnight Meditations
2. Carrie at Things That Make Me Snarf
3. Tamika at The Write Worship
4. Annie "Paranormalchick" at YA Book Reviews
5. Weronika at Weronika Junczuk
6. Anissa at Off the Record
7. B.J. Anderson at Hope Springs Eternal
8. Delayne T. Buranek at An Aspiring Writer's Blog
9. Jade at Jade Hears Voices
10. Liana at Liana Brooks

You deserve it!

Tu Publishing-- YA and Children's Books in Today's Multicultural World

On Monday, Heather Zundel of The Secret Adventures of Writer Girl, posted about Tu Publishing. Heather has a contest going right now, so check it out, and spread goodwill.

The mission of Tu Publishing is simple and one that's close to my heart-- to broaden the scope of the genres of science fiction and fantasy, genres that have long ignored ethnic and cultural diversity even in imagined worlds. They even go so far as to recommend multicultural fantasy and sci-fi books on their site. I've copied their mission statement below:

"Fantasy and science fiction, mystery and historical fiction–these genres draw in readers like no other. Yet it is in these genres that readers of color might feel most like an outsider, given that such a large percentage features white characters (when they feature human characters). It is the goal of Tu Publishing to publish genre books for children and young adults that fills this gap in the market–and more importantly, this gap in serving our readers. By focusing on multicultural settings and characters in fantastic stories, we also open up worlds to all readers.

The word “tu” means “you” in many languages, and in Ainu (the language of Japan’s native people), it means “many.” Tu Publishing is dedicated to publishing fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction for children and young adults inspired by many cultures from around the world, to reach the “you” in each reader.

Kids who love to read do better in school. One way to encourage that love of reading is to provide stories that readers can identify with. By increasing the number of books that feature multicultural characters and settings, we can influence the multicultural world of tomorrow.

Books can be both a mirror and a window to other worlds for readers. Tu Publishing hopes that by publishing books that feature multicultural characters and settings and books with worlds inspired by all the many non-Western cultures in the world, we might shine a mirror on you and open a window to many."

They hope to be open to submissions (unagented as well as agented? That's the way it sounds so far) in January, so you have only a month to spruce up that manuscript. The catch is, they are currently fund-raising in order to be able to do so. They hope to meet their goal of $10,000 by mid-month, so they need your help.

If you can contribute anything (I just donated $5), click over to this Tu Publishing post to find out how. It's safe and easy to donate, especially if you already have an amazon account, and who doesn't these days? I already had a card on file with amazon, so the whole experience was extremely painless. I wish I would have heard of this publishing house sooner-- I would have been plugging them this whole time.

On a personal note, I'm not sure who I would have grown up to be if not for my love of science fiction and fantasy. But I'm not sure if I would have liked fantasy and sci-fi if no one in the stories looked like me... I do know that I enjoyed reading about other cultures from a very young age, but I'm sure I would have been discouraged if all I had to read were books about some other culture, not my own. If I'd grown up being told that my race doesn't buy books, so why should publishers waste time and money catering to me? If I'd never had the pleasure of reading about a character who was like me. I can imagine I'd probably swear off reading for good, since I was a stubborn child.

But this was not the case for this little white girl who was a tad weird and friendless, luckily. I found in books all the friends I needed. If I hadn't had my books, and they hadn't been so very special to me, I'm not sure if I would be here today, blogging and writing for your reading pleasure. And I certainly wouldn't be the person that books have helped me metamorphose into. If I hadn't seen "myself" in books, I'm not sure that love would have had such a lasting affect on me.

I hope that this perspective might convince even one person to donate $5 to Tu Publishing this week. If we all donated $5, that would go a long way to help Tu Publishing meet their goal.
Thanks for listening, y'all! And have a safe and happy holiday season.

The Dreaded Synopsis-- The Most Underutilized Tool in the Box

So I've got the complete rewrite of EVANGELINE finished and I'm ready and raring to go on my second draft of Mara's story. First thing I'm going to do is write a synopsis.

I can hear the groans through cyberspace now. (And apparently time, too, since none of you have read this as I'm still writing it, but I'm just cool like dat.)

Why write a synopsis now, you say, before the final draft? Things might change, you say.

Bingo!

At this stage I use the synopsis to remind myself of the plot without actually having to read the story again. This helps keep me from packing extraneous information into the synopsis. There might be some details I've forgotten, but that's for the best. It's probably minor subplot, which has no place in my short synopsis. It also helps me keep the story a little fresher in my mind for once I actually start reading through and line editing.

As I write the synopsis, a scrawling, scribbled-out, longhand mess at first, the story slowly becomes clear in my mind. And, if I find I do want to change something, the synopsis is the best place to plan such revisions, especially if they lead to other major changes down the road.

Without actually making any changes to your manuscript, you can use the synopsis and save a lot of time in the long run if you are already thinking of making major changes to the plot. Usually once I have the plot the way I like it, my short synopsis is finished. Even after all my revisions to EVANGELINE, the synopsis I made after the first draft was finished still applies. I made changes in style and hopefully refined the narrative and dialogue, and I even added and deleted some minor subplots, but none of those changes affected the major plot arc.

Since wriitng a one page synopsis is the most difficult for me, that's the length I eventually strive for, but when I first start the process, it's more like three pages. Whatever length works for you is fine, but I think over five pages means you might be focusing a bit too much on subplots. In this case, you should ask yourself why that is. Should one of the minor subplots become a more major one?

The other great thing about crafting a synopsis before you read the story again is that you're still so excited about your novel. The story still feels alive and new and full of potential. The synopsis is all about potential, about seeking it out and playing around with possiblities.

Why not make your synopsis work for you instead of slaving over it? Especially when you are on the verge of querying, trying to craft a query letter at the same time and having the query sound too much like a synopsis.

I'm really looking forward to working on my second draft, but before I dive in head first, I want to be prepared, armed to the teeth and writing with a purpose.

The synopsis is an indispensible tool. Make it work for you!