Other Stuff
I saw This is It, I cried twice. I cried again when I just listened to "Man in the Mirror." MJ was on top of his game: Forgive me for being emotional but Michael was the world's best talent, I think. Sigh. I'm not over this yet.
Have you guys checked out The Amanda Project yet? It's pretty cool, and this video explains it better than I could (so does the website). Happy Sunday!
Just a quick thank you to anyone who listed my blog in such amazing company in the recent Publishers Weekly cover story, "What Do Teens Want?"And I quote:
"Blogs:
In reply to an open-ended question, here are the author blogs they read the most: Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, Ally Carter, P.C. Cast, Cassandra Clare, Zoey Dean, Sarah Dessen, John Green, Richelle Mead, Stephenie Meyer, Christopher Paolini, James Patterson, Tamora Pierce, Sarah Shepard, Melissa Walker [yay! that's me!] and Scott Westerfeld."
Thank you, thank you, thank you! (And check out all those blogs!) I cannot believe the company I get to keep here--amazing.
I'm gonna be there!Cassandra Clare is gonna to be there!
Patrick Ness is gonna answer questions tomorrow that are posted tonight (he lives in England so he'd have to stay up until, like, 2am, to be there live--but we still love him).
All the readergirlz peeps will be there.
Also there: A chance to win copies of all the featured-authors books (and if you haven't read Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, you're missing out!) plus a mystery swag bag from I Heart Daily (it's good--I'm filling it myself!).
You should come. It happens here.
That is all. I'll tweet this when I log on... come say hi!
Last week's winner of Claire Zulkey's An Off Year is... Paris! Send me your address, P. I loved hearing about what you guys would do/are doing with a gap year. I love dreaming about this!This week, I'm giving away a signed copy of Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, the first book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy of magic and mayhem and ballgowns and etiquette and rule-breaking and strong, smart, funny girls. Can you tell I'm into these books?
Here's Libba talking about writing girls with strong emotions the other night at a reading in NYC:
Isn't she cool? The answer is yes.
Anyway, to win this special signed copy of A Great and Terrible Beauty, just comment below and tell me what your Halloween plans are, if you've got 'em. I'm also accepting costume suggestions!
For extra entries, tweet this contest or mention it on your blog (+1 for each of those), and you'll also get +1 entry for visiting any of the following blogs, which hosted me this week (it's been a busy week!). Just mention in the comments which you visited. I trust!
1. Sunshine Edition, where I vlog about candy corn.
2. M.I.S.S., where I'm interviewed and mentioned in the same breath as Judy Blume. I'm not worthy!
3. Jeri Smith-Ready's blog, where I share past costumes, and where you can also enter to win a signed copy of Lovestruck Summer.
Oh, and one last thing: Tonight on readergirlz at 9pm EST/6pm PST, we'll be chatting with authors Lisa McMann (Wake), Cynthia Leitich Smith (Eternal) and Holly Cupala (the upcoming Tell Me a Secret). It's LIVE, and you're invited (see the banner, right). Come!
I love an oxymoronic title!So that there to the left is a reminder of the chat that starts at readergirlz tonight at 9pm EST/6pm PST... It's going to rule, just like last night's chat with authors Justina Chen Headley, Alyson Noel and Zoe Marriot! Be there (check out the transcript).
I happen to have Cover Stories from all three of tonight's chatters, and here are there links, so you can remind yourselves what their books are all about (or at least their covers).
Lorie Ann Grover's On Pointe
Nina Weingarten's Wherever Nina Lies
Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl
See you tonight! Join the chat LIVE! right here.
And if you're a blogger, send a quote about why you love Teen Read Week to readergirlz AT gmail DOT com, and readergirlz will post your quote and a link back to your blog during the 24-hour blogfest on 10/23! Send your quote in by tomorrow (10/21).
PS-You can enter to win a signed copy of Lovestruck Summer (and see a couple of my past Halloween costumes) over at Jeri Smith-Ready's Blogtoberfest this week. Go, go!
Starting tomorrow, readergirlz is having an entire week of FABULOUS LIVE CHATS with a cluster of Teens' Top Ten Choice Nominees and readergirlz divas!See the full schedule on the poster below or the press release:
How great is this lineup? Mark your calendars, and come hang out, starting tomorrow night at 9pm EST/ 6pm PST when Justina Chen Headley hosts awesome authors Alyson Noel and Zoe Marriott.
Happy Sunday!
As you may have heard, in conjunction with the author chats, readergirlz will be hosting a Teen Read Week Tribute. Anyone who loves YALSA's Teen Read Week is encouraged to let it out on their blog through a post or vlog, then send the link to readergirlz AT gmail.com (subject line: entrant's name, TRW Tribute). readergirlz will collect all contributions and post them at the rgz blog in a tribute that will run October 23.Watch the rgz Teen Read Week trailer and get psyched. Then, send in your links by October 21!
I don't usually share much about my own writing process, beyond the fact that when I'm on deadline I like to write 1,000 words a day and I don't let myself eat lunch until that's written. I'm pretty strict. Anyway, last week while working on Small Town Sinners, I got stuck! I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next, or if the scenes I had were in the right order, or if I could handle the complexity of this book, or... ack! Basically, I got scared. (If you get scared writing, check out Editorial Ass's Fear of Failure post--it's great. Thanks, Elizabeth Scott!)
To break the scaredy-cat paralysis, I made this:
It's a leaf of our dining room table, and it's covered with post-its--each one has a description of a chapter on it. I moved them around until their order made sense, and it totally helped! I'd heard other authors talk about storyboarding with notecards, and this is my version of that. It made me feel crafty and clever, and I didn't pressure myself to write while I made it.
Today, I wrote 1,000 words by 11am. That is a good feeling!
(Don't judge my messy living room! I'm in the midst of creativity here! Haha. Also, I had to scribble out the post-its because it would give away the whole book to let you read them!)
Anyone have any other writing tips to share? I love this book but it's kicking my ass a little.
Is that an amazing lineup of author chats or WHAT? Feel free to grab that video and spread the news: the readergirlz Teen Read Week celebration will be awesome.
Thanks to Freezepop for the music, and to Holly Cupala for creating the visuals and video. Yay!