Like many others, I decided to read The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare when the previews for the movie came out. Now, I know die-hard fans of the books have mixed feelings about the movie–I blogged about that here–but I’m glad I waited to read this series until almost all of the books were…
Revision: Killing Those Darlings
If you’ve been following my journey through revisions for my work-in-progress, you may remember that in my last round of revisions I was still getting rid of a number of dangling threads from an early plot thread I’d eliminated. When I received comments back from this round of readers, I was pleased to discover that–finally!–I…
How Writing Has Changed My Reading Habits, Part 2
I don’t have a review today because I spent my week of vacation re-reading one of my favorite romance novel series. Yes, I actually returned from vacation last week and had a review then, but that review was written before I left, and unfortunately the book I started reading upon my return that I hoped…
Thoughts on Revising from Public Critiques
Two weeks ago I was privileged to participate in #BLOGPITCH, a blog hop hosted by Authoress for the purpose of gathering critiques for my Twitter pitch and first 250 words. First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate everyone who stopped by to comment on my post. I really appreciated the critiques….
YA Review: ALIENATED by Melissa Landers
Have you ever picked up a book and thought, “This author has been inside my head?” That’s kind of how I felt when I started reading ALIENATED by Melissa Landers. Completely different premise, and yet her alien race and planet bore an eery number of similarities to those in my middle grade sci-fi novel. Hmm….
What I’ve Learned in Three Years of Querying
Today marks three years since I seriously started querying my work. As a frame of reference, I’ve queried three manuscripts during that time. All of them started out middle grade, but one of them I aged up to young adult after a revise and resubmit request from an agent. I’m currently getting a fourth manuscript…
A BOY COULD #BLOGPITCH Logline and First 250 Words
Last week I participated in a Twitter pitch contest through the popular Miss Snark’s First Victim blog (http://www.misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/) and was selected as one of ten blogs to participate in a blog hop to receive critiques on the first 25o words of my manuscript. It’s a win for me because I’m at the perfect stage to…
YA Review and Giveaway: THE GRIMM LEGACY by Polly Shulman
Based on the cover and description, I actually thought THE GRIMM LEGACY was a middle grade book when I picked it up at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale, but it turns out it’s YA. It does read on the younger side, but I’m all for finding those gems that appeal to the tween crowd who are…
Revision: Snip, Snip, Snipping the Dangling Threads
I’ve finished yet another draft of my work-in-progress, and it has me thinking in embroidery metaphors. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I like to cross-stitch. I once posted about how I wished I had a pattern to follow, and then followed up with an ironic post about having to…
YA Review: THE BURNING SKY by Sherry Thomas
As a writer, I get a lot of books recommended to me during the critique process for various reasons. Sometimes it’s because the author uses a similar technique, others for a similar premise or plot point. Discovering new authors is a great side benefit of the critique process. I’m not sure I would have heard…
MMGM Review & Giveaway: EYE OF THE STORM by Kate Messner
I promised that the next time I had an MMGM it would include a giveaway, so here we go. It’s another one of my Scholastic Warehouse Sale finds–EYE OF THE STORM by Kate Messner! In the not-too-distant future, huge tornadoes and monster storms are a part of everyday life. Sent to spend the summer in…
When Authors Experiment with Time
I like it when authors get creative–whether it’s with format or time. When done well, it can really heighten tension to jump outside a linear story. And yet, sometimes it goes wrong. A while ago, I had a rather frustrating reading experience, and I’ve since read a couple of other books with non-linear timelines that…
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