I Am Writer... Hear Me Roar!

21 Minus Blog Tour!!!

2012-03-02T12:00:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: Finally have the official rules! Go here to fill out the form to win AWESOME PRIZES!!! :)

Hey, everyone! Guess what? 21 Minus starts TODAY!! :)

Here is a description of 21 Minus by Anna Waggener, the organizer of this awesome blog tour:

21 Minus is my attempt to bring together a group of fantastic young writers, all aged twenty-one or younger, and let them tell their stories via questions asked by their peers. It will also feature some great giveaways (including an ARC of GRIM!) and should be lots of fun all the way around.

Now I am going to interview a young writer and let them tell their story... I am interviewing Mariah Irvin. You can find her blog here. This was a different kind of interview for me to do, because we didn't actually have direct contact with the interviewee - all the interviews were done through Anna, so it was all very secret... but that makes it fun! Anyway, on to the questions.

Mariah's blog header. Isn't it cute?

What is the main reason you read? What is the main reason you write?

I can answer both parts of the question at once: because it makes me happy. They're both a huge part of my life and one without the other feels almost unnatural to me. I read to be a better writer and I write to be a better reader.

If you've moved away from reading YA, why? If you haven't, why not?

I read literature to switch things up sometimes. YA writing can be so emotional and engrossing I can walk away feeling completely drained, which, in a way, I love. There's nothing like YA, I love it and that's why I write it. But if I need a break or I want to study writing styles I'll switch over to my other love, classic literature.

How important to you is a book's cover, blurb, or review when convincing you to pick up a book and read it?

The blurb or review is pretty important, especially if I've never heard of the book before. A lot of the books I read come from recommendations from friends that have read the books and liked them, so if I'm going to pick up a book on a whim it's really got to sell itself! I'll usually read the first few pages, too, to get an idea of the voice and plot. Covers, though, I don't really care that much about. Yes, my eye will be drawn to a pretty cover, but a plain cover won't convince me that I shouldn't buy a book. I remember in 2009 I picked up "The Hunger Games" without a recommendation and the blurb had me interested right away, but the cover wasn't my favorite!

What does your handwriting look like? Do you think it matches your personality?

I can have really nice handwriting when I try, but most of the time it's stuck somewhere between print and cursive. When I think about it, I guess I could say that that resembles my personality; the things I put a lot of effort into usually turn out nicer and more worthwhile.

Where have you been that has given you the most ideas/inspiration for your writing?

It's funny, because I've done a lot of traveling, but I'm not writing anything right now that's based on a location I've been to, because usually a lot of my ideas come from everyday things. But, I went to China last year I started imagining all the things I could write about it. Someday, I'd like to write a historical novel about China.

What do you have to say about movies based on books?

I've probably had just about every opinion on this topic humanly possible at one point or another! I love working with cameras and interpreting words on a page into another medium. But even though movies allow so much more accessibility to those words, I always feel like something is missing. To me, it's like the book and the movie are completely separate things, so I'm able to fall in love with both, but never in the same way.

If you had to describe your latest WiP in one word, what would it be?

Escape.

Great interview, Mariah!

Now here's some places you should go... click here to go to Mariah's blog and find out more about her, and read the interview that she did for 21 Minus. Also go here to check out the awesome list of prizes Anna has for the giveaway, and then go here to Anna Waggener's blog to get all the information about the blog tour and giveaway - how you can win prizes, etcetera!

(So it turns out Nick Hight interviewed me! If you want to check that out, click here).

Have fun learning about all the other awesome young writers!

Has a Negative Review Ever Convinced You to Read A Book?

2012-03-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have begun to notice that pretty much EVERYTHING is subjective. Almost everything is affected by a person's own opinions, moods, beliefs, background and what have you. (I totally just had to look up the phrase "what have you" to make sure I wasn't making it up and to figure out if it was one word or not).

For example, here is a conversation I had my with my friend Monday night. We were talking about making muffins together:

Strawberry muffins... tell me they do not look yummy!

Friend: What kind of muffins should we make?
Me: strawberry!!!
Friend: EWW
Me: What? Why! My mom said her friend made them once and they were really good!
Friend: That sounds... EEW!
Me: Why? Don't you like strawberries?
Friend: yahh

I still think my friend is not justified in thinking strawberry muffins are gross (I mean, she's never even tried them...), but this kind of shows how affected we are by our own ideas and opinions and just basically who we are.

So. This also applies to books. (HA you never guessed that I would say that, right?? Haha.) I have figured out that I like certain types of characters way more than other types of characters. I really don't like dependent, scared, hesitant characters that don't really know much. I absolutely fall in love with really clever, independent characters. For example, in the book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (amazing book, by the way) my favourite character, hands down, is Dustfinger. I adore him. He's one of those clever, sort of goes-by-his-own-terms type of character that I like. I think this is also the reason that I liked the character Katniss in The Hunger Games, and the character Eugenides in The Thief, Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.

To be honest, until recently, I had no idea that it was me. I just thought lots of writers wrote really bland, annoying characters but as it turns out, I just wasn't interested in the characters because of me - who I am and what I like as a person.

That being said, different things will attract a person into reading a book. When I'm wandering through the library, my eyes usually go to the covers (and spines) that are unique, bright, and different. I tend not to be attracted to the darker, spooky covers or the covers with girls' faces on the front. It also depends on what I'm in the mood for. If I feel like reading romance, I look for titles and covers that hint that the book is a romance.

Whoops... kind of getting off track. Back to... different things attract a person into reading a book. That is why I think when reading a book review, different things will stick out to different people. Just like while I'm in the library, certain covers or titles attract me, certain things said in a review will attract me to a book.

SO that brings me to my final point... because of all this, has a negative book review ever convinced you to read a book? I can see it happening if, I don't know, the reviewer says something like "The character was just way too clever for me, I didn't understand them" (this would only be for me, obviously) and then I would be like... well, I like clever characters... maybe I should read that book.

So? Has a negative book review ever convinced you to read a book? If not, do you think it's possible that one could? What do you think?

Also go here for information on the 21 Minus Blogfest and Contest that I'm participating in... it starts tomorrow!

21 Minus Blogfest and Contest

2012-02-29T19:22:00.001-06:00

I really, really hate doing housekeeping posts, but I figure I should probably let you know about this cool.... thing... I'm participating in that goes live this Friday.

It's called 21 Minus, and the whole thing is run by Anna Waggener (http://www.annawaggener.com/) It's about showcasing young writers and bloggers who are under 21 (hence "21 Minus"). There's a bunch of us participating, all of whom have blindly interviewed each other (so I have no idea who interviewed me). All of our interviews will be posted Friday, and then we hop around everyone's blog reading everyone else's interviews.

...Except that's not all. There is ALSO a contest involved, which will I'm guessing be explained in a post on Anna's blog. But I'm sure there will be lots of awesome books and prizes to be won. I think what you have to do to win prizes is read all the interviews, or something.

Here is a lot more comprehensive information and a more detailed explanation of the blogfest. (I'm sure it'll be more useful than me right now... I am so tired...)

and here is the giveaway list. Doesn't it look scrumptious?? Aren't you excited? :)

Interview with Young Author of "Saving Fort Smoky" Jenna Gustafson

2012-02-25T14:06:00.002-06:00

Recently I read an interview on Literary Rambles with a 15-year-old published author. Not only was she young, but I learned in the interview that her path to publication was quite a unique one. (You can read the interview here). Naturally, this made me curious. And what should one do when they are curious about something (or in this case, someone)? Why, learn more, of course! So today I'm going to interview the lovely Jenna Gustafson, young author of the middle-grade novel Saving Fort Smoky.

Here's a bit about Jenna:

Jenna Gustafson lives happily in Montana with her parents and brother. While she has won local short story contests, this is her first book. She hopes to inspire other children to chase their dreams and understand that they are never too young to accomplish something.

Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

There's only one hope for Fort Smoky to survive. After a devastating fire ravages the homes of Fort Smoky, it's up to young Ben Clearwater and his sister and friends to help the residents and get to Fort Futureland to save the people before the harsh, cold winter sets in. To get there, they will have to trek through unknown mountains, relying on Running Wind's compass and Big Jim's maps of the land while struggling against the harsh forces of Mother Nature. Fort Futureland is a place of new and interesting contraptions, like cars and computers, the four children have never seen, and they are captivated. But the children soon uncover a sinister plot to destroy their beloved Fort Smoky. Will they be able to stop the evil leaders of Fort Futureland? Will they ever make it home? Will they be heroes for Saving Fort Smoky? Join young author Jenna Gustafson in this action-packed adventure of four friends teeming with courage, bravery, and determination. Readers will be caught up in this action-filled, futuristic adventure as they follow Ben, his sister, and friends while they struggle to save their home and family using their skills and cunning. It's an enjoyable read for upper elementary students.

Now the interview!

When did you first get into reading and/or writing?

The magic of reading began with my parent’s animated voices, bright colors, rhymes, and the feel of the pages between my pudgy fingers when I was little. Before kindergarten I went through a learn-to-read course which I detested. I was just in it for the sparkly stickers I got when I completed an exercise. Now, however, I realize that the course was the key to my reading and writing success. The priceless knowledge of literacy put me far ahead of my kindergarten peers, and allowed me to go places and do things I will never encounter in real life. In 4th grade I really took up an interest in reading and read Winnie the Horse Gentler and the Heartland series for hours on end, and haven’t quit reading since.

I began writing when I was about nine, when I received a journal for my birthday. It was just SO FUN to write about the interesting parts of my day, express my thoughts, my frustrations. My journal was where I could blow off steam, and being an introvert, this was a very therapeutic tool. My love for writing has only grown since then.

Why did you decide that you wanted to go through the hard work of publishing in seventh grade?

Mrs. Knudson, my English teacher at the time, gave us our children’s book assignment and made the fatal mistake of showing us an example of another young author’s hardcover children’s book. The fact that it was even possible to publish so young ignited my interest, and after some big dreaming and encouragement from my teacher and good friend librarian, I made up my mind, gave myself a challenge, and dived in headlong. I never really decided to publish my book. I was called. Publishing, to me, was something I had to do. Little did I know how hard I would have to work to get there.

Do you ever regret getting published so soon?

Absolutely not. I have lost nothing in the process, besides maybe my childhood. It has made me a better, more educated person, and has taught me a lot about entrepreneurship. Admittedly, I look pack on my old writing and see where I could make drastic improvements had I had more time and experience while I was drafting, but I still do not regret the leap of faith I took to get my story out to readers like you.

Why didn't you feel the need to get an agent or have your book bought by a larger publishing company?

Every so often I stumbled across an agent in my search for publishers. The idea of getting published by the big leagues was enticing, but judging by other first time author experiences, it was nearly impossible to secure a publication with top-name companies, and hardly worth it in the end. Traditional publishing houses are all about being, well, big. They’re after mass distribution, mass publication, and large sales, and if you fail to produce what they need, you are mostly worthless. Does that cold, executive-feeling world sound like a good starting place to you? It didn’t to me, either. I wanted a company that would allow me to keep my rights and walk me through marketing step by step. This is my first book, and I needed someone to hold my hand. Secondly, I didn’t have enough experience to interest quality agents. I also was working with a tight budget and didn’t know what an agent would cost, so I played it safe and choose Tate Publishing, the best of both self and traditional publishing worlds.

What is one reason you think people would enjoy your book?

I designed the storyline of my book around the fast paced adventure that I crave in novels. A child’s brain is exploding with imagination, and I gave them some western styled brain food that they will appreciate. I hope they are inspired when they learn that the author is not much older than they are, proving that in actuality, dreams are entirely possible.

What was your favourite part of writing Saving Fort Smoky?

I loved being able to manipulate the twists and turns of my plot just like my favorite authors, and watching the story unfold beneath my finger tips at my every whim. It gave me a sense of control, like being the queen of my own little world.

What is your favourite thing to do that is not writing related?

Between dancing, running, illustrating, and hiking, I have to choose hiking as my number one thing to do. I love the challenge and adventure of surviving off a pack on your back and tackling breathtaking terrain that the average person never sees in their lifetime. It’s funny how this interest reflects in my writing.

What would you say to other teen writers looking to make it in the publishing business?

I would encourage other teen writers to journal (it helped me express my voice a ton), and remind them to write from their hearts. People are drawn to passion. I would tell them to take as much advice from all the constructed criticism as possible, and to completely ignore the realist in themselves and in well-meaning adults. Also, never give up. If you don’t get accepted by a publisher the first time, don’t stop there! Take the steps you need to take and try again. Persistence is critical in overcoming the odds. Lastly, do your homework. A major pain, yes, but sooo worth the quality publisher in the end. You don’t want to get tangled up in a company that is actually a scam!

Just believe in yourself, trust in God, and you will go far.

Thank you so much, Jenna, for the interview!

Here's some places where you can find Jenna and her book, Saving Fort Smoky! Pass along the word to all the elementary school kids you know. :)

More information on Saving Fort Smoky:
Saving Fort Smoky on Goodreads
Saving Fort Smoky's website at Tate Publishing
Saving Fort Smoky on Facebook

Where to buy:
Saving Fort Smoky on Amazon.com
Saving Fort Smoky on Amazon.ca
Saving Fort Smoky at Barnes & Noble

Where to find Jenna:
Jenna Gustafson on Goodreads
You can also find Jenna on twitter @mockingjay14 (although she says to be warned, she doesn't use it often).

Kreativ Blogger Award

2012-02-21T20:15:00.001-06:00

Hey... so Anna Waggener recently awarded me with the Kreativ Blogger award. Er... a couple weeks ago, I guess. I'm supposed to link back to the blogger who gave me the award, say 10 facts about myself, and then pass it on to six new bloggers.

Anna's blog is here, and you should definitely check it out because it is BEAUTIFUL. She also has a book coming out... no idea when but the cover is amazing.

Isn't it gorgeous?? I love how completely unique, yet kind of scary, yet kind of simple it is. She has a contest going on as well to win a copy of GRIM and you can find the info for that here.

OK, anyway. 10 facts... I don't know, I always feel like it's kind of boring just talking about myself so I asked my sister to say 10 facts about me instead. This is what she came up with, and not everything is necessarily true because she likes to be silly:

1. I'm silly.
2. I love to draw.
3. I love to read my Bible.
4. I do crafts.
5. I go to school.
6. I'm graduating.
7. I'm moving to the Phillippines.
8. I take pictures.
9. I'm goofy.
10. I'm nice to my cats.

Now the 6 bloggers, and I'm going to give them to the 6 awesome bloggers who commented on my last post.

1. Angela Brown
2. Nhim
3. Natalie Aguirre
4. Nick Hight
5. Brittany Clarke

and... last but not least, 6. Laura Wise, who I have to say is an amazing commenter. She always has funny or insightful things to say, it seems! :)

Pass it on and thanks for the award, Anna! :)

The Dilemma of Naming Documents When Your WIP Lacks A Title

2012-02-20T10:59:00.000-06:00

I really, really suck at coming up with titles for my stories. Which is a problem when it comes to naming documents. I usually end up being too lazy to come up with good document names, so they're left with names that aren't helpful in the least in telling me what the document actually contains.

Let's take a look at the statistics, shall we? (Oh and just a note, I don't actually have that many completed drafts of stuff... most of the documents are filled with a few paragraphs or sentences of half-baked ideas).

Number of documents that are named with a really terrible summary of the story e.g. "Cranberry Story": 18

Number of documents named with the first line of story e.g. "I wake up to tent fabric": 9

Number of documents named after a random character (or main character) in the story e.g. "Dudley": 18

Number of documents named with a summary that actually effectively summarizes: 1

Number of documents named with names that give no information whatsoever e.g. "Life" or "rename later" (and "rename later"s document name still hasn't changed since 2009): 6

Number of documents named with something that resembles an actual title: 12

And that's just one folder. I haven't even gotten to my Short Stories folder yet...

My wonderfully named documents in my short story file...

I am so good at naming documents, aren't I? I mean, obviously I know exactly what the documents "short story" and "random short piece" are. I also evidently get kind of crazy after naming multiple drafts of something...

How do you go about naming your documents when you don't have a title yet? How do you come up with titles for your WIPs?

In other news... I finished the first draft of my current WIP yesterday!!

Ages of Books, Characters, and People

2012-02-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

Hey! I'm back! :) Although it's funny, because whenever I see bloggers going on breaks and then they're like "Hey! I'm back!" and blah blah blah, I'm like... okay, yeah, whatever... I just read your posts when they come out anyway, no matter if they're a few days or weeks apart. But, whatever, that's not the point of this post...

So, I don't if any of you know this, but I am a teen SPY at YA Confidential, which is an awesome YA group blog that focuses on all things TEEN in order to aid YA authors. They have a great panel of teens that they ask questions to on a regular basis (obviously... I mean, I'm on it... haha). Actually, if you're a teen you could sign up to be a teen analyst, just go to their home page and fill out the form on the sidebar. :)

Anyway, they do regular ask-the-teens posts where they invite their followers to ask the teens questions. One of the questions in the most recent post caught my eye:

Do you really care about the age of a character as long as the writing and story are good?

...and in trying to answer the question, I realized I actually had quite a lot to say on this particular topic.

So... one of the things is, books definitely can fit into different age groups, but I don't think this is all based on the age of the protagonist. You can't just assume that because the protagnist in a story is 12, the book is for 12 year olds.

In my head, I picture two categories of books. There are "fluffy" books - the feel-good books that are fun and bubbly and cute. An example that comes to mind is Forgive My Fins by Terra Lynn Childs (which is actually a really good book that you should read...) These books could have protagonists ranging from nine to seventeen, and younger/older. Yet I think of these fluffy books as being more appropriate and enjoyable for a younger audience. I know I read books like this in middle school even if the protagonist was 17, a good 5 years old than I was.

Then there's the "dark" or "edgy" books. These are the books that are really heavy, and are pretty much the opposite of the fun, bubbly, cute books I just described above. These books are much more serious and deep and deal with much greater issues than in the fluffy books. Yet again, these books could have protagnists ranging from twelve to eighteen years old, but I think of them of being more enjoyable for an older teen audience. Some examples I think of are books by John Green, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, and The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta.

So, the age of the book, as a whole, rather than the age of the character in the books determines the age of the audience.

BUT I still don't care what the "age" of the book is. I know I just said that I thought of "fluffy" books as being for a younger audience, but that doesn't mean I don't LIKE those kinds of books. I LOVE those kinds of books. I also like the edgy books sometimes too. It really depends on how I feel at a certain time what kind of book I want to read. I've talked about reading needs before, and I'm sure I'll talk about them again after this.

My numerical age (17 at the moment) does not determine what kinds of books I read - I, as a whole person with all my personality quirks, determine that... just like books as a whole determine the age of the audience the book is appropriate for.

So I guess the answer to the question is... no, I don't care about the age of the character at all! :)

Hope that made sense... haha.

Do YOU care about the age of a character as long as the writing and story are good?

One Word Labels in YA and Life

2012-01-21T13:41:00.000-06:00

So one of my biggest pet peeves in YA has become a focus on popularity. Which turns out to be really annoying, because TONS of books are about popularity, and I guess understandably because a lot of the lives of teens are focused around popularity (although not mine, which is why it bugs me). It's not just popularity, though, that bugs me in YA. It's also the labels, of maybe one word that can define a person or character in a YA book. "Jock", "nerd", whatever.

The thing is, characters aren't just one word. They CAN'T be just one word. Why? Well, because people aren't just one word. Humans are complex and crazy and twisted and amazing and their ideas change and morph and their personalities change depending on the situation or their age or a whole bunch of other things. They are so, so complex. And yeah, I know how hard it is to capture that complexity in writing. But it's definitely not impossible. I've seen it done.

source

Another issue with labeling is that once you label someone with a word, let's say, I don't know, Mean or something, then that becomes all of what you think of them. You only use that one word for that person, and in your mind, that person becomes that word. She or he IS the word you've given them. This then hinders you from seeing other sides of their personality and makeup that break through your one word label.
I know I definitely do this with characters, too. I have this image of a character in my head. "Okay, so this character, he's going to be... Quirky Guy." And then everything he does has to fit into that label I've given him. Which, yes, does help to keep you on track sometimes. But at other times, why not let a character break out of the one word mold you've formed for them?

This doesn't apply solely to people and characters, either. I think I also tend to label books with one word sometimes. I'll finish a book and based on that closing impression, I'll go, "okay, that book was good" or "that was awful". And then forever after that, I think of that book as good or bad. Even if I know there was good parts where I really did get into the characters, or bad parts where I really just wanted to leave the book and never come back. Like people, books are complex and they can't really be summed up in one word.

People, characters, books - all are complex, much too complex, to be stuck with one word to describe them.

So, basically... yay for me, because I like to use lots of words! Haha. :)

---

And... with all that being said... actually this has nothing to do with this post, but methinks I am going to take a blogging break for a month or so. I don't know, I might post if I have an idea or something but for now I'll be gone for a month. Basically the only reason I wanted to let you know is because that means I won't do a Teen Scene Link Roundup for February.

Have a great weekend!

When Being Articulate On Paper Just Isn't Enough...

2012-01-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

Me: (trying to explain at how I fail at using bookmarks) ...and my bookmark was right there on the table beside me and when I got to the page I wanted to be-

Bro: You make goals for yourself for how many pages you read in a sitting?

Me: No, I just meant, like, when I got to the page I did when I finished my chocolate milk. Um, I mean... like, when I was finished with it... (trying to explain)

Bro: And you call yourself an author.

Me: Hey, I never call myself articulate out loud.

Bro: So... are you articulate in loud then?

Me: Wow... you are such an intelligent conversationalist.

An Enlightening Interview With A Magic Eight Ball and A Petpet

2012-01-09T11:00:00.001-06:00

I'm in grade 12, which means I'm almost done school, which means I have to spend a long time sitting and pondering life decisions like, What do I want to do next year? What should I take in university? and other equally annoying questions that I don't feel like answering.

I also find that there are a lot of questions to be asked that just don't have concrete answers. There's so many questions where you have to think so much, and weigh the options, consider every angle, and so forth. It takes a lot of work and a lot of brain muscle.

Then there's those questions that frequently raise intense discussion throughout the book blogging world, that have answers with so many different sides it gets hard to keep track.

So I've decided instead of going through that whole brain-numbing process of answering hard questions, I will just enter my questions into an online Magic Eight Ball and it will give me all the answers I need. What could make life easier?

Is it OK if what I write doesn't necessarily line up with my beliefs?

Magic Eight Ball: Very doubtful.

Should published authors do book reviews, either negative or positive?

Magic Eight Ball: Signs point to yes.

Is the YA genre going downhill in today's society?

Magic Eight Ball: My sources say no.

Should teens be published?

Magic Eight Ball: Outlook not so good.

Should all YA books with sex, drugs, and violence be banned from the earth?

Magic Eight Ball: Without a doubt.

Are teens and kids capable of picking out books that are suitable to their needs?

Magic Eight Ball: Better not to tell you now.

I don't really like these answers. I think I'll try another approach. When I was ten, I would spend all of my time on Neopets doing who knows what (that's also how I learned how to do some HTML coding which I have now forgotten most of) and you could ask your Petpet questions. I still have my account, so I will log in there for the first time in a hundred years and consult my Petpets.

Well. That's encouraging.

Ouch.

I don't know what to say to that...

Well... that was... interesting.

Um, you know what? On second thought, I'll do my decision-making and question-answering the old-fashioned way...

Review of All The Books I Read In 2011

2012-01-02T14:15:00.000-06:00

Well, since another year is over I thought I'd do a sort of overview of all the books I read in 2011. I read 120 books in 2011. Some of them were bad, some of them were awesome, some of them were OK. Some of them met expectations, a bunch of them didn't, a bunch of them absolutely surpassed all my expectations. I'm going to put some of the books I read into categories. I'm hoping to review some of the books I read last year over the course of this year, and of course keep reading books.

...And maybe this is just an excuse to talk about books. I'm like my sister, who if you get her started talking about movies, she will NOT stop. I'm the same, except with books. :D

The Absolute BEST Books I Read in 2011

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - Best book of all time!! I cannot say enough times how awesome this book is, and how much I think you should read it. I reviewed it here, with links of where you can get it. Please, please read it!!

The D.U.F.F. by Kody Keplinger - Honestly I had really low expectations of this book, I have no idea why, but it blew me out of the water. So much better than I thought, and it was so realistic and blew every annoying stereotype that I always see in YA out of the water.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - After reading a bunch of books because of hype and being terribly disappointed, I was nervous to read this book. Would it live up to the gianormous mounds of hype circulating it? YES. SO MUCH YES.

King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - This book... I am so in awe of Megan Whalen Turner's writing skill. If you want to be a writer, you have to read this book. This woman knows how to write!! Although you have to read the first two in the series, The Thief and Queen of Attolia, in order to get the entire effect, I think. I definitely have more to say on this book, though.

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - Another beautifully spun contemporary novel by Melina Marchetta... the characters in her books are so awesome, and the stories... this book was so unique and awesome. :) I can't wait to read it again!

Obviously, I read more awesome books this year, but these are just some of the most awesome.

Books I Want to Buy

I use the library SO much, but there are just some of those books that I know I will read a million and one times over again if I own them.

Harry Potter - I finished Harry Potter in January of 2011 (I borrowed pretty much every book from my best friend) but I have to own them, because they are pretty much the perfect books to reread with all the awesome characters in there.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen - I've already this book twice, loved it both times. It's such a cute story.

The Half-Life of Planets by Brendan Halpin and Emily Franklin - I love romance books with alternating perspectives, and I could read them over and over again. :)

The D.U.F.F. by Kody Keplinger - It was so good and interesting and awesome, I must read it again!

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta and Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - Books with awesome characters you just have to read a million times over again.

Books I Bought in 2011

I'm usually really hesitant about buying books before I read them, but this year I bought more books then I usually do.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis - I bought this book at Chapters with a gift card I got. I'd seen it online and I'd been following Beth Revis's blog for a bit, and I thought the summary sounded interesting enough. It was OK but I found I didn't get attached to the characters as much as I'd have liked to.

Divergent by Veronica Roth - There was tons of hype and excitement online around this one. My friend had also bought it and said it was good. I ordered it off Amazon, although for all the excitement I was a little disappointed. My mom also read it, and both of us agreed that the main character was the most bland, stereotypical character in every possible way.

Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin - I told you, I like cute romances and I know I'll read them over again. I saw it online somewhere and then ordered it on Amazon.

Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler - I bought this book because a) cute romance, and b) I'd read Scrambled Eggs at Midnight, also by the same authors, and I absolutely loved it.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - I completely fell in love with the cover of this book. The way the summary was written definitely attracted my attention as well. I have to say this book was so disappointing. Also, after reading the book, I don't like the cover as much because it has pretty much nothing to do with the book.

Books I Read For A Second (Or Third) Time in 2011

I reread books when I love them, or if I run out of good books from the library and then I go through my shelves of books I own and pick out my favourites to read again.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - I reread Deathly Hallows because I wanted to reread Harry Potter like, as soon as I finished it, and I hadn't returned Deathly Hallows to my friend yet. I also reread Half-Blood Prince because that one was one of my favourites. :)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman - I reread this book because it's AWESOME, and because I have it.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - Because I love this book. I read it 3 times this year.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I read Mockingjay a long time after I finished Catching Fire, so I kind of forgot what happened beforehand. I read this after reading just some OK books, and reading these I was reminded what awesome books are supposed to be like.

The Princess Diaries II and III by Meg Cabot - There are things in these books that should make me not like them, but I love them anyway. I read II because I have it, and III because it's my favourite.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin - I'd read this twice before. I read it again because we own it. It was worse the third time around. I think I'm done rereading this book.

I also reread Dream Factory, and Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance because I have them and I like cute romances.

2011 Releases

I had to look up all the books I read last year on Goodreads, because I honestly had no idea which books were 2011 releases. Do people really just care to read the newest releases? I think that's crazy... you miss out on so many good books that way.

Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard - So unique, and I loved that it focused pretty much completely on friendship. It's such a different book than any other YA book I don't really know what to think of it.

My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison - I just saw this on a shelf in the library and picked it up because I thought the cover was fun. I reviewed it here.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman - I'd read If I Stay because my mom bought it for me, and it was OK so I thought I'd try this companion novel. I liked this one better.

The Worst Books of 2011

The Karma Club by Jessica Brody - This was just a completely stereotypical, run of the mill YA book. Which is probably why I don't really remember much of it.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - Shallow, annoying characters. After this I didn't feel like reading another book by Lauren Oliver, no matter the hype around her and her books.

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta - After falling in love with Jellicoe Road (and then Saving Francesca), this book was awful. The main character was so annoying and I hate annoying MCs. Fortunately, I read other books of Melina Marchetta's before I read this one. I guess she proves that you do get better as you write more. :) Fine, maybe I'll give Lauren Oliver another chance... haha.

Alice in Charge by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - I used to love the Alice books when I was younger. I hated this book. It was terrible.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - After seeing some things about the Alex Rider series, I thought I would try it out. This book was absolutely, completely, utterly boring, typical, and something a five year old would write. Someone told me it gets better, but I just can't bring myself to try another Alex Rider book.

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin - I picked this up because I saw it online somewhere, and I liked the cover. Unfortunately, I am completely done with YA books about popularity. DONE!!!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - After all the hype (and the beautiful cover), I was disappointed. Also, the latter part of the book turned all weird really unexpectedly and I completely didn't believe any of it (also I have a really hard time suspending my disbelief to read any paranormal stuff, so that may be part of the problem). I was also very disappointed that there is supposedly sequel - in my opinion, completely unnecessary. I did like the relationship between Mara and her brother, though.

Well! That's just a quick(ish) overview on some of the books I read in 2011. I love talking about books!!!

What awesome books did you read in 2011? Terrible books? 2011 releases? Books you would read again? Books you want to buy?

December Teen Scene Link Roundup

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

source

Today I am going to post my first teen scene link roundup.... where I post links to things like teens' opinions on books and stuff. These are all the posts I found in December that I think might help you! Keep in mind that most of these posts are opinion posts, so the opinions in each post might differ from teen to teen.

Update: I fixed all the links... a bunch of them were cut off before. Sorry about that!

Teen Opinions

Kate Coursey gives you a teen's perspective on swearing in YA.

Teen Riley Redgate gives you a teen's perspective on romance in YA.

Teenage book reviewer Rida gripes about the problems she's found in YA paranormal romance.

Teen author Steph Bowe on teenagerdom, friendship, and why loneliness is okay.

Canadian Yahong Chi shares her favourite kind of book endings.

YA Confidential interviews 4 teens at once. Here's part one and part two of that interview.

Teen Izzy G on embarassing book covers.

Teen Maggie on what she hates in books.

Teen Laura's biggest pet peeve in YA.

Teens' Favourite Books of 2011

Paper Hangover asked some teens what their favourite books of 2011 were and posted the results.

YA Confidential's best of 2011 from their teen spies, including favourite book, favourite YA relationships, and favourite characters.

Teen Lyla Lee's favourite books of 2011.

Teen Izzy G's favourite books of 2011.

Teen Becca C's favourite books of 2011.

YA Confidential gets their teen spies and analysts to talk about their favourite books of 2011.

I know it's kind of sparse right now, but I'm hoping you guys will help me and tell me some teens to follow, or if there's a blog/website that frequently has teen-related features. If you want more information about my teen scene link roundups, go here and if you have any other questions, just ask or e-mail me!

Interview With My Awesome Sister On Books (and Movies)

2011-12-29T11:18:00.001-06:00

I like learning about people's reading habits, because I find it fascinating how different they can be from person to person. So far I've interviewed my best friend, my brother, and my dad. Today, I will be interviewing my sister.

My sister is 19 years old, and she has Down Syndrome which means she learns slower than other kids her age, but also that she has an awesome personality. She loves movies and loves to make us laugh. She is also quite short compared to the rest of my family, and I like to tease her by calling her "Shortbread Cookie". :) She also likes to be a chatterbox, although she wasn't so much in this interview because we weren't talking about movies.

Anyway... onto the interview!

Me: So, what kinds of books do you like?

Sis: Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables, Flat Stanley.

Me: So why do you like those books?

Sis: 'Cause... interesting?

Me: Why are they interesting?

Sis: They’re based on a movie.

Me: Oh, so you like books based off movies.

Sis: Yeah.

Me: How come you don’t read more?

Sis: I don’t know! I always read before bed.

Me: What’s your favourite book?

Sis: Wizard of Oz

Me: Do you like reading?

Sis: Yes.

Me: Why?

Sis: ‘Cause... everything.

Me: Yeah, but why?

Sis: (groans) I enjoy reading.

Me: Why?

Sis: I enjoy reading!

Me: Yeah, but why? Is it fun, or...?

Sis: It’s fun!

Me: Would you read a book that I wrote?

Sis: No.

Me: No! Why not?

Sis: Cause... not fun.

Me: Why not?

Sis: It’s not based on a movie.

Me: (laughing) Oh... well, thanks. So if I got a movie made, and then I wrote a book...?

Sis: Yup.

Me: You’re silly. What books do you not like?

Sis: Your books.

Me: What? Oh, like the books I read?

Sis: Yeah.

Me: Why not?

Sis: Cause kind of bit boring.

Me: Why are they boring?

Sis: Cause not based on a movie. I like Wizard of Oz, because it’s based on a movie.

Me: So how do you pick a book to read?

Sis: Just pick one book, and read it.

Me: Yeah but is it the title or the cover?

Sis: The cover.

Me: Or...

Sis: The cover!!

Me: What do you like about the cover?

Sis: The pictures.

Me: Do you have anything else to say about reading and books?

Sis: Nope. Bye.

So, in case you didn't catch that... she likes movies. And the Wizard of Oz. Haha. Isn't she cute? :)

What's your favourite movie based on a book?

How to Actually ACCOMPLISH Your Goals

2011-12-27T12:07:00.000-06:00

Around New Year's is the time when we start to think more about these things called "resolutions" because new year, new start, right?

So I think that "resolution" is just a fancy way of replacing one of my absolute FAVOURITE WORDS OF ALL TIME:

GOAL.

You may think I am crazy, but goals definitely are NOT just for January. This year I have made Summer Goals, New School Year Goals, and Mid-Semester Goals. I have goals in various categories such as health, reading, writing, school, and more. Now, I don't know, maybe everyone makes a lot of goals. But I bet a lot of people don't actually accomplish (okay, what is the correct term when you uh, reach a goal? reach? finish? accomplish?) their goals. And what's the use of making goals if you don't actually accomplish them??

So I bring you today...

GRACIE'S GUIDE TO REACHING YOUR GOALS

Tip #1: Make a plan

If you just flippantly say "I resolve to write more" or something, and then that's it, it's pretty difficult to reach that goal. OK, so I'm going to use a goal I made at the beginning of September as an example. I made a goal to run more, building up so I could go farther.

So, first step in making a plan, I think, is dividing up your goals.

Tip #2: Divide up your goals

When I make goals, I try to be as specific as possible. "Write stuff this month" should be "write at least 3 scenes of work in progress" or "Write 50,000 words this month". Then I'd divide it up even more: "In order to write 50,000 words this month, I will write 1,667 words a day"; "In order to run 60 miles this month, I will run 2 miles each day." This is all part of my plan for reaching my goals.

The next thing that most people would say now is that you can motivate yourself by bribing yourself. "If you abstain from sweets this week, you can have a piece of cake on Saturday." This definitely works for some people, but I don't understand this kind of motivation - you encourage yourself with something that is the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish... okay, then. But it does work for some people.

For me, I just need to be focused and constantly plan and be absolutely determined to reach my goal. The actual accomplishing of the goal is a huge reward for me, actually, especially in areas like fitness because as you live healthier, you actually feel more energetic, better, etc.

Another motivation for me is sort of competition. My dad and I both run and he is always impressed when I say I've run longer than usual, and sometimes that will motivate me. I think, "I'm going to run 5 miles today, then just wait until dad hears how long I went for!" I think we both encourage other, and in some cases it is a little competitive. Some time in mid-November, I'd run 45 days in a row and my dad was going on the treadmill and I heard him say to my mom, "I have to run! [Gracie]'s run 45 days in a row!"

Tip #3: Use encouragement and competition from another person to motivate you.

And guess what? My goal of running 60 miles in November I reached, and passed... I actually ran around 65 miles, and I ran everyday from October 24 to December 22, and so far I've only missed 2 days in December. I know I used running as an example, but all these things you can apply to writing goals (or any other goals) too.

I hope this helps you a bit when trying to reach your New Year's Goals! Good luck!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you ever actually accomplish them? What's your strategy?

Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

2011-12-23T13:47:00.001-06:00

Book: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre: YA Contemporary
Why I picked it up: I saw it somewhere...
Cover: I love it when covers just have one symbolic image on the front that says so, so much about the story inside.

Summary:

At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor's the reluctant leader of her school's underground community, whose annual territory war with the Townies and visiting Cadets has just begun. This year, though, the Cadets are led by Jonah Griggs, and Taylor can't avoid his intense gaze for long. To make matters worse, Hannah, the one adult Taylor trusts, has disappeared. But if Taylor can piece together the clues Hannah left behind, the truth she uncovers might not just settle her past, but also change her future.

Last year sometime I saw this book on a blog, asked for it for Christmas or my birthday or something, got it as a present, read it, and then fell completely in love with it. Jellicoe Road is a book that I have read 3 times this year. It also made me cry each time, and I think the best books are the ones that make you cry.

Each time I read this book I am amazed at everything. The writing is amazing, the stories are amazingly intricate and touching, and the characters are awesome and completely lovable. The idea itself is also quite interesting and completely unique.

Even though there is so much sadness in this book, and so many horrible things it never gets to be too much. It's all just part of the story and makes it so the beauty of life shines through even better. I love how it switches between past and present, and how you have to work to figure out what's going on but when you do figure out, you're blown away.

I loved the characters. Taylor is such an awesome character, so beyond any of the stereotypes you see in a lot of books today. Actually all of the characters were. I loved how at the beginning Taylor distanced herself from everyone, and at the end she had a whole group of friends which made a cast of characters that you just wanted to stay around forever. The best books always have characters that become friends to you by the end of the book.

This book is just so unique and different and not stereotypical or annoying at all. It's like no other book out there, but it so, so beautiful. I love this book (obviously, I read it 3 times already this year and I'm sure I will read it many more times) and I really, really want you to read it too.

I think EVERYONE should read this book. Go. Now. Read it!!!!

LINKS:
Jellicoe Road on Goodreads
Jellicoe Road on Amazon.com
Jellicoe Road on Amazon.ca

Melina Marchetta's Website

Corrine Jackson's IF I LIE Cover Reveal!

2011-12-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

Guess what? Today I am helping to spread the word about the cover of Corrine Jackson's IF I LIE. I've been following Corrine Jackson on her blog for a while, and I really enjoy reading it. I also interviewed her here.

Now, summary of IF I LIE....

A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

Then, the cover!!

It comes out August 28, 2012. I'm so excited!! :)

Links:
Corrine Jackson's Twitter
Corrine Jackson's Facebook
Corrine Jackson's Website

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO...and 39 New Things To Try On Your Blog

2011-12-19T20:59:00.000-06:00

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I feel like I'm a little kid again, back in the time before I was a hard-working, motivated young person with lots of goals to reach and... y'know, before I spent my time lurking the Internet. *ahem* Anyway, I feel like it's perpetually one of those days where I'm sitting on the couch and outside, the sun is shining, and my mom is bustling about and all I can think of to do is whine, "I don't know what to do-oooooooo!!" And then Mom replies threateningly, "Well I could give you something to do." And I scurry off before she puts any evil scheme into motion.

So. That's pretty much how I feel about this blog right now, I have no idea what to do. There's lots of stuff I could do, but none of it really excites me.

Yeah and then I remembered that I actually made a list of "new things to try on your blog". I read something once that said you should try new things on your blog to see what works the best. Not to mention it's fun. So now I present to you, 39 New Things to Try on Your Blog!

1. Post your inspiring pictures
2. Take pictures of your neighbourhood and post them
3. Take pictures of any area inside your house and post them
4. Give a virtual tour of your desk/writing area/bedroom/most important room in your house
5. Draw cartoons and post them
6. Use drawings to illustrate a point you're trying to make in a post
7. A different format, like vlogging, or aerial writing...
8. Do a post on video
9. Post a pardoy video
10. Make a short fun/serious film
11. Live blog (which is when you update a specific post throughout the day)
12. Live chat
13. Create a blogfest
14. Create a blog award
15. Do a link roundup
16. Get quotes from a whole bunch of people (bloggers, authors, experts, etc) on a certain topic and post them
17. Create a weekly meme
18. Organize a blog scavenger hunt
19. Hold a contest
20. Giveaway prizes
21. Do an interview with someone
22. Do an interview with someone on a specific topic (like their reading habits)
23. Do an interview with someone with video chat
24. Do an in-person interview with someone on video
25. Do an interview and post the audio
26. Host a guest on your blog
27. Do a blog swap with another blogger
28. Create a post of your favourite quotes
29. Create a post of quotes on a specific topic or issue
30. Post about your music inspiration
31. Ask a question so that lots of people comment and discuss stuff
32. Do a book review/suggestion
33. Tell a funny story
34. Post part of someone's MS and critique it (with permission)
35. Do a blog series on a specific topic
36. Hold a writing contest
37. Share an excerpt of your WiP or anything
38. Post your opinion on an issue
39. Write a post in a different perspective

So yeah... those are just some ideas for you, and just because they've all been done before doesn't mean they can't be new to you and your blog. :D

I also wanted to update you on my ideas of the Teen Scene Link Roundup and my Ask-the-Teen questions. I'm going to post a December Teen Scene Link Roundup on January 1st, and the Ask the Teens thing I am going to start sometime in the New Year (in January, probably). And I made about pages too... the about page for the Teen Scene Link Roundup is here and the about page for the ask the teens thing is here.

Do you have any ideas for new things to try? What new thing do you think I should try? ;)

Book Review: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

2011-12-05T17:01:00.001-06:00

Book: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: YA
Why I picked it up: I've seen a lot of talk online about Libba Bray and a couple of her books, this one and another (Beauty Queens).
Cover: My favourite covers are the ones that have just a couple of simple images that represent the story... and this one definitely falls into that category!

What it's about:

All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

So, I guess I'll admit it... I was kind of weirded out by this book at first. But then it started to make sense, and then it was pretty cool.

It's kind of like the Wizard of Oz in the sense that Cameron, the MC, falls into this really weird dream world where he goes on a long, fun, weird journey and meets people along the way.

I loved the way this book didn't fall into the trap of focusing entirely on the romance... it gave a lot of room to the friendships Cameron formed too, which is awesome! Before I read this book, I was like, where are all the awesome best friends in YA?? Well, I found some in this book.

I liked the weirdness of it... in the end it just made it fun and made me appreciate Libba Bray's creativity (and I am slightly jealous because this book would have been so much fun to write).

I would recommend this book to you if...
-you like those crazy adventure books
-you're looking for a book with some good friendships in it
-you don't mind books being on the kind of weird, random, creative side

Links:
Going Bovine on Goodreads
Going Bovine on Amazon.ca
Going Bovine on Amazon.com
Going Bovine on Libba Bray's Website (...where you can find a whole bunch of other links of where to get it)
Libba Bray's Official Website
Libba Bray's Twitter
Libba Bray's Blog

BEWARE THE BOOK CURSE!!

2011-12-01T21:16:00.001-06:00

A terrible thing happened the other day... and I'm not really sure I am able to talk about it with you, as it was such a traumatizing experience. But I will try.

See, I was at the library. Innocently, I was gathering books for the coming week. Hours later, I innocently went up to the checkout counter and piled my 21 books (barcode up, you're welcome, librarian) on the wood surface. 20 beeps later, and I was almost home free.

BUT THEN.

Then something happened that, at the time, I didn't notice as being strange. But now I realize how naive this was, for of course it sticks it out now! You see, now I recall the event and in recalling the event I remember the librarian's appearance. Gnarled, wrinkled hands with lengthy fingernails the ends of which were tinged green. A gray bun in the centre of her head framed perfectly by wispy gray hairs. A hooked nose, a mole, beady eyes... and a suspicious smell.

At the time, I dismissed her slightly odd appearance but now I wished I would have been more alert (oh, what the excitement of 21 new books to read can do...)

The strange librarian scanned my last book, and then did a strange tapping pattern on the cover before sliding it over to me. The next part gives me shivers - she grabbed a bookmark from beneath her desk and tucked in this last book. After closing the cover, she gave it one last tap and grinned at me, revealing yellowed teeth. "Enjoy," she said in a decidedly sickeningly sweet voice that was flavoured with cackle.

Strange things were happening - and this was only the beginning.

I went home with my bags weighed down with lovely blocks of words, eager to dig in. When I got home I was for some reason drawn to that last book, the one the librarian had tapped and slipped a bookmark into. I opened it.

And soon found I could not let go. My eyes devoured the pages and my heart pounded and I could feel the drip of sweat on my forehead. What was happening to me?

Despite my efforts to not read this book all of the time, I could not stop. I spent all of my time in this book. It was a lengthy book, too, and I began to realize everything was disappearing around me: my family, my friends, my life outside of the fictional realm. My social life was disappearing along with my health - now in addition to increased pulse and sweating, my head hurt and my eyes drooped.

At one o'clock A.M. that night (morning, I guess) I realized I had been talking to the book. I had been yelling at the characters, warning them of what I thought was ahead, and crying with them when they were hurt. I was talking to fictional characters! Yet at the time I thought, I knew they were real.

My mind, my health, my family, my friends... all gone. What was going on?

That's when I remembered... the strange gray-haired, hooked-nose librarian. The tapping. The bookmark. The sickly sweet "Enjoy" accompanied by a yellow-toothed grin.

It was five-thirty in the morning. I was on page 254 of many more. I gasped.

A witch! A curse! The tapping... obviously some sort of code to unlock a crazy spell. The bookmark... obviously injected with some sort of witchy potion. I had been cursed!

Yet I could do nothing to stop it... the only thing I could think of was to finish the book.

I holed up in my room for the next two days, not wanting anyone to know I had fallen for any librarian's harebrained tricks. I read and read and read, and my vision began to swim but I kept on.

On the third day, I finished the book. I closed the cover with a smack and immediately felt a sigh on my lips and a weight lift off my chest. I knew the curse had run its course. Although I could still feel some remnants of the curse as I felt a twinge of sadness that I had finished the book...
And maybe I am still cursed after all... for I still have a longing to return to that wretched place, the library, that caused me to be cursed in the first place....

**This entire post is fictional, although I may have been "cursed" by a good book a few times... also, librarians, my description of you is for the purpose of the story. None of you that I've seen ever look like that... :) What books have you been "cursed" by??

What Winter In Canada REALLY Looks Like: The Stick Figure Version

2011-11-30T19:41:00.001-06:00

Hey guys! Well, I have decided that it is time for some more amazing drawings of mine. Right?? Ha. Anyway. The reason why I decided to illustrate my life in the 6 or so months of winter in Canada is because I have to deal with a lot of Canadian sterotypes in my day to day life (okay, not in my day to day life, or really that often at all...) so I decided to show you the truth!

...Although actually it's really pointless since Canada is such a large country and stretches from one ocean to another, so there are lots of varying climates. Like where I live we get tons of snow and cold, yet on the East or West coast (where the oceans are), there's not very much snow or cold at all.

And maybe I just want it to snow already, and I am wallowing in my sadness by dreaming and drawing about winter.

ON WITH THE DRAWINGS!

The #1 Question Asked At Halloween: Will this costume fit over my snowsuit?

This is how I feel right now... SNOW!!!

I wish those purple boots existed in my real life... although it's probably a good thing my drawings aren't real life because then I would be a stick figure. And I wouldn't have a nose.

Despite the fact that it snows a lot, we NEVER HAVE SNOW DAYS. Life isn't fair.

One time in middle school there was an icestorm in April and the power went out at school... unfortunately not long enough to justify sending us home. :P

And we've come full circle....

So, folks, that is winter where I live...

What is YOUR winter like?? Are you enjoying some snow right now? No? Is it even winter where you live? :D

Book Review: My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison

2011-11-26T16:58:00.001-06:00

So I said I was going to start doing book "suggestions" although really who am I kidding, yes they are going to be reviews, basically.

So I just finished this book, My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison, and it was such a cute read.

Book: My Unfair Godmother
Author: Janette Rallison
Genre: YA Romantic Comedy
Why I picked up this book: I vaguely recollected seeing this reviewed online somewhere... but I remembered the cover.

Here's what it's about:

Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn't exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum "Chrissy" Everstar, Tansy's fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy's three wishes don't exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn't bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She'll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief's son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control.

So I didn't actually read the book flap before I read this book, so I was unexpectedly surprised with all the weird twists and turns... I completely did not expect for the majority of the book to be set in the Middle Ages. It was good, though, that I couldn't follow what was happening. That bugs me sometimes, when the problem is obvious from the start and it's pretty clear how everything is going to play out. It wasn't like that in this book.

I also like the characters. If you like character-driven books, this book is for you. Tansy is fun and spunky; the love interest Hudson has a personality, and Tansy also has a family. I like books with famillies. I especially liked Tansy's relationship with her brother, Nick. (Yay! Siblings in YA. :D)

So I would suggest this book to you if...

-You like spending time with an cast of awesome characters with spunky personalities
-You like fun, cute, funny reads that maybe aren't believable but are still enjoyable
-You are a girl (probably from 12-19 years)
-You want something easy to read just for entertainment

I think this book could also be classified as middle grade, just because it's light and fun and similar to some other middle grade novels. Not to say that young adults can't enjoy it because, well, I liked it... :) I am definitely going to be checking out some more of Janette Rallison's novels.

Links:
My Unfair Godmother on Amazon.com
My Unfair Godmother on Amazon.ca
My Unfair Godmother on Goodreads
Janette Rallison's Website
Janette Rallison's Blog

Oh! And before you go... in my last post I asked what you wanted to see on the blog and gave you a form to fill out, and if you haven't done that, it would be awesome if you did! Thank you so much.

Would I Be Less Impressed? I Think Not

2011-11-22T18:44:00.001-06:00

I actually wrote this post a few weeks ago so some of the information is a little bit outdated... but I decided that I liked it so now I'm posting it. :)

I had the scariest dream EVER the other night... I was dreaming that I went into the living room late at night to get a book from the bookshelf where we keep the library books that we get out, and my library books WEREN'T THERE. And I was like, OH NO I took all the library books back and I WASN'T DONE ALL OF THEM!!!! And there were some really good books in there that I wanted to read, too!! What a nightmare... thankfully, I woke up, and all my library books were still there. YAY!

OK, anyways... my book-related nightmares are not the subject of this post. Actually, I wanted to talk about a question that YA author Elana Johnson asked last week . She was talking about all her online acheivements when she asked: would you be less impressed?

The pressing question is this: Would you be less impressed? I honestly want to know. In this wide world of blogging, have we allowed ourselves to get carried away? Have we somehow deluded ourselves that our blog matters? That we can't write good books without blogging? That people will be disappointed in an author if they don't have a blog/Facebook/twitter?

Are we less impressed by the author who doesn't have an online presence?

So I think somehow this is backwards... if anything, why would I be impressed by an author's online presence? An author is not a blogger, nor a Facebooker, nor a twitterer. An author is someone who writes books. If anything, I should be impressed by the author's writing.

Before I joined the online writing community, I had absolutely no idea so many authors had blogs and websites and such. I read books, I read LOTS of books. And if I so happened to fall in love with a book, then I would want to devour everything I could about that book, or more. If that meant scouring the earth for another book by the same author, so be it (uh... actually, I still do this...) and usually I would do this by looking at an author's website, but pretty much the only thing I would click there is the "BOOKS" link, and then subsequently put all the books available by the author in my library on hold. To be honest, the author as a person didn't really matter to me - just the author as a writer.

If an author wants to impress me, they should put all their efforts into practising writing, honing their craft, trying to be the best they can be so their writing shines and when I'm done their book I sit back and go "ahhhh" in contentment.

I have an example for you... so, I read these books by this author, Megan Whalen Turner. The books were The Thief, Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia. I was seriously blown away by this woman's ability. Her writing was so clever and amazing and surprising and utterly perfect my jaw was dropped in awe after each new book in the series. I didn't find her online. Even after I read her books, I didn't find that she had much of an online presence. Was I less impressed? No, because that's not what mattered.

I think I shall use math to make my point:
Loving book leads to finding online presence > online presence leads to picking up book

I know there are lot of people who are online and find books that way (honestly I add more books to my TBR list from review blogs than books of authors whose blogs I follow) but there are a lot of people who find books other ways, too.

So, to answer the question: "would I be less impressed" the answer would be, I wouldn't even care if I never saw you online. As long as you give me a good book to read. ;)

What do you think? Would you be less impressed?

ARE MY IDEAS GOOD!? (or What Do You Want To See?)

2011-11-16T20:12:00.001-06:00

I keep an EYE on you... from in my computer...

**Even if you don't have time to read this whole post, I would appreciate it so much if you still filled out the form at the bottom. Thanks!

A couple of weeks ago I did go into a blogging "slump" if you will, where I could not think of what to blog for a long time. But that doesn't matter -inspiration comes. And it did, as it always does. But what I realized is that I like variety and creativity, and I want to try new things. (I looked it up on the internet, y'know "new things to try on your blog" and seriously found NOTHING helpful so I will take the initiative and do a post on that soon :D). BUT I also want your input. Here are some ideas and please let me know what you think:

A Monthly Teen-Scene Round-up

One idea I had was doing a round-up of all posts by teens or about teens that may help YA writers and authors get inside the heads of teens, as well as maybe posting about contests and such that teens can enter, as well as maybe new teen authors/writers/bloggers I find. I follow lots of teens and YA blogs that have teen-related features, and I am also a teen. I think this would have to be monthly, though, as for the moment there doesn't seem to be enough material to round up in a week. You can find some other teen-scene round-ups that I've done here and here so you can see kind of how I would do them (I would probably do it more along the lines of the second link where I link to specific posts and not just teens' blogs).

So... would a teen-scene link round-up be helpful to you? Would you like to see me do this? Would you like to see a November teen-scene round-up?

Weekly Ask-The-Teens Question

I was also thinking I could host a weekly (or maybe bi-weekly? monthly?) meme or prompt or whatever that's called (like YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday) that asks a question that would be helpful to YA writers/authors, and then teens would answer it on their writing or book blogs. For this one, I would need both teen and YA writer/author support. I think it'd be good, though, because both the teens and the YA writers would benefit.

So, teens, would you be open to answering a question on your blog each week that would help YA writers get inside your heads? YA writers, would you like to benefit from having teens answer your questions?

Book Suggestions

Yes, I talk about books on my blog. But I don't talk about specific books that often. I've come to realize how awesome and important book reviews are - when you share about a book, it helps the author grow their audience, and market and sell their book and, y'know, survive. If I become a published author, I want that support. So I've decided I'm going to start doing book suggestions. Not reviews, because everyone has different tastes (I've explained that more here), but suggestions. I won't criticize books as much, persay, but suggest them for people with certain tastes (like "if you like ___, you will like this book because ____", or "you should read this book because ____"). Also this way, I can get word out about my all time favourite books. I'll probably do this weekly, and I'll put one up either this week or next to see how it goes.

So... this idea isn't really tentative, I am going to do it, but still... do you think it's a good idea?

Interviews and Guest Posts

So! If you so please, I would love to interview you or have you (yes, YOU) guest post here on the blog. I am being perfectly honest with you when I say that if you ask to be interviewed or do a guest post here, I will say yes. Just go to the Contact page above to get my e-mail address and e-mail me about your idea, and then we'll go from there. (If you want to interview me or have me guest post, that's great too. :D)

So... would you like to be featured here? E-mail me!

So those are some of MY ideas, but if YOU have any ideas, awesome! Just share in the comments (or e-mail me). Also if something I've done on the blog in the past you really liked, tell me and I'll try to do more of whatever you liked.

So what would you like to see?? I would love it if you could try and tell me your thoughts on these ideas!!

Oh! To make things easier for you, I've made a form. You don't have to answer all the questions and it won't take you very long. If you don't want to fill out the form, please comment! Awesome!

Thank you so much! (You have no idea how happy this form makes me. Organization! Yay!)

Mid-Nano (And November) Motivation: Cake!

2011-11-15T17:13:00.001-06:00

November 15th! Halfway through NaNo (who's doing it? how are you doing?), and halfway through just plain old November. And for all you people bustling through writing a 50,000 MS in 30 days, and because you're HALFWAY THROUGH!, here is something I think you need at this point....

CAKE!

OK, so all you non-Nanoers like me can have some too. It's a busy time, mid-November and I'm sure you are most likely trying to work instead of reading blog posts etc. But who doesn't have time to eat cake (except for my dad. he is not allowed to eat cake. Or his gross peanut butter icing sugar mix that he makes for a midnight snack.)

Anyway, enjoy!

Yes, of course eat the icing last... it's the only way! :)

Happy Nanoing!!

Random Stuff (Including But Not Limited To Blog Awards)

2011-11-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! So Halloween is over and we're in the midst of the craziness of NaNoWriMo (which I'm actually not doing but anyway) and I have some stuff I need to get done... like doling out some more blog awards I've received!

First of all, Monica from Breaking Fantasy gave me the Versatile Blog Award.

The rules are 7 random facts about yourself, plus give the award to 7 awesome bloggers. I always seem to spouting random facts about myself (and my family), so instead I'll just list 7 things on my wall (I'm in the basement right now at my desk, and the wall is stuccoish thing so you can stick tacks into it):

1. "Save the Polar Bears" poster I drew in grade 8 for some contest (obviously I didn't win as I never handed it in).
2. Small piece of paper from a notepad with "Weird Expressions" listed on it.
3. A shelf that I painted white with multicoloured spots that has a red candle on top of it.
4. A picture of me and my friend when we were six, riding on a plastic red seesaw in my backyard.
5. A clown that I bought from Dollarama (or actually, my grandparents bought it for me).
6. A happy face printed on cardstock.
7. A Christmas card my sister made me.

...those are just 7 things, though, I actually have more stuff on the basement wall (that I took over) than that... :)

I also received the One Lovely Blog Award from Julie, who also hosted the Oh, The Early Work Blogfest that I participated in here. I had tons of fun going through some of my old work, and guess what? There was a contest with the blogfest, and I won! Yay! :)

Okay, so now I would like to pass on the awards to... (oh, and whoever I give the award to can take whichever one they want :D)

1. Nick Hight at Writing Fire - I always find his posts funny and insightful and most importantly, interesting.

2. Belle at Belle's Bookshelf - This is a great book blog that you should definitely follow. Everything is very organized and all the features she does are interesting and fun.

3. Alison Miller's blog is also a fun blog that I've recently started following. She's really fun and interesting and she's also a part of the team at YA Confidential which is a new group blog on the blogosphere... hey, can I give awards to group blogs? Is that allowed? Because then...

4. YA Confidential - This blog is super cool and if you're a YA writer/author (or even if you're not), you should definitely follow it. Their entire mission over there is to get into the minds of teens, and do they ever do an amazing job! I'm also one of the "teen analysts" over there if you ever see them referencing the analysts, know that I'm one of them! Haha. ;)

5. Sarah Enni - She is so cool, I love all her posts. There's something to be said about bloggers who can get their points across with amazing clarity, and Sarah Enni is one of those bloggers. Also, she gets bonus points for awesome organization. :D (One of her recent cool posts is this one).

6. Julie at Rosewood Pencil Box - Fun person and fun posts and cool host of cool blogfests... haha. Anyway I like her posts. :)

I know that's only 6 blogs but... oh well.

So! I want to know how everyone is doing... are you doing NaNo? How's it going? How's life and such? See you later!

BOOK PUMPKIN!!!

2011-10-30T20:24:00.001-05:00

I AM SO EXCITED, because look what I did!!!

I MADE A HUNGER GAMES PUMPKIN!!!! (Er... carved...)

I am mostly excited because seriously usually when I try and do these things it totally does not work AT ALL but I was clever this time and worked hard to get it right!!! And it's really cool when it's lit because it kind of looks like the Mockingjay is on fire and yeah, Katniss is the Girl on Fire, right???

I'm so excited this is the most awesome pumpkin I've ever carved!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Interview with A Real Live Bookworm! (aka My Best Friend)

2011-10-29T10:44:00.000-05:00

One thing I am fascinated by is different people's reading habits. It's cool to see the very, very different kinds of books that people enjoy. So what I've been doing once in a while is interviewing some people I know about their reading habits. I started with my brother, and then I interviewed my dad, and now I'm going interview one of my close friends, Emily. If you would like to be interviewed about your reading habits (it doesn't matter if you read a lot or not) then go the "Contact" page above to e-mail me.

Okay, so some more about Emily before we start:

Emily is 17 years old, an avid reader, and a slightly avid writer. She lives with cats galore, piles of books in the hallway and lots of bruises from walking into things since she always has her nose in a book. Wait.... that’s from the picture book The Library... In real life, Emily is allergic to cats, has only two piles of book in her room, and still has lots of bruises from walking into things since she always has her nose in a book. She also loves to sing.

You can find Emily here at her book review blog.

Now to the questions!

What are your favourite kinds of books and why?

I guess that would have to be fiction that mimics real life, like in the Christy Miller series because it could happen. It’s like a fictional character in real life. Also things still based in real life but you know would never happen, like the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa where this girl finds out that she’s half fairy and her dad is king Oberon from a midsummer night’s dream. Percy Jackson as well -you know greek gods aren’t real but it’s still a fun series.

Male or female MCs [Main Characters]?
Actually I don’t have a preference, both are fun to read.

How do you go about picking books to read?
When I'm at home, I look for books I already read and loved and I read those.

When I go to the library, I pull random books off shelves, and then I go sit at a table and read the jackets and then leave the ones I don’t want on the table. I don’t like prejudicing myself by covers.

I also use book review sites sometimes: goodreads, teen readers book club (through our library), blogs... I use one blog a lot called Belle's Bookshelf. [I love that blog too! You guys should definitely check it out.]What makes you put down a book without finishing it?
Poor writing quality, idiotic characters (those characters that just ramble on and don’t shut up), a slow storyline (I had to put down War and Peace because it went so slow), too weird. I’ll only keep reading a book when I don’t enjoy it if a family member has given it to me.

What is your favourite book?
Can I pick like, 15? I guess it would have to be Make Way for Ducklings, because that was my favourite when I was younger. I love those little duckies!!

Does age of the MC matter to you?
Actually no. Most appealing to read would be middle grade, because honestly high schools in books do not match what my high school is like in the slightest.

What do you have to say about relationships in books? What kinds of relationships are your favourite, etc?

I’m... in one? Oh, in books! Haha... I don’t really care whether its friendship or romantic, but I don’t like it when the relationship between two characters takes away from the story. Is there a certain element of a book that would guarantee that you would read it?Something that will draw me to books is adventure. That’s why I like the Warriors, Percy Jackson and Iron Fey series. How long does it take you to read a book? How many books to you read in a week?On average, it takes me a day and a half to read a book considering I read during class all the time... in a week, on average three or four. I read incredibly fast! (Unfortunately then people don’t believe that I don’t absorb all the information... but I don’t scan the pages!) What makes you buy a book?
Either it’s part of a series I’ve already read, and the next book has come out OR it’s a book I’ve read before after borrowing from the library or a friend and I have to have it because I love it so much.

---

Thank you so much, Emily! If any of you guys have any more questions for Emily, I'm sure she'll answer them. Or if you guys want to answer any of the questions in the comments, feel free! Oh and don't forget to check out her blog.

Why You Should Save (AND BACKUP!!!) Your Work

2011-10-22T17:28:00.001-05:00

What Marlin and Dory found in THE ABYSS... no
lost stories, though... :(

While checking out posts for the "Oh, The Early Work" Blogfest, I noticed a pattern of people saying things like "unfortunately I've lost all my childhood stories I wrote" or "yeah somehow all my work got deleted" before they went on to describe their early work. But it isn't just recently that I've been hearing this kind of thing. I've seen a lot of people say they've lost their work because they didn't save or back it up and then it got deleted or flushed down the toilet or thrown into the great, giant abyss.

YOU GUYS. SAVE YOUR WORK. BACK UP YOUR WORK.

Wait, I don't think you got the message yet:

SAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVEEEE!!!!!!!!! BACKUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So WHY am I so passionate about saving and backing up your work? Wait, before I tell you, if you're working on something right now, go save it. You did? All right, good. We can continue.

So, why does it even MATTER if you don't save/backup your work? Especially, like, old embarassing stories you wrote when you were little and childish and didn't know anything? Or even some of the stories you write now that you know you're not going to want later because you're just kind of barfing stuff onto the page anyway?

Well, let's make a list.

1. You really DON'T know if you'll want to use those ideas later.

Let's say that you, I don't know, wrote this weird paragraph-long prologue-sort of thing one time when you were bored at Christmas (and you wanted to try out your new office folder you got) and you pretty much thought you'd never use it again. BUT THEN later you had a whole bunch of other ideas and then it turned out that you could actually incorporate that old prologue thing you wrote at Christmas into your new ideas. And you gasp and realize you actually KEPT that prologue and it's in your filing cabinet RIGHT NOW and you are so HAPPY because for once when you're writing you ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE TO START. And then the story that branched from the prologue becomes a trilogy and it's all because you kept that one paragraph.

Yup, it's true... I'm the kind of person that loves getting office
supplies for Christmas. Oh yeah, I'm that cool.

SO if you didn't catch that, it is AWESOME if, when you realize you can use an idea you had way back when, it turns out that you still have some scrappy writings to start from. It is quite awesome not to have to start from a blank page, right writers? I think this would be the biggest reason to save your work.

2. You can see how far you've come.

(source)

Obviously as you write more, you'll become better at the craft of writing (as happens with anything you practise). When you look back at old stuff you've written years ago, you realize exactly how far you have come, and I think that's pretty cool. You feel proud of yourself when you see that.

3. You can laugh at your silly self later.

I had a fascination with dragons when I was younger...
quite a few of my stories featured them. GO DRAGONS!!

Kind of like I did here. This one isn't quite as useful a reason as the other two, but still. It is fun.

And as for backing up your work....

4. Your work WILL get lost/deleted/whathaveyou.
And guess what? If you have backups, then that won't matter. Go out there and figure out a way to backup your work automatically, or make extra copies and store them in different places, or whatever. But do it, in case you lose your work or it gets deleted.

---
I'm not the best person to ask exactly how you should save or backup your work (although while you're writing I think you should press Ctrl/Command+S after every sentence) but I would like to tell you that YES, IT IS WORTH IT to put the effort in to take the time to set up something so that your work gets backed up in case something happens. Better safe than sorry, right?

(source: http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/)

Why do you think it is important to save or backup your work? How do you go about backing up your work?

The Art of Blogfesting: Guest Post by "The Golden Eagle"

2011-10-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Today I have a special guest post for you by The Golden Eagle, which is a penname for a teenager writer/blogger who blogs at The Eagle's Aerial Perspective here. Here's some more about her:

The Golden Eagle is the pseudonym of a teenage Chinese-American girl who loves to write, read, and blog, among other things. Her favorite genre to read and to write is Science Fiction, along with some Fantasy and other genres on the side.

Oh, and she gets bonus points from me because she uses an online-name, like I do! :D

Anyway, I asked her to post on the topic of blogfests because you should see the number of blogfests that girl does! I don't know how she has time for all of them... take it away, Golden Eagle!

The Best of Blogging Events

When Gracie asked me to write a post on blogfests, I jumped at the chance. I love participating in them; they're interesting, fun, relatively easy to do, and best of all? You're likely to meet people who share your interests.

Where to find them:

Pages and sidebars are great places to find blogfests. Many bloggers put buttons created by the blogfest hosts on their sidebars, or if there isn't a button, a link instead. I have a separate page where I list blogfests and other events--I find it's an easy way of bringing them all together.

Watch for posts that mention them: a lot of people put out the word about a blogfest if they plan to participate and/or find it interesting. Certainly the hosts will bring it up on their blog!

How to be the best participant possible:

Pay attention to the rules. Of course, you don't have to follow absolutely everything down to the letter, but it's a good idea to give the impression you read the post about the blogfest before you signed up.

I would suggest putting up an individual post if the blogfest falls on a day when you have something else planned. While I know some people will combine both their regular post and a blogfest, a separate post makes it easier to identify what's what. If you think you'll have commenters coming by for both the regular post and the blogfest, put links at the top of whichever post was put up last so they don't have to scroll.

Comment, comment, comment on the blogs of others participating. This is how you meet people interested in the same thing and possibly get new followers--the list of links (called Linky Lists if hosted by Linky Tools and Collections if hosted by InLinkz) included with most blogfests is very handy.

Benefits:

Foremost, the content. If it's a writing challenge, then you get the opportunity to showcase your work. If it's something with a theme, you get to learn about other bloggers and (often) discuss the theme with them. In addition, depending on the subject, you can find out about some great book/movie, an interesting fact, a helpful tip. Those are just a few examples: there are blogfests on so many subjects! And if you read enough posts written by others and comment/follow, you will probably find at least a few new people reading your blog.

Conclusion:

Blogfests are a lot of fun. They're beneficial for you and your blog in that they increase your audience, and they're an excellent way of finding new friends in the blogosphere.

Thank you so much, Golden Eagle! Now here are some links to blogfests that are going on right now:

The Rule of Three Blogfest
Halloween Hop (Oct 28-31 visit as many Halloween Hop blogs as you can!)
Casting Call Character Blog Hop
Killer Characters Blogfest (Oct 24, 26, 28)
Oh, The Early Work Blogfest (have your post written by Oct 28, my post for this one is here)
YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesdays (not a blogfest, but a weekly prompt for you!)

What blogfests are you participating in right now? Post a link to the explanation post and I'll add it to the list!

Early Works Blogfest: My Awesome Childhood in Writing

2011-10-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

I think that there is a time when writers are still in their "baby" stage, if you will. A writer is a baby if they've only written a couple of WIPs, and are still going through growth spurts of learning and such. They still have a long way to go, but they'll get there once they've matured or done enough writing. For most people, their baby stage of writing happens when they first start seriously writing, somewhere in adulthood. Since I've been writing since I was five (maybe before that?) it just so happens that my baby stage of writing and my actual childhood line up! :)

Anyway... today I'm going to do a post for the Early Works blogfest that is being hosted by Juliemy here. You have to post about your early days of writing. I'm not going to write about every single thing I've written from the beginning until now, because that would honestly take weeks, but I'll post some excerpts of my favourites. :)

6 years old: I'm sure if you've been following my blog for awhile, you know about Linda and the Dragon. If you don't, click the link to read it. Basically, it's a story about Linda and a dragon (bet you couldn't guess that from the title) and it has absolutely no paragraphs for dialogue and pretty much no punctuation.

appx 9 years old. I wrote a story called "Bear" about a girl who lives with a bear.

Bear and Girl lived together in a cozy cave. They did everything together. In Winter they slept. In Spring they pranced and danced about the meadow. In Summer they swam and caught fish in the lake. In Autumn they jumped in and out of the fluttering leaves. Girl didn’t know about her life before Bear. She thought that Bear was her life, but in the end she was very, very wrong.

Yeah, apparently I aced the show-don't-tell rule back then... NOT. (But this was one of my favourite stories when I was younger... until I realized that the main idea -a girl being brought up by a bear- was terribly unrealistic.)

appx 8 or 9 years old. So my brother and I were obsessed with these toys called "Bionicles" when we were younger... we still have all the Bionicle movies, I think, and I'm pretty sure there were books, too. Anyway, one time when I was at my grandma's house for the day I wrote a Bionicle story:

A New Island.

“Gali, my sister! There you are,” exclaimed Tahu. “No, my brother, I am here,” said Gali. “Stop sillytalk,” said Lewa. The toa were talking of things to come and things of the past, by the water’s of Ga-Koro. “I feel a great new place coming to be…” said Gali. Tahu rolled his eyes and put his hand on Gali’s shoulder. A deep rumbling sound came suddenly. “Do you know of this earthrumble, my brothers?” asked Lewa...

Haha, still makes me laugh. (Although now I can't really understand it since I'm not into Bionicles anymore....) Also notice how I still haven't learned to make a new paragraph for new dialogue...

13 years old. So I didn't want to clean out the recycling bucket and my dad suggested I write a story about it. So, I did.

Once, a long, long time ago in the year of 2008, there was a girl named Pip. Her job was to clean out the recycling bucket because over time, it had collected lots of mess. Tomato sauce splotches, pineapple juice, and other unidentifiable smudges. It had come time to wash it out.

“But I don’t want to!” Pip complained.

Her father placed the bucket in plain sight on the stairs, but each time Pip passed she ignored it.

“That’s it!” the father said, “I’m going to lock you away with that bucket until you wash it out!”

So Pip’s father locked her away in a tall tower, out in the middle of the desert, with the messy recycling bucket. He also left her with some cleaning supplies just in case she changed her mind, and decided to do what her father asked.

“Never!” Pip declared.

So day after day, and night after night, Pip entertained herself by making up stories. Sometimes she would lean out her tower window and call out across the desert. Sometimes she would sing. There was lots of things to do in the tower, so Pip was hardly ever bored. But what Pip didn’t notice was the bacteria growing in the recycling bucket. Pip had stashed it away in a corner, so it wouldn’t get in the way.

Six more months passed, and then one day something grabbed Pip on the shoulder.

“Finally!” Pip shrieked, “Some company.”

But the hand on her shoulder was not ordinary company at all. It was a monster made from the bacteria in the recycling bucket! Pip turned around, and saw the ugliest thing she had ever seen in her life.

It was a disgusting green and purple and brown colour, and it didn’t have any particular shape. The one thing that was definite about the monster was it’s size. It took up the entire tower room.

“Don’t eat me!” Pip whimpered.

But Pip didn’t have a chance. The monster or thing or whatever it was trapped Pip in it’s massive figure and –somehow- swallowed Pip whole.

And that is the story of the girl who didn’t clean out the recycling bucket.

And... I could post more, but I won't. This is actually really fun... maybe I'll post a childhood story of mine each week or something. :) Anyway, go check out the blogfest and have a great day!

What were some of your old stories about?

Symptoms of Falling in Love...With A Book

2011-10-07T16:37:00.001-05:00

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." -Paul Sweeney

1. You cannot put the book down.

That thing is so good it's glued to your fingers. You bring the book wherever you go and sneak a sentence every single chance you get. You will sacrifice everything if only to read onward!

2. You cannot stop thinking about the book.

When someone eventually rips that book out of your hands, you cannot think of anything else. You can't stop reliving your favourite scenes in your head, or agonizing over what could happen next. And, of course, you're plotting the perfect time to make an escape and go back to your book to pick it up once again. Oh, how your heart longs for those words!

source

3. You want to know everything about that book.

You want to find out every single little detail about the story-world in that book. The book itself just simply isn't enough. Who cares if you have to resort to poorly written fan-fiction. All you want is to frolick for the rest of your days with those characters and those settings. Or maybe you just try to find something written by the same author. It doesn't really matter, you just want MORE!

Unfortunately, love can sometimes border on obsession and I would advise you to be careful when spending time with your ~~significant other~~ favourite book. Be aware of how much time you are spending with them as opposed to your friends and family in the real world.

Happy reading!

What books have YOU fallen in love with?

(Mine would be.... Harry Potter series, Christy Miller series, and Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta)

---

So, sorry I haven't been blogging as much lately... school, y'know. Anyway, as I was looking for quotes to put above... I found this AWESOME quote by Oscar Wilde that basically sums up everything that I was trying to say in my last post: "The books the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." Have a great weekend! (Oh, and in Canada, this weekend is Thanksgiving weekend... yeah don't really know why it's a month earlier than Americans but anyway... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!)

Banned Books Week: Spot The Pattern

2011-09-29T19:08:00.001-05:00

It's banned book week this week, and here at I Am Writer Hear Me Roar, we are going to play a game called "spot the pattern". I'm sure you have played a version of this in your grade school math classes. You know, you're given the numbers 2 4 6 8 and you have to figure out the pattern (it goes up by ~~multiples of~~ [so a friend pointed this out to me: the numbers actually don't go up by mutliples of two... I just said the wrong word, but you probably got what I meant... and believe me, I actually can do math! I got like, a 90 in math last year!] two! What!?).

Except instead of numbers, we'll use books (because numbers scare us writerly people, right?)

Book #1: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Source

Harper Lee grew up in a society where black men were thought of as predators; where the only men in the jury were white men so black men had no chance of being acquitted; where things happened like nine teenage boys being accused of rape.

To Kill A Mockingbird is about a mishievous tomboy Scout and her adventures until her and her friends watch a black men getting tried in a court case after being accused, wrongly, of raping a white woman.

To Kill A Mockingbird brings to light the very large issue of racism against black people that was present in the 1930s (both the time Harper Lee grew up in and the time the book is set in) and the 1960s (the time when the book was published).

To Kill A Mockingbird has been banned or challenged at various schools for using swear words, racial slurs, and for general racism. (Just an interesting sidenote, though: it's been said that To Kill A Mockingbird is the one book other than the Bible that has changed people the most... hm....)

Book #2: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Source

Huck Finn was first published in England in 1884, then in the U.S. in 1885. The book itself takes place sometime between 1835 and 1845. The book follows Huck as he goes on a journey with a black slave Jim, and realizes that Jim is a genuinely nice guy and not like society makes out black people to be.

Twain uses this book to criticize and challenge the racist American society of the time and the perception of black people, specifically the view that black people weren't human and didn't have feelings.

Source

Huck Finn has also been challenged and banned, for word choice (swears and racial slurs) and the line "he not only itched but scratched." It is

one of the most challenged/banned books of all time.

Book #3: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders when she was 16, inspired and irked by the gang rivalry at her own school. The book itself follows two groups who are separated by their social status in high school. It was published in 1967.

The Outsiders has been banned/challenged for gang violence, drug and alcohol abuse, slang language, and family dysfunction.

Book #4: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Source

Our society today is obsessed with entertainment and reality TV. There are also wars, all over the world, all the time. The Hunger Games is about a dystopian society where a reality show-like event is held each year, where children enter an arena and kill each other while the rest of the world watches on live TV for their own entertainment.

When talking about where the idea came from for The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins says "one night, I was lying in bed, and I was channel surfing between reality TV programs and actual war coverage. On one channel, there's a group of young people competing for I don't even know; and on the next, there's a group of young people fighting in an actual war. I was really tired, and the lines between these stories started to blur in a very unsettling way."

The Hunger Games has been challenged/banned, mostly for violence.

Do you see the pattern?

I hope you do. If you don't, I want you to take a second look at all those books - all those books that deal with and bring to light issues of their day, critiquing everything that is wrong with that -our- society. I do not understand why people are banning these books when they have such, such important things to say.

I understand that some books aren't for everyone, I really do. But the thing that bugs me is that these people who are challenging these books, they are challenging them for little things. They are not looking at the big picture, of what the message of these books is, of what they are supposed to mean! These book-challengers are missing the big picture, are missing the fact that these books take all that crazy stuff from reality.

So. What do you think? Should books be banned? Do you agree with me - are these book-banners missing the big picture? Can you think of any other banned books that might deal with society's issues? (Oh, I already thought of another one... The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie...) What are your thoughts on banned books?

SOURCES (brace yourself):

(all other sources are linked to in the text/caption)

To Kill A Mockingbird:

ttp://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=136590

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_kill_a_mockingbird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee

Huck Finn:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckleberry_Finn

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1842832_1842838_1844945,00.html (ok so this article says that there's a movie version of Huck Finn where the black slave is played by an actor who is not black to avoid controversy...!?!?!?)

The Outsiders:

http://world.edu/worldedu_posts/banned-books-awareness-outsiders/

www.sehinton.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.E._Hinton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outsiders_(novel)

The Hunger Games:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590063.html (where I got the quote from)

http://swardkehoe.blogspot.com/2011/09/banned-books-week-has-begun.html (what an intelligent reader has to say about The Hunger Games)

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/free_downloads/2011banned.pdf

Learning Mostly That I Suck At Writing Titles

2011-09-24T14:06:00.000-05:00

Hi! Sorry I haven't been posting as often... but that's what happens when school starts. Anyway, this a post I wrote at the end of August just as I was finishing rewriting a draft of my WIP (and obviously never got around to posting). Just thought I'd share what I learned. Also, at the end there's a story my brother wrote. Just sayin', if this post bores you, skip to that. ;)

It is amazing the mistakes your brain can just skip right over. For example, "Gwen sat on her hose". (Yes, brain, the characters in my WIP frequently ride hoses.)

Less is more. "made it rock" can just be "rocked". Unfortunately, I like words. I often use too many. :)

I have used the sentence "She didn't say anything" way too often. It is very obvious she doesn't say anything when she, you know, doesn't say anything.

I use way too many adjectives. I have to have at least 1700 of them before each noun. (At least that's what it seems like).

Sometimes sentences just need to switch places in order to make sense.

I have a habit of using the EXACT SAME WORD a million times. I'm sure that's how many times I used the word "sliced" in my WIP. (My characters do a lot of cooking while they are riding their hoses.)

Don't mix up "dinghy" and "dingy". Dinghy = little boat. Dingy = dirty.

And, last but not least, never ask my brother for advice. Evidence:

Me: Is it "Tamlin had ran" or "Tamlin had run"?
Bro: Tamlin was running?
Me: No, that won't work because the story itself is already in past tense.
Bro: So it's like... double past tense? "Tamlin was ran"?
Me: ....

Now, as promised, a story my brother wrote... see, I frequently have my brother come across as a complete idiot on my blog when he actually isn't. He's really smart, just doesn't think sometimes when he talks. ANYWAY, here's a story he wrote when we went to the lake on the September long weekend...

ELI WE DON'T WANT YOUR FEET. They are too annoying, they are too purple, they are not wearing shoes, they have no name, they cannot fly, they cannot speak, they cannot kick a giant in the ear, they cannot hear, they cannot smell, feel or taste, all they do is help you walk, ELI WE DON'T WANT YOUR FEET. (by RZS/Gracie's brother).

Cute, isn't it? Can't you imagine that being an awesome kids book?

Anyway.

What have you learned lately... about editing, or writing, or life in general, or really anything?

Don't Pay Any Attention To The Writer Behind The Curtain!

2011-09-17T19:03:00.000-05:00

For awhile now, I've sent stories over e-mail to a bunch of my family and friends. I split them up into segments and have each segment end with a cliff-hanger, basically so I can inflict humane torture on my readers. (OK, maybe not.) Actually, I posted about this here and you can read that post to learn more.

It's kind of a weird thing to do, I guess, because a lot of writers are really protective of their work. But it helps me. I have a story that's being sent out right now, and I've sent out two segments already. My dad read the first segment, and he commented that he thinks of the writing and story a lot differently when he knows I wrote it, when he knows there's someone behind the writing.

That made me think of when I first started following blogs and author's websites, and how it changed how I think of books. I found tons of new books to read based off of recommendations and the fact that I loved the way a certain author blogged, or something like that. I've read a couple of books now by people whose blogs I follow. And... well...

It's weird!! "Knowing" the person behind the writing, knowing how they blog and a bit of their personality (their online personality, anyway) makes me think differently about the writing and the book. If I like the author's blog, I'm eager to like the book and slow to dislike it. I notice more things in the book that seem like the author took from their own personality.

I also have a lot more appreciation for the book, and it's creation. It's not just a story I can be swallowed up by and enjoy. It's something that someone else put hours, and hours, and hours of work into to create, edit, have critiqued, query, market, and much, much more than even that.

How have different factors influenced your perception of books?

---

Oh, by the way... thank you guys for the comments on my last post, the interview with Lali! She's sweet, isn't she? :) I also hope you didn't suffer too much from my infomercial-post. I promise I won't do THAT again. Haha. ;) You guys are awesome! Keep it up!

Interview with Cool Person Lali!

2011-09-11T15:16:00.000-05:00

Today I am interviewing Lali, who was the second place winner of the draw I did awhile ago for my explore-a-teen's-brain contest thing. One of the second place prizes was either an interview or a guest post to be posted here on the blog, but I am excited to interview Lali anyway!

Lali is from Spain and she and I share lots of similarities (one of them being, of course, reading). She also likes to go to museums, hang out with her friends, and paint pictures. She also said that she bakes cakes and muffins like me, and suggests this website for some good recipes!

Lali also wanted me to encourage you to check out Steph Bowe's book, Girl Saves Boy as well as her blog, which you can find here. (I also love Steph Bowe's blog, though I have yet to read her book).
Now, on to the interview!

How old are you?

I'm 16 years old.

What are your favourite kinds of books to read?

I love all kinds of books, however now I'm very interested in philosophical books, like The Elegance of the Hedgehog and Sophie's World, I used to read novels about fantasy like Memorias de Idhun and one of my favourites books is Marina (carlos ruiz zafon the writer) and The Thirteenth Tale.

What makes you a hate a book? (bad writing, bad plot, annoying characters...?)

I'm very exigent with the books, however is just what you said that makes me hate a book.

Do you read any books that have originally been published in the U.S. or Canada?

Unfortunately in my country there aren't books or novels in English, if I read a book in English is because I borrow it from the library or cause my aunt buys it on Amazon, you know? I usually read tales and blogs in english, however I prefer books in Spanish if the writer is Spanish or in English just to improve my second language.

What is your favourite thing about living in Spain?

Well I think that the best thing of living in Spain is the temperature, always is sunny even in winter! However is cold too. The food, there are much kinds of menus and the fruit is very cheap. Other thing is that the party are so popular, if you compare it to other countries. Other thing is that there are a lot of museums and old and pretty churches, it's an old country (it's in Europe hahaha) Finally I don't wanna to be vain, but I think that the people in Spain is nicer than in England for example, maybe it's because of the weather or something, but the most of the people is always happy.

What is your favourite place?

My favourite place is Madrid, My friend and I like the parks, for example The Retiro. And others parks of my village, we like the cinema, the pool, the shopping mall... many believe me!

What is one unique tradition your family has?

I don't know if it's unique, but my mother use to pray when we go on car.

Do you write? If so, what?

I used to write poetry, I won a local contest, and some tales but now I don't write anything except silly things for my friends, you know?

How did you get into painting? Have you ever illustrated anything?

And finally I paint since I was a child, I love painting since ever, but I've never illustrated anything, I would love to. If you write a book I can ilustrate it, ok¿? hahaha.

And I would like to share with you Lali's beautiful painting:

Isn't that amazing?? :) I hope you enjoyed the interview! And thank you so much, Lali!

Oh! And I've reached 50 followers. :O Thanks so much you guys!! :) You're awesome.

POPULAR SUFFIX ON SALE NOW! "ISH", ONLY $19.99!

2011-09-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt incredibly STUPID and AWKWARD for declaring something with utmost certainty, only to find out later you're totally, completely WRONG? And then you never want to feel so idiotic again?

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If not, there's more! ISH's usefulness just never ends! Do you find yourself querying agents about your manuscripts? Well, ISH is a perfect addition to that little bugger! Take a look:

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In Which A Blog Award Makes A Debut

2011-09-01T18:33:00.000-05:00

I am awful at sending on blog awards... I said that I got the Liebster award on... um, August 9th. And now I'm going to finally post about it (yeah, and I started this post a few weeks ago and I put it off until... NOW). Oh, dear... except I HAVE AN AWESOME SOMETHING. Yes, stay tuned. My drawing is involved.

So I received the Liebster ("friend" in German, apparently) award from a whopping three other bloggers.

Jenny who said I was "spunky, funny, and a teenager. I love that there are so many young writers out there!" (First time being called spunky, yay! :D), Brittany who said that my blog posts are "sometimes funny and sometimes thoughtful", and Lizzy (co-blogger of Twin Moment who said "I don't know much about Gracie, but I know two things for certain: One, she writes. Two, she's awesome. Gracie is a sincerely creative writer, reader, and glue-gun wielder who just happens to blog. There's a great personality behind the writing, which makes it totally enjoyable to read. Trust me when I say it's worth your time!"

No, I did not share all those quotes because they make me feel warm and fuzzy and special (pffftttt *ahem*) but because it is obvious from the awesome things they say about people that THEY ARE AWESOME. There ya go. ;)

And now I will proceed to BREAK THE RULES because I am a rebel like that. (Ha!) The Liebster blog has five rules (uhh which I forget) and I'm breaking them because....

INTRODUCING....

THIS:

I have made my own blog award (in case you missed that from the "blog award" and the "made by gracie"). It is a lion because I am keeping with the lion theme of my blog. :) Also, because it is my award, I am going to make up the rules. So, rules:

1. When you receive the award, post the picture! (Hey, I spent a whole fifteen minutes on that Paint drawing. And it's pretty good, considering I did it on Paint, and only using my laptop touchpad. Well, except for the fact that the roaring lion actually just looks sleepy...)
2. Pass on the award. I don't care how many people, as long as you do it. :)
3. In case you haven't figured it out, if you receive the Roaring Lion Blog Award it means that you are awesome.

So the very privileged first-ever-people-to-receive-my-award are:

1. Twin Moment, a blog by two teens (Lizzy and Constance) who are cool. Their blog layout is awesome, they like classical music, and they're really sweet. :)

2. Jenny, who I only recently started following but I love her writing style and the content in her posts. I'm looking forward to reading more. :)

3. Brittany of Hills and Corkscrews. Her posts are always thought-provoking and bring up good discussion. I like how she presents opinions and then encourages others to share theirs!

OK, then. I think that will be all for now. Go and pass it on!

Oh, wow. I just realized I gave an award to the three people who gave me an award. Honestly, I did NOT do that on purpose! I really do like these people and their blogs, and believe me it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they gave me an award.

(Also, my brother said that I should stop doing "boring" posts -as the question series I did didn't interest him- and I have a few things ~~planned~~ okay, not planned but... I have ideas in my head... to come in the next week-or-so. Hopefully.)

Have a good week!

Where To Find Teens On The Web

2011-08-29T13:41:00.002-05:00

Is it even called the Web anymore? Wow I am supposed to be totally on top of all these terms... ANYWAY. Today I have decided to put a thing together of where you can find teens on the Internet (only a few of them, and they are mostly writers!) as well as some good posts to give you an idea of what teens think about books.

TEENS

-Taryn Albright, 18-year-old writer, blogger, reviewer. She also has an editing service with Kate Coursey called Teen Eyes.
-Aleeza Rauf, 17-year-old fun writer, blogger and reviewer who currently lives in Pakistan. My interview with her here.
-Audrey, a Young Adult who reviews YA.
-Blue Lipstick Samurai, otherwise known as Glenna. 17-year-old writer and blogger.
-Brittany, 13-year-old writer and blogger (host of Teen Writers Summer Blogfest I particpated in with a bunch of other teens.)
-Riley Redgate, 17-year-old writer and blogger. I've really enjoyed her blog in the short time I've been following. (And she has a penname, like me! Except hers is awesome.)
-Kate Coursey, 18-year-old agented writer, has editing service with Taryn Albright (for link, see above!)
-Laura, college student, also particpated in Teen Writers Summer Blogfest.
-Madeline Bartos, spunky young teenager with lots to say to help you get in the mind of a teen.
-Matthew Dodwell, teenage writer from Australia.
-Brigid Gorry-Hines, 18-year-old cool person.
-Noveltee(n), group blog by teenaged writers.
-Emilia Plater, 18-year-old agented awesome person. She likes unicorns.
-Steph Bowe, teenage PUBLISHED author.
-Brittany Clarke, 17-year-old writer and blogger. And I did a guest post for her.
-The Golden Eagle, (another penname!), teenage Chinese-American writer and blogger.
-Through The Book Vine, a book review blog by a Canadian highschooler.
-Amanda, 18-year-old aspiring author.
-Twin Moment, a blog by two teenage girls, Lizzy and Constance.
-Romi, a younger Australian teenager who blogs and reviews. (And writes. I am starting to see a pattern...)
-WORD for Teens, the most awesome book review site ever run by a teen.
-Rachael, 18-year-old writer and blogger.
-Nick Hight, teenaged writer and blogger from New Zealand.
-Yahong Chi, 15-year-old (?) writer, reviewer, and blogger. And Canadian.
-Gabrielle, 18 year old writer and blogger.
-Mint Tea and A Good Book, a collaborative teen book review site.
(If you have any suggestions for teens to add, just comment!)

Yes, there's more of us than you thought, right? Haha.

I really want to make a point here. You may not know this, but there are obviously (see above) a lot of teens out there, reading blogs and websites of YA authors. We know what you say, and our (er, my) ears perk up when anything about teenagers is mentioned. It's fine to talk about teens on your websites and blogs, but one thing that isn't acceptable is not having respect for your audience. (See the link below to read the awesome post on respect by Kiersten White). If you say something degrading about teenagers, or young people in general on your blog, I almost guarantee you that there ARE teenagers that will read what you wrote. The Internet is not a safe place to be mean. (Um... though.... 1. You should never be mean and 2. That includes not being mean to everyone, not just teens). I'm sure all you awesome peoples out there probably know all this stuff, but just a gentle reminder that teens could very well be reading your stuff, and if that makes you tweak the things you say on your blog, then good. :)

Now here's some awesome posts about what teens think about books, etc:

In case you missed some, here are all of the answers to your questions! (And even though this project is over, still feel free to e-mail me whenever with any questions you have.)

This post is a post that YA Highway did awhile ago that includes a bunch of information and links on book review blogs run by teens!

A Thought for The Day, by Laura on what she thinks of saying things like "at such a young age" and "for a teenager".

Check out the blog series Madeline Bartos did called Straight From Your Audience Member.

Here's a post by 13-year-old Brittany on what she thinks of books being called "the next Harry Potter".

Aleeza Rauf has a rant about why series are waaay overdone (and I kind of agree with her).

Also check out ALL the posts on Brittany's blog from the Teen Writers Summer Blogfest that she hosted this July. (There are links in each of her posts to all the other participants' posts.)

Check out all the awesome teen interviews that Paper Hangover does.

Here's a post by Riley Redgate about high school humor.

And some of my posts... more on the "show-don't-tell" concept and how it's similar to puzzles, basically a summary of what I think of books (kind of in response to that awful WSJ article a few months ago), what my teenaged brother has to say about books, and why I think characters are important in books.

I also really, really want you to read this post on respect by not a teen but an amazing person anyway, Kiersten White.

And, last but not least... the completely crazy post that I did awhile on back that includes a list of authors who published books as teens (there's quite a few, actually), another list of writing teens who have blogs/websites and a list of writing magazines and websites that teens can submit work to. All with links, o' course.

(If you have any links to posts that teens wrote about their opinions of books and reading, etc, then please post the link in the comments and I'll add it!)

I hope I helped you guys learn a little bit more about your audience this past week. Have a great rest of the week! (And if you have any suggestions for links to add to anything, just comment!)

Oh, and I would also like to thank everyone who shared about my contest thing on their blog or twitter, as well as everyone who asked questions. So thank you so much! I will now proceed to disappear for a few days before returning to my regular (er... irregular) postings.

*Just a note: all the links on the words "Teen Writers Summer Blogfest" go to different places! So make sure you click on each one!

The Answers To Your Questions Part 4

2011-08-28T17:10:00.001-05:00

Last two questions! From Abby.

How do you feel about your parents? Do they bug you or are you close? Are they nosy or do they give you your independence? What are your preferences when it comes to parent/teen relationships in books?

Me: Thanks you guys, asking all these questions about parents when my parents actually read my blog... haha. :) Just teasing you. But I guess that kind of gives you an idea of how close I am with my parents, since I let them read all this stuff. Anyway, my parents specifically are really great. They give me and my siblings the perfect amount of independence, and they really trust us with pretty much everything (that is probably partially our fault though). Of course sometimes they bug me... that happens with everyone, I think.... but overall my parents and I are close. I trust them and have discussions with them and talk with them a lot. Although I don't tell them everything, either. I share much more with my friends than my parents, but I'm pretty sure that's normal.

As far as parent/teen relationships in books... hm. I have to say that I have yet to read a book where I am like, "that parent/teen relationship was done brilliantly!" but it doesn't really matter that much, because usually a book has a much bigger focus than a parent/teen relationship, I think. I might not even notice if there was absolutely no parent/teen interaction in a YA book. Also, I find a lot of parent/teen relationships in YA are very stereotypical. Either the MC has some sort of problem with their parent (like one of their parents never notices them or something) or the MC is really annoyed with their parents. Since I have neither problem with my parents, I can't really relate. However (as I've said before) it doesn't really bug me that much if a) I can't relate and b) there's no parent/teen interaction. (Sorry, parents. :D)

E: How do I feel about my parents…. Well to tell you the truth I am not close to my Dad at all. My parents divorced when I was really young and my Dad has never really been there for me. My Mom on the other hand is awesome. We fight at times, and get on each others nerves but there isn’t a thing in the world that I love more than my Mom. She gives me a lot of independence, (aka pretty much lets me do what I want – within reason) and she doesn’t bug me about things that I don’t need to be bugged about (she bugs me about cleaning, cause I hate cleaning and never do it). When I read a book I want the relationship between teen and parents to be a good one, but have it realistic too. I mean, no parent is perfect and no relationship between a teen and a parent is perfect. If it is perfect in a book it ruins it slightly for me.

What about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll? How do you feel about it? Is it realistic, or does it offend?

Me: I'm not into any of that stuff, so when I read it in a book, it's basically like reading about a different world. Which is OK. But I find that it's nice that, even if a character isn't into that stuff or tempted by it, then it still occurs around the character. That's more realistic, to me. Yes, a lot of teenagers have sex, do drugs, etc. But a lot of them don't. Not every teen struggles with that kind of stuff. However we are aware it's around -I know there are people in my high school who do all that stuff. And actually, YA does a pretty good job of this. A lot of YA has sex and drugs in it, but a lot of it doesn't. Yay! :)

E: I don’t think that sex, drugs, or “rock n’ roll” help the story. I realise that a lot more teenagers now take drugs and have sex at younger ages, but I don’t and won’t. I don’t like having all of that in books, it ruins the book for me.

Thank you everyone for asking questions! And even though these are the last questions, COME BACK TOMORROW! I have a really awesome post that will help you guys get even further into the minds of teens (I hope). Anyway, "see" you tomorrow! (Right???)

Oh, also, feel free to answer the questions yourself in the comment. And I have a question: What's the best (as in most realistic) parent/teen relationship that you've read in a YA book? What makes it so special, in your opinion?

The Answers To Your Questions Part 3

2011-08-27T20:41:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, sorry I didn't get any questions up yesterday... I was super busy. Anyway, here they are.

From Melody K:

What is a common thing that most teens dislike about their parents?

Me: I think that my parents specifically are pretty great (and also they read this :D), but as far as something that most teens probably dislike about their parents... well I'm just going to take an educated guess. When you're a teen, you're older and therefore have more responsibility, etc. You can now go out and do things you couldn't before when you were younger and your mom walked you to school. I think a lot of teens really value that independence and maybe want more independence than they can get at the moment (even if maybe it's not what they need). Parents get in the way of that independence.

E: (Can I answer this… who knows, my Mom might read it. Just kidding.) The main thing that I would think teens find annoying about their parents are their parents telling them what to do. I mean, who likes that? I know that my Mom will annoy me when she keeps telling me thing after thing to do, and I would guess that others feel the same way.

Bro: I don't know. (Although he was disappointed that my dad didn't want to juggle a soccer ball with him...)

From Jenny:

What 1 movie or TV show do you feel represents or resembles your high school well?

Me: Honestly? Absolutely none. I don't know if American high schools are a lot different than Canadian high schools or something but.... yeah. In all movies and TV shows I've watched, the high schools in them don't really come close to resembling my high school. (At least, overall. There's always a few things that are similar. Like, my school has students too. :D)

E: First off, I don’t know what high schools are like in the United States, but I doubt that they are like the ones in movies. There is only one movie that I felt portrayed high school well. There were still some things that were off, but for the most part it was good. This movie was To Save a Life. Basically it is about a young guy who’s previous best friend kills himself at school. That is the main thing that isn’t the same. We have never actually had someone do that at my school. However, all the tough things that happen, and the drugs and smoking that go on during the school day are similar. I do not smoke or do drugs, but there are people at my school who do. I hate that fact, but it is true. So that is pretty much the only movie that I feel properly represents a typical high school situation.

Bro: None.

Who are your heroes?

Mattie Stepanek!

Me: One of my heroes is definitely Robin Jones Gunn, who is a Christian author of some books that I adore. Another one of my heroes is Mattie Stepanek. He died when he was 14, but he was amazing. He had muscular dystrophy but let me tell you that did not stop him from just doing everything he could to help the world. I encourage you to look up his poems, especially one called "I Am".

E: My heros…. Hum. In writing, my main hero is Robin Jones Gunn, because she changed my life forever. In real life, however, a few of my heroes are Martin Luther King Jr. because he was amazing. Another hero of mine is Bethany Hamilton. I recently did a lot of research on her because her movie, Soul Surfer, caught my attention. The fact that she went through what she did and not once did she get depressed (Anna Sopia Robb acted sadder in the movie, but in real life, Bethany was always positive) it just lifted my sprits 200%. Heroes to me are not people like Superman who save the day. A true hero is someone who quietly does what needs to be done, not needing to always be über noticed.

Bro: I don't know.

When you read a story, what character trait do you usually identify with most?

Me: I don't usually identify with certain traits to tell you the truth. I'm not very talkative and kind of shy (yes I come off quite differently online) but I don't really identify with the kind of shyer, I guess what you would call "geekier" characters. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because a lot of the time those characters feel really, really sorry for themselves or all they want to do is be popular. I'm not really like that. But I also identify with certain things that are the same about characters -not really traits, specifically, but things like a character being Canadian, or having a sibling with a disability (because I'm Canadian, and my sister has Down Syndrome). Sometimes I will pick up a book solely on the basis that it's Canadian or there is a character in the book with a disability. Not so much if there's a shy character though, because I think they're kind of boring and very overdone.

E: Character trait… that is interesting. I would have to say that the character trait(s) I most identify with is honesty and purity. I am not saying that I am always honest. (I try but don’t always (or sometimes, often) succeed) I enjoy characters who are honest and pure because it makes me feel all mushy inside and just makes me feel happy. Like once I hit Robin Jones Gunn’s the College Years, Christy was not as annoying (hate to say it, but sometimes she got on my nerves with her naivete :D) and her way of dealing with everything with honesty and integrity really warms my heart. It makes me sad that there aren’t more books like that.

Bro: I don't know. (Me (suggesting character traits): Being shy? Bro: I don't know. Me: Being not talkative? Bro: I don't know. Me: Saying I don't know to everything? Bro: I don't know.)

The last few will hopefully be up tomorrow, and then I have a special post prepared for Monday! Have a good rest of the weekend, everyone.

The Answers To Your Questions Part 2

2011-08-25T15:14:00.000-05:00

So for some reason, the file that I saved all of the questions in I named "awesometastic atk [ask the teens] questions". Yeah, I have no idea why I thought there was a "k" in "teens". It's a mystery....

Oh and I've decided to personalize Friend. She is now E. (And she is a real person, by the way. She's one of my best friends and I am very grateful that she did this for me!)

Anyway, on to today's questions:

From Stephanie, PQW:

Are teens put off by a protagonist that is younger than themselves?

Me: Nope! I frequently read middle grade and I love it. Character ages honestly don't matter to me at all, especially if they're younger. I think a big part of this is, because I'm a really weird, odd person, then I don't go through the same things that other kids, middleschoolers, or teenagers go through. Lots of situations that are presented in YA are completely foreign to me. But I still like those books because they introduce me to a new world that's a place I can discover and have fun in while I'm reading. It doesn't bug me all that much if I can't relate one hundred percent to characters or books. I don't think anyone can relate one hundred percent to a book anyway, unless they wrote it (though even then...)

E: I LOVE it when the protagonist is younger (or same age) as me. If they are younger especially, I can relate what is going on. When a protagonist is older, sometimes the things they do don’t make sense because I have not experienced that time of life yet. When the protagonist is younger that makes it more fun to read because you can chuckle at mistakes that they make, and sometimes even go “Hey! I did that too!” which is a really cool sensation.

Bro: I'm pretty sure when I asked him this question he said, "What's a protagonist?" but besides that, I don't think he cares.

From Wub2Write:

Are teens turned off by dated slang in their novels? Does it distract the reader?

Me: First of all, the person that asked this question said it is cool that I said "jeepers" and I think that is awesome. :) Yes, it is true that I often use quite old-fashioned sayings like "jeepers" or "oh my goodness". However, sometimes, yes, dated slang does take me out of the novel. A character might say some weird phrase and I'll be like, "what? Teenagers don't say that." Unless the character is the kind of person that likes to make up funny sayings or use old-fashioned sayings (or there is some other reason for it), then I think that dated slang sounds weird.

E: Dated slang. Quite honestly when I read that I read it as “dating” slang. I was thinking words like babe, and honey and such. Very confusing. I get it now! :D I don’t think that dated slang is at all turn off-ish. In fact, sometimes the words that I read in novels I pick up and start using it myself! I think that it makes a book better because if it is all the same slang that is being used now and at my school it would seem too much like real life. For myself, rather than dated slang distracting me, it pulls me into a book, lets me absorb it, because I am not distracted by thinking that “That sounds like Jordyn! And that sounds like Randy!” and so on and so forth.

I know that's only two and I promised 3-4 per day, but I'll get more to you tomorrow, okay? And don't forget to feel free to answer the questions yourself!

The Answers To Your Questions! Part 1

2011-08-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

So a parachute has nothing to do with this post.
But it's pretty. So just enjoy it.
Source

So in case you didn't know, I asked for inquiries for teenagers from YA authors and writers. (The contest results are here if you entered). I received a whopping 11 questions! Sweet, thanks guys. Anyway, since I have about three (mostly two, since my brother's answers usually include one of three sentences) people answering each question, I am NOT going to include all the questions and answers in one post. Over the course of this week your questions will be answered, each post containing three or four questions. At the end of the week, I have a special post with some links that will hopefully help you get even further into the mind of your teenage audience.

Just remember when you're reading the answers that the views expressed are only the views of a few teens. Other teens might (probably) think differently. That being said, anyone else is free to answer the questions in the comments.

The answerers are Me (17), Friend (also 17) and sometimes Brother (15). (Although I can save you the trouble of reading my brother's answers right now. His answers are either I don't know, I don't care, or Whatever.)

On to the questions!

From Lynn:

Do you prefer edgy reads? (Edgy meaning dark, serious situations.)

Me: When I think about it, I don't usually read books like that. I am sure there are teens out there that find much comfort in books that deal with heavy issues, but I don't. I put down The Perks of Being A Wallflower because it was way too intense for me. However, sometimes I can stand those books. I once read this memoir of this woman who went through horrible, horrible stuff before giving her heart to the Lord. It was pretty amazing, and it dealt with some really tough issues.

Friend: To me, books with deep situations like that aren’t always the best books to read. Sometimes it is just too serious for me to take at that time. Usually I would put a book like that aside and read it a little bit at a time. Either that, or I would have an “edgy” read on the go, and have a fun read at the same time. A fun read meaning that it isn’t serious and just is funny and light. That way there is a mix of both edgy and light.

Bro: I don't know.

Does swearing (not overdone but enough to be realistic to a character) offend you?

Me: No, swearing does not offend me. My dad and I often have a discussion about how swears, really, are just words and it's how you use the word that makes it a swear. (But that is a long discussion that isn't really relevant). Anyway, sometimes a character swearing is quite effective. Although if I read a book with zero swears in it, I am never, ever thinking "the author could have added some swears", even if it was that kind of book.

Friend: I prefer that there is no swearing in a book. Especially the worse swears. “Small” swears like crap and such don’t bother me very much, because I find that all books seem to have those now. However, if I am looking at a book and it has too much swearing for me (even if too much to me means not that much to the author) I seriously consider not getting that book. I know that a lot of teenagers would have a different opinion on that though.

Bro: I don't know, no, it doesn't bug me.

From Kristin Bailey:

I want to know what teens think of authors who like to dress up for their own events in costumes, vampires, steampunk etc. Do you guys view it as fun, or silly?

Me: I have never been to an author event. I'm not quite sure what I would think of authors dressing up... it could be cool but it could also be really weird. I think it really depends on the author, and how well they can pull it off. Some people can pull off those kinds of things really well.

Friend: Hummm…. Kristin Bailey, you ask a great question. I have never gone to a book signing, or at least, not a book signing where I wanted to be there. (Having a family friend who is an author means going to their books signings, even if you really don’t want to.) I think that would be kinda cool to see though! That would show how in love with their books an author is, if they are willing to dress up goofily. One thing – I wouldn’t want it overdone. If it is overdone, I think it would just take away from the person themselves. Everybody would remember the costume, not necessarily what was said. [<--awesome point!] Those are my thoughts!

And that will be it for the day. Check back tomorrow for more answers to questions! And anyone else feel free to answer the questions.

Draw Winners!

2011-08-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to perform the draw the old-fashioned way:

With scraps of paper. Except I am horrible at performing draws, apparently. I cut up way too many scraps of paper, for one. (Evidence below).

Then I got my brother, of all people, to pick the winners. He for one was trying to annoy me, and for two apparently couldn't read my handwriting. Anyway, the winners have been picked.

Winners!

So, here are the winners:

Prize package #1: $25.00 Amazon gift card and a critique (by all the teens who will be answering questions) of anything you want whether it be blurb, first page, etc (max 5 pages)

...goes to.... Jenny!

Prize package #2: The chance to either have you either a) interviewed by me and have the interview posted here on the blog or b) guest post here on my blog... as well as a critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by the teen team.

...goes to... Lali!

Prize package #3: A critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by my teen team.

...goes to... Kristin Bailey!

Winners please e-mail me (kazuntai101atgmaildotcom) and tell me what you want critiqued (if anything) and then everything else I will figure out from there. As for the actual questions, I will (try to) post 3-4 questions per day with answers and then I have a special post up my sleeve for the end of it all. Keep checking back to see when your questions will be answered! (I'll be going pretty much in the order the questions were asked on the original post). Also thank you to everyone who tweeted or blogged about this. I'm glad we got so many questions!

Sorry if I kind of don't make sense today... I am quite tired and therefore kind of out of it.

Quick Note About Explore-A-Teen's Brain Contest

2011-08-19T18:21:00.001-05:00

If you don't know what the Explore-A-Teen's-Brain Contest is yet, go HERE. I've gotten a bunch more questions for teens, and I'm hoping that I'll get a couple more soon... so I am NOT closing the contest or questions yet. I'm extending the deadline to Monday, August 22, 2011. I might extend it even more later, but it depends.

AUGH that was so boring. I hate info dump posts.

HAVE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!!!

RTW: Inspiration You Can Find On A Map

2011-08-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

Before I answer a YA Highway Road Trip question, go here to check out the interview I did with author Corrine Jackson and go here to check out my "explore-a-teen's-brain" contest, where you can ask teens questions and win prizes!

Today's Road Trip Wednesday question is... (wow, haven't done one of these in awhile...)

What is the most inspiring place you've ever visited in real life?

I've been to a few places around Canada (most recently Calgary and Banff) and the U.S. Oh, and I've also been to Cuba. But no place inspires me more than where I live. Every day, I am inspired by how amazingly beautiful my city is. I mean, look at this:

I bike here often... (though this isn't me)

I love the prairies...

Interview With Cool Person CORRINE JACKSON!

2011-08-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

So it's time for another interview... this time with very-soon-to-be published author, Corrine Jackson! (Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, Corrine!)

Corrine Jackson (pronounced Cor-een) believes flip flops are appropriate footwear for any occasion, but concedes the need for boots since moving to San Francisco. She loves collecting degrees, including a BA and MA in English, and very soon, an MFA in Creative Writing. Her YA contemporary book, IF I LIE, will be published by Simon Pulse in September 2012. And TOUCHED, the first book in her paranormal romance trilogy will be published by Kensington in December 2012.

(I think she would also forget about flip-flops if she came and stayed where I live for the winter... flip-flops don't really go well with four-foot snowbanks and -40 degree Celsius.)

Anyway, you can find Corrine here at her website, here on Twitter, and here on Facebook.

Now, without further ado... lovely lady Corrine Jackson!

When and how did you first get into writing? When did you decide you wanted to do the work to be published?

I wrote my first short story in second or third grade. I wish I could tell you what age I was, but I haven’t a clue. I do have the original story, though. Oddly enough, it was about a girl whose best friend was being physically abused by her dad. That theme somehow made it into my first novel, so maybe everything comes full circle? Anyway, I wrote short stories throughout junior high and high school, and took creative writing classes in college. But I have to say, I didn’t get serious about publication until 2009 when I began writing TOUCHED and started to think there was a possibility that it could be picked up.

How did you come up with the ideas for your books?

That’s a hard one. My ideas don’t come in a single flash. I find myself getting ideas for what seems to be three different books, and then somehow they all meld into one book that becomes more complex than I originally thought. With TOUCHED, I thought what if this girl has this ability to heal people, but every healing took something from her? IF I LIE has a similar theme where a girl keeps a secret at great cost to herself. I like to explore how your character can be sharpened when you have to give up something that matters to you. I think choosing that kind of selflessness can be a point where you discover what you’re made of. I had a few moments like that as a teen, and I can see now how my decisions shaped who I’ve become.

Can you summarize your books in a sentence each?

TOUCHED – Remy O'Malley has the power to heal people with her touch, but her ability comes at a steep cost because every illness or injury she heals becomes her own.

IF I LIE – Seventeen-year-old Sophie Quinn becomes an outcast in her small military town when she chooses to keep a secret for her Marine boyfriend who has gone MIA in Afghanistan.

What is your weirdest writing routine or habit?

I don’t know if it’s weird, but I have to write at Starbucks. I need the white noise of the people around me in order to lose myself in the work. Whenever I try to write from home, I get distracted by shiny objects – particularly the TV. I’ve watched every episode of Family Guy on Netflix in the name of procrastination. Also, I keep a spreadsheet tallying my daily word count goals and the progress I’ve made. There are formulas and everything. I’m not proud, but it seems to work for me.

(I am adding a comment: if you knew how many spreadsheets my dad keeps for like... everything... then you probably would be proud! Haha. :) ).

What is something you experienced in your publishing journey that you think of as being unique to your experience?

Good question! Everyone’s journey is different. I can think of two moments that stand out. The first was finding out that my agent was going to make me an offer – on Twitter. The other was getting two book deals, almost exactly a month apart. Selling four books in a month doesn’t happen often, and I will be forever grateful to my agent, Laura Bradford, for working that miracle.

What is your favourite kind of cupcake?

Fleur de sel. *dies* They are dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache frosting, a caramel filling, and a sprinkling of sea salt. Excuse me while I wipe up the drool. If you ever find yourself in San Francisco, immediately go to Kara’s Cupcakes and have two. Whenever I have something to celebrate (like going a whole day without stubbing my toe or managing to avoid getting a parking ticket), I buy myself one. I also have a recipe on my blog, but be warned that they’re a lot of work to make.

I watched your first video blog and I was wondering... the embarassing moment that you talked about... did that really happen? (If you're wondering what I'm talking about, click the link and watch! It's really funny! The embarassing moment is #3.)

Sadly, yes. I actually did make that big of an idiot of myself. The editor I was speaking with kept talking and smoothed over the moment so that I didn’t start hyperventilating. Also, lucky for me, I was alone in my apartment when I made that call because I immediately turned a lovely Maybelline Color-Me-Red shade. Someday I’m going to ask that editor if they remember me saying that and if they just wanted to die laughing at me.

What are you looking forward to most about having your books published (besides actually having them published)?

I’m so excited for people to READ them. At which point, I will eavesdrop on what they are saying. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to hear people discuss the characters I created and debate the choices they make. So far, one of the books has a tendency to make people weep, and I LOVE that. Touching people’s emotions that deeply is a surreal experience. I mean, I know I cried into my coffee writing the scenes, but I’m attached to my characters as a writer. When a reader connects in a similar way, I feel this warm glow of accomplishment.

And that's all! I am so excited that Corrine agreed to take the time to do this interview, and I really hope you guys liked it. Also, I am ten times more psyched to read your books when they come out, Corrine! It is painful to think they come out a whole YEAR from now.

In other news.... my ask-the-teens project is still going on! So if you have any questions that you'd like to ask some teens about their reading habits... then go HERE to learn more! It also includes prizes you can win!!

My Brother's Self-Esteem Issues

2011-08-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

I've decided it's time for another "bro convo", where my brother says really funny things without realizing it and I embarrass him on the Internet. Except he's too apathetic, so it doesn't actually embarrass him. (Although he probably doesn't know what apathetic means).

The context is that my brother is forever playing this video game, Little Big Planet 2. There's an aspect of it that you can make levels, and some website is holding a level-making contest. My brother is making a level to the enter the contest. He and I are talking about his level that he is making.

Picture him playing a video game.

Bro: I think I can win if I can do this one part that I hope I can do but I don't think I can.

Me: Well, (making up random melody on the spot) just believe in yourself! Wait... there has to be an actual song like that...

Bro: What about that... Don't Stop Believin'?

Me: (singing) Don't stop! Believing! Hold on to that fe-e-eling... no, but I thought of another song... now you made me forget it...

Later

Me: I remembered the song! (sings "Who Says" by Selena Gomez) Who says... who says you're not perfect...

Bro: What's that supposed to be?

Me: Telling you to believe in yourself. For your level thing.

Bro: No, it's telling you you're not perfect.

Pause.

Bro: Wait, WHAT did the song say?

Yup. And the moral of the story is... DO NOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES WHILE YOUR SISTER IS TALKING TO YOU.

And obviously, I am singing so many uplifting self-esteem songs to my brother because it's an issue of his. I mean, just take a look at the evidence:

Me: Bro, do you have self-esteem issues?

Bro: What's that?

HAHA I love you, bro. ;)

---

In other news... I finished the second draft of my current WIP!!!

**Also, I still have my draw for prizes/ask-the-teens project going on! Check that out HERE and spread the word, please!**

WARNING: Contains Prizes And Chance To Explore Teenage Brains!

2011-08-11T14:13:00.001-05:00

I am now going to take advantage of ~~the only~~ one of the many selling points us teenaged writer-bloggers have: that we are your audience! Well, if you are a writer of Young Adult books anyway. If not, then, well... it'll just be interesting for you to find out more about what other people think of reading!

So. I wanted to give you the opportunity to get inside a teen's head and find out what we look for in YA... basically anything you want to know about us (ahem, not ANYTHING but you know what I mean). So, who will this lucky teen be? ME, o' course. Although I will try to rope a few of my friends/siblings into answering questions as well in order to get a wider opinion. (Not that you couldn't just stereotype all teens with my answers because all ~~teens are clones of each other~~ well that's a secret.)

Now in case you missed all that, I'll summarize: I want YOU to ask questions! Ask anything you want to know about teens, their reading habits, what we want to see in YA... whatever! (There are some examples of questions here!) I would like them to be good questions (not like "what's your favourite colour"), although they do not necessarily have to be reading or writing related. (Paper Hangover frequently does teen interviews and their questions are not always reading related, yet they are still useful!) Also, all you teens out there who read this note that... this time, you're not allowed to ask questions (well, you can, but they won't count for anything).

To ask a question, just think of a question, and then ask it either in the comments of THIS POST (the one you're reading) OR you can send me an e-mail at kazuntai101[at]gmail[dot]com. Put "Ask The Teens Question" in the subject line. After the deadline for questions, I (and my teen team) will answer them here on my blog... either in one post or multiple posts, depending on how many questions I get. Oh, and I will be accepting questions up until ~~Friday, August 19th~~. New deadline! Monday, August 22.

BUT WAIT! There's more! Everybody who asks a question who will be entered into a draw to win one of THREE prizes!!

Prize package #1: $25.00 Amazon gift card and a critique (by all the teens who will be answering questions) of anything you want whether it be blurb, first page, etc (max 5 pages).

Prize package #2: The chance to either have you either a) interviewed by me and have the interview posted here on the blog or b) guest post here on my blog... as well as a critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by the teen team.

Prize package #3: A critique of anything you want (max 5 pages) by my teen team.
*Note that all critiques are optional! (So if you want the gift card or interview but not the critiques, then that's OK!)

ONLY people who asks questions will be entered, and ONLY one entry per person UNLESS you share this on any of your socialnetworking sites and then post the links to where you shared below so I know you've shared... then I'll put in an extra entry for you. So that is max TWO entries... no extra entries for multiple questions (although you can ASK multiple questions, actually I'd love it if you did!) and no extra entries for sharing on multiple media sites (although that would be AWESOME if you did!!!!)

WAIT, TEENS AND NON-QUESTION ASKERS! You people will be entered into the draw as well if you share on your blog/twitter/tumblr/facebook/etc and post the link to where you shared in the comments below! (The same rules apply, though... no extra entries for multiple sites but DO IT ANYWAYS PLEASE!!)

(Jeepers there is way too much information in this post... did I miss anything yet?)

Another thing: if you want to ask a question, but you DON'T want to be entered in the draw then just let me know when you ask your question!!

So, even if you don't feel motivated by the chance to win one of the prizes above then it would still be completely awesome if you would spread the news around! Tell people to come here so they can find out everything they ever wanted about what teens think about books!! And please link back to this post, the one and only! (If you guys are awesome enough with this... maybe I'll hold another contest later... hmm...)

Thank you so much everyone!! If you have any questions at all, then first skim through the summary below and then if you are still confused, just ask!

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I'm now going to summarize everything in list form in order for you not to be confused. But if you aren't confused, just skip this part!

ON QUESTIONING THE TEENS
-ask questions to real live teens about their interests, lives, reading habits, what they think of YA, whatever! Here are some examples.
-you CAN ask multiple questions! In fact, please do!
-ask questions by commenting on THIS VERY POST or e-mailing me with subject "Ask The Teens Question"! (kazuntai101[at]gmail[dot]com)
-all questions will be answered here on the blog after the question deadline
-ALL questions WILL BE ANSWERED. Guaranteed. (Note that it may take awhile though).
-question deadline is Monday, August 22.
-teens are not allowed to ask questions (sorry!)

ON THE QUESTIONING DRAW
-everyone who asks a question will be entered in a draw to win 1 of 3 prizes (see what the prize packages are ABOVE!)
-Only people who ask questions OR share about this project (including a link to this post!) on any of their socialnetworking sites will be entered in the draw.
-Max two entries per person (one for questions, one for sharing).
-No extra entries for multiple sites or questions... but please do all of that anyway!!
-if you want to ask questions but NOT be entered in the draw, just let me know and you will not be entered!

Spread the word, please!

Ok... I think I didn't miss anything... PHEW!!

How To Feel Good About Your Baking Skills Even When You Make Mistakes

2011-08-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

The title says it all, my friends.

Um. I might have been baking today. Some ~~yellow slug~~ banana muffins. MAYBE.

You cracked an egg imperfectly and now there's an eggshell in there and YOU CAN'T GET IT OUT.

No worries, you say. Eggshells have got nutrients, like calcium. It's all good.

While digging for eggshells in slimy egg guts, you realize you forgot to wash your hands.

OH WELL, you think. Your family needs to build up their immune systems anyway.

While squishing frozen bananas out of their brown hides into your mixer, you notice how much they look like yellow slugs.

And then a friend shows you this link and you never want to eat banana muffins again. Oh, wait. That's not relevent.

You burn the muffins.*

IT'S STILL ALL GOOD. (You don't pay attention to any COMPLETELY NONEXISTENT tears of frustration). Birds like burnt muffins, RIGHT!? And you forgot to fill the bird feeder last week. ALL. GOOD.

You accidentally inject some sort of bizarre chemical into your muffin mix and everything explodes when you turn the oven on and it triggers THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT aka dragonflies take over the Earth.

I mean, you're dead. But at least there's no mosquitoes, RIGHT??

See how easy it is to keep a positive attitude while baking? Good luck, everyone!

*Disclaimer: I did not actually burn my muffins today. :D They're quite yummy, actually.

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In other news... I have received the awesometastic Liebster award from Jenny AND Brittany (teenage host of the teen writers summer blogfest I participated in for July). I will dole that out later.

Speaking of the Teen Writers Summer Blogfest... on the last day we did this "Ask the Teens" thing... and I think I want to do that again. So start thinking of things you want to know about teens & their reading habits! I will have a post with details on that later.