As I began preparing this post, I was a bit shocked to see that I’ve read less than 100 books this year, although I have 11 days left, so I might be able to squeeze four more in :). However, one of the reasons I’ve read less in 2017 is that I returned to another…
pacing
What I Learned Re-Reading the First Manuscript I Queried
I’m going to be completely honest here. I’m not really referring to the first manuscript I ever queried. Because that one was ten years ago, and it was this crazy adult time-travel Christian romance that I didn’t even let anyone read before I queried it (I know! Rookie move!). I had no idea what I…
Tackling a Major Revision, or How I’m Revising for Pitch Wars
In addition to promising to talk about my Pitch Wars mentors’ books (I’ll feature Kristin Smith’s books next week!), I said I’d share my revision process, so here goes. A week after the Pitch Wars announcement, I received a thirteen-page edit letter from my mentors, as well as an invitation to view a Google Doc…
YA Review & Giveaway: FOLLOW ME BACK by A.V. Geiger
A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway for A.V. Geiger’s FOLLOW ME BACK, and as I just read the book in a day, I think it merits a review. Also, for some reason they sent me two copies, plus swag, so I’m doing a giveaway! Details are at the end of the review….
WRITTEN IN THE STARS and A Few Other Books You Should Read
I haven’t been in the right state of mind to do a full review the past few weeks, but I have been reading some excellent books, so I decided to do a roundup. I usually try to do all young adult or middle grade at once, but I don’t feel like waiting until I have…
MMGM: WILL IN SCARLET by Matthew Cody
Earlier this year our school librarian was thinning out the shelves to make room for new books, and I quickly scooped up a book by a familiar author. I’d read two books by Matthew Cody before–POWERLESS and THE DEAD GENTLEMAN–and I’d been meaning to read WILL IN SCARLET. I mean, who doesn’t love a Robin…
YA Review: CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber
I did not read nearly as much as I thought I would on our trip to Australia, but it’s because I was busy doing things like holding koalas and feeding kangaroos. Actually, I ticked those off my bucket list on our first day there while visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary outside Brisbane. I highly…
Writing in Reverse: The First Draft Read-Through
When I finished drafting this manuscript in November, I said I intended to let it sit until after Thanksgiving. That plan changed drastically when I received an R&R (revise and resubmit) on another manuscript the same day I wrote that post. I think it came about an hour later. Talk about timing! I don’t know…
YA Review: WINTER by Marissa Meyer
Anyone who was following me on Twitter last week was probably expecting this review. For that matter, if you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, it won’t surprise you either, considering I reviewed the first three books in The Lunar Chronicles series and CINDER, SCARLET and CRESS made it onto my favorite…
YA Review: ALL FALL DOWN by Ally Carter
I am sitting in a hotel room in Orlando writing this, but I didn’t want to put it off because this book was so amazing! Plus, I plan to do a lot of reading on my vacation and don’t want to forget what I loved about it. I’m not surprised. I’ve loved every other book…
YA Review, Interview & Giveaway: FALLS THE SHADOW by Stefanie Gaither
Two years ago, I read the QueryTracker success story for Stefanie Gaither’s FALLS THE SHADOW and thought, “Wow! I have got to read that!” Well, fast-forward two years and I’ve finally had the chance. And, bonus, Stefanie agreed to answer my questions about the five things I loved best and has offered to send a…
YA Review: THE PERILOUS SEA by Sherry Thomas
I don’t often review the second book in a series because the things I love are the often same things I loved in the first book. But every once in a while I read a second book that completely blows me away in new and different ways and I just have to gush about it….
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