Another Link is Forged

The whole cyber-space thing - WOW - it still amazes me.

Through Internet social networks, online writing classes, and the wonderful writing/reading blog community I have found forever friends like Kiki Hamilton from WA (and I get to meet her for the first time in April at the WA-SCBWI Conf. YAY) - I have had the pleasure of 'meeting' writers and friends in other countries: Maha from Dubai and Katia from India to name just two - I have learned enormous amounts from teachers like Uma Krishnaswami and Sarah Aronson - And I have laughed, learned and commiserated with countless bloggers about the writing process.

Most recently through the awesomeness of the cyber-world I won my very own winner's copy of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE (that I just received, thanks again Casey). Now I have the honor to Buy-it-Forward for another lucky blogger.

The WINNER........of the SKY IS EVERYWHERE......by Jandy Nelson is....

   Corrine O'Flynn Writer of YA fiction

Will you look at how happy she is to win!!!!!  : )

Thank you to all for visiting my blog and entering the contest. If you didn't win here you may win on Corrine's blog!! Another link in the chain has been forged. YAY!!!! 



Buy-it-Forward Winner of The Sky is Everywhere: Who's next?

Support my local Bookseller, click here
to buy - thanks!

I WON I WON IWON IWONIWONIWANIWANNAIWANNA-I wanna see who's next to WIN, THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE!!

If you don't know Casey McCormick and you've never clicked over to her blog Literary Rambles, and you don't know how informative, helpful, and fun her postes are, or that she's started a Buy-it-Forward chain-HELLO-What are you waiting for? Get on over there because it's only the best blog stop EVER. And I'm not just saying that because I won THE SKY IS EVERWHERE, by Jandy Nelson on her blog a few days ago. (YAY)

Here's what Casey says about the book:

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson blows. my. mind. Boom. Gone. Again and again. I just read it a third time, despite an elephant ton of other books I need to read, because it's just that good. It works for me in every way, on every level. So much so that if you try to tell me you don’t like it, I’m very likely to stick my fingers in my ears and go, LALALALALALALA WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU LALALALALALA.


 

So heres the deal. I won THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE (did I already mention that?) Casey has ordered the book for me and it is on its way as I type (eek, can't wait). 

NOW, it's your turn to win. That's right.

Just comment on this post (1 entry), tweet about this post (1 entry), put this post on your Facebook wall (1 entry), send a friend who doesn't follow me over to comment on this post (1 entry), and you will have a chance (or two or three or...) to win your very own brand new copy of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE.  Isn't that cool?

Please be sure to let me know when you comment if you have tweeted or posted on Facebook, okay?

Here’s how it works. I’m going to order a brand new copy of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE for one lucky winner who follows the rules Casey has posted on her blog: 

"To enter the giveaway you have to be willing to do the SAME giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Meaning, you have to buy the book for someone else within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book. Your ONLY out is this: if you don’t love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE enough to keep it and buy it for someone, you can give away the one you’ve received. But the giveaway has to continue. Meaning, whoever wins your giveaway has to buy it for their winner or give away the one they’ve received from you, depending on their feelings on it."

It is her hope, and mine, "that this will create a chain of PURCHASES in order to support the title. Not a big pass-the-book-around fest. In fact, you might even consider starting your giveaway right after you win" (which is what I'm doing bcz I'm THAT sure I'll LOVE the book), 

RULES:

1. You MUST have a blog or Facebook or somewhere you can give the book away and be clear about the rules (Twitter can’t support it, for example).

2. You MUST be willing to hold this exact giveaway on your blog or Facebook in which you purchase this book for someone else (or give away the one you receive from me, IF you don’t love it) and require that YOUR winner do the same. Preferably within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from me.

2. If you win, PLEASE enter your giveaway into the linky widget ON CASEY'S BLOG and have YOUR winner do the same, again on Casey's original giveaway post  (not on your blog or my blog). That way she can track how long the chain lasts and how many purchases we achieve. Cool, right? I can't wait to see how long the chain goes on for.

3. U.S. entrants only.

4. Spreading the word will gain you extra entries (Tweets and Facebook). Stalking Jandy Nelson on the net (only on the net!) will also get you extra entries.

5. The contest will run February 17th to February 21st ‘til MIDNIGHT. I will announce the winner on February 22nd and the chain will commence.

Additionally, if you want to start your own giveaway chain for THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, please do and don't forget to add yourself to Casey's linky widget.

I don't enter a ton of contest, but I loved this idea of Buying-it-Forward and supporting another writer, and I hope you'll join me.

Travel Back a Thousand Years

Sunday Scribblings, if you don't already know, is a blog that “was set up to provide inspiration and motivation for anyone who enjoys writing and would like a weekly challenge.”

This week’s prompt is: a thousand years, and inspiration is what I found in the form of a poet that lived a thousand years ago.

Izumi Shikibu lived in Japan between 970 and 1033 AD and she is still known today for her beauty, her lovers, and her poems. Thirteen of which have survived time.

Thank you Sunday Scribblings. Without you I doubt I would have found Izumi’s beautiful words. To read something that was written in a completely different time, culture, a world so different from today’s is like time traveling from the comfort of my living room.

Below is one of Izumi’s more famous poems. Enjoy.


Things I Want Decided

 Which shouldn't exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you are alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things-
the swift rapids,

a flowing river,

or this human world?

Izumi Shikibu

To read more from Izumi Shikibu check out - The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono No Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, compiled by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Arantani

BIRTHMARKED - My 2010 Dystopian Favorite



See below how an orange,
a box, and a code
won Editor Nancy Mercado at
Roaring Brook Press the
deal for BIRTHMARKED.



2010 was a big year for dystopian novels. My personal favorite was BIRTHMARKED, by Caragh O'Brien

Mundie Moms gave it five stars out of five. Here’s what they say:

On Amazon

“From the moment I opened Birth Marked, Caragh had my undivided attention, as she drew me right into Gaia's world. Following in her mother's footsteps, Gaia is a midwife. Delivering her first baby should be something to be proud of, but when you have to take the baby away from a grieving mother and turn it over to the Enclave, how could you celebrate? Everything up to this point in Gaia's life has been about serving the Enclave, honorably and without questions.

 After delivering the heathy baby to the Enclave, 16 year old Gaia returns home to find her parents have been taken to the Enclave and the handsome solider standing in front of her wants answers Gaia's can't give him. What I liked about this story, is that there's no need for a drawn out explanation into the story's history, and as Gaia is trying to figure out what's really going on behind the walls of the Enclave that separate her people and the "wealthy" ones, and why her parents were taken, I found out the answers when she did. That's what made BIRTHMARKED such a remarkable page turner. I didn't have time to think, I just kept reading as I wanted to know what would happen next.

 Scared from a burn that covers her half her face since she was an infant, Gaia is no stranger to trials and tribulations. Where I would want to throw my hands up in the air and yell "what next", Gaia's inner strength gives her the courage to continue on. I absolutely wish I was more like her. She's a very strong heroine and was very relatable as she tries to do the right thing, holds on to her faith that her parents are still alive and will do whatever it takes to try and save her family, even when all hope is lost.”

Reading like a writer, I give BIRTHMARKED five out of five stars, as well. I found the constant surprises refreshing and the pacing perfect. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, Caragh had Gaia taking a completely unexpected route, giving the novel so many interesting twists, and leaving each chapter end with a hook that made it difficult to find a spot to put the book down, even at two in the morning.

At a conference I attended, Emily Lockhart said to ask our writer-selves, “What’s the worst thing that can happen next.” Well Caragh sure takes that question to new depths. The ending left me wanting more. I’m looking forward to book two!

Okay, so you want to learn how an orange, a box, and a code won Nancy Mercado, editor at Roaring

Brook Press, the deal for BIRTHMARKED? It's a great story, read it here.

Read the first chapter of BIRTHMARKED here.

Visit Caragh's blog here.

The End feels like The Beginning

I’m celebrating The End.

My second manuscript, Until Death, has made it through a first draft, and subsequent rewrites. YAY! to writing The End--again.

Until Death is written from two points-of-view and explores grief, love, and how to live in the face of imminent death.

Since Jake Riox’s near-death-experience he’s haunted by visions, premonitions of how others will die. But despite the warnings, death still comes.

Emma Connors’ father is dead and her mother may as well be. When she meets Jake, so full of anger and raw emotion, she has a desperate need to help him, as if helping him will rid her of her own nightmares.

But then Jake sees Emma’s death; he vows to fight Fate and win this time, even if it kills him—again. Emma is just as determined to save Jake from his re-occurring nightmares, and will risk her own life, if need be. As Emma and Jake work through their grief and the thrill of first love, they try to stay a step ahead of Fate. But death is closing in and time is running out.

Yay! I am just so excited about this manuscript, because this time The End feels like, maybe, just maybe it will be The Beginning.

I could be totally wrong, of course, but I think (hope, pray, all possible appendages remain crossed) this manuscript has real potential in catching the eye of an agent, and hopefully one of my top five.


With my fist manuscript, I didn’t have that same sense, so this is new to me.

The other thing that’s new for me: I miss Emma and Jake. Weird, huh? I promised myself to put the manuscript aside for a few weeks while two writer friends and my mentor do a full ms critique. Then I'll take one last look through before sending it out in January. But I keep thinking about them. What will they get each other for Christmas? What would they do to make this Christmas less painful for them, what about New Years . . .

So to preserve my sanity I’ve opened a new doc file, created a title page, and have begun book two titled, Essence. Perhaps a fruitless task since no one has even looked at book one. And I’ve heard of so many whose second book has been passed on by their editors, but what the heck. I did write Until Death as a standalone with potential threads that could be used in a second book.

Here’s to new beginnings. What are you working on?

Hilarious Thanksgiving

If you want to laugh check out JibJab. But make sure you have a few hours, it's addictive.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Close Your Eyes, Now Write

Have you ever tried it? Closed your eyes and written a scene? I hadn’t and never even thought of doing it, until last night.

It was almost midnight. I was exhausted. All these thought and visions swirled around in my head that were not well formed enough yet and I was certain if I waited, went to bed, they’d be gone.

The scene I was working on was a near-death-experience (NDE) scene for one of my characters. I just finished reading numerous, amazing accounts of real NDE’s online. My eyes closed and my fingers tapped the key board.

At first, I raised my eyebrows in a desperate effort to keep them open, but quickly gave up and figured, what the heck, this could be interesting.

It was strange not to see the letters appear on the screen in front of me, to trust that I was hitting the correct keys. I was certain I would open my eyes and find I’d written, amdla knfsl;d khr aweyra;k and have to start over. But after peeking a few times to find readable, full sentences I let my lids drop and my fingers fly.

It proved to be an enlightening and productive experience. Even more so because the NDE scene I wrote is purely visual and emotional, devoid of sound, touch, smell, or taste. By closing my eyes it heightened my own inner senses.

Cool, huh? Try it. You don't have to scrunch them shut like the boy in the picture, just saying. Unless you want to, of course. Let me know how it works for you.

(Follow this link if you want to read real NDE accounts.)