How to Keep Busy with a Bum Thumb

If you follow us on Twitter, you may have seen my Twit about my thumb injury. This little obstacle (better known as the horribly annoying splint on my right hand/forearm), has not only allowed me to take a few days off from writing, but, has let me do a little catching up on my To Be Read list. I thought I would share a few of the books I've demolished in the past few days. They have sparked creative juice, making me want to pour myself into Lost and Found and find the potential buried within the 1st draft.



Perfect You, by Elizabeth Scott.

From the publisher:

Kate Brown's life has gone downhill fast. Her father has quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, and Kate is forced to work with him. Her best friend has become popular, and now she acts like Kate's invisible.

And then there's Will. Gorgeous, unattainable Will, whom Kate acts like she can't stand even though she can't stop thinking about him. When Will starts acting interested, Kate hates herself for wanting him when she's sure she's just his latest conquest.

Kate figures that the only way things will ever stop hurting so much is if she keeps to herself and stops caring about anyone or anything. What she doesn't realize is that while life may not always be perfect, good things can happen—but only if she lets them....

Although Perfect You was a quick and easy read, I found I really enjoyed it. Everyone can sympathize with Kate, whether it be family struggles, a best friend leaving you behind or, of course, the unattainable boy. Making you cringe at times when her ex-best friend treats her like crap, or the awkward moments with Will, but for all difficult scenes there are times it makes you want to stand up and cheer Kate on. Before reading Perfect You, I read another book by Elizabeth Scott, Bloom. Despite finding myself wrapped in the characters from Bloom more than Perfect You, I would recommend it. If you are a fan of Sarah Dessen, you will probably enjoy Elizabeth Scott's writing.




The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson

From the publisher:

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

I'd been dying to read this book since I first saw it in a bookstore when it was released last April. The cover caught my eye and the jacket copy pulled me in. Finally, almost a year later, I was able to add it to my list of books I owned.

I have to admit, the story wasn't what I expected. Before cracking it open, I thought I was going to be pulled into a modern girl's struggles of being in a coma for a year. How would she fit in? How would she remember who and what mattered to her? It offered all that (minus the modern part) and more. Jenna Fox is a nicely woven futuristic sci-fi mystery. It was easy to see where the plot was going for a lot of story, but I was still whisked into the world from start to finish. I read the book cover to cover in one sitting while sipping coffee and cuddling with my cat on the couch as the rain raced down my windows. If you are a fan of sci fi, or just want to read a really intriguing YA book, make sure to get your hands on this one. Not only did it make me want to recommend to everyone (teens and adults alike), the writing made me want to be a better writer.

Now, if only I could find a way to be productive writing while nursing a bum thumb. At least it gives me an excuse to keep on reading! Next up, Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S.King! Look for a quick review of this and more coming soon!

What are you currently reading?

And the Winner is...

First off, thanks to everyone who participated in the Valentine's Day Love Quote Quiz! I hope you had as much fun with it as I did making it! I also want to apologize for it being kinda hard. I have to admit, if I wasn't the one who made the quiz, I wouldn't have been able to get them all right. That is why one person who played the quiz is SO MUCH SMARTER AND BETTER THAN ME!

Congrats to Elisa Nader!!!!!!!! You are the most awesome!!!!!!!!! You really know your YA books. Wowzers! Anyway, don't forget to email us your mailing address at YAedge@yahoo.com so I can send out the book this weekend.

For everyone else, here are the correct answers.

1. Just Listen
2. Nick and Nora
3. Looking for Alaska
4. Twilight
5. Suite Scarlett
6. Wicked Lovely
7. Forever in Blue
8. Ironside
9.Princess Diaries
10. Uglies

25 Things to Love

February is the month of cupids, hearts, Valentine’s and the celebration of love in its many forms. It’s a feel good month. And in my frostbitten world, where spring is still months away, I’ll take any bit of warmth I can get.

So for the other cold feet/warm hearts out there….here’s a PG list of 25 things that make me feel loved and cosy:

1. That look my husband has just for me
2. A snooze in the sun with the dogs
3. A great book
4. Chai tea
5. 1000 words on my laptop screen and I wasn’t even trying
6. Playing fetch
7. Not working out and still losing a pound that week
8. Discovering new music
9. Chinook winds
10. Fresh snow
11. Chai lattes (wow – score 2 for chai!)
12. Vacations
13. Three hour conversations that leave you wanting more
14. Visits with friends
15. Book shopping
16. Water – large bodies of it, down to a fresh glass with a wedge of lemon
17. The health of those I love
18. Believing in others
19. Believing in your self
20. Breaking rules
21. Making rules
22. Any odd curio shoppe
23. Pictures of the past
24. Laughter
25. The hope that I get to start all over again tomorrow.

So what do you love?

Valentine's Day Quiz Contest

Happy Valentine's Day! What a better way to spread the love than with a love quote quiz from some of the best YA books! All you have to do is match the quotes to the book covers and post your answers in the comments section. The first person to answer all correctly (or the one who gets the most right first) will win a copy of Bloom by Elizabeth Scott! The contest ends at 6pm PST on Wednesday, February 18th. Good luck and make sure to tell everyone you love in your life just how much you care about them today.


Here's the books to choose from (click on the picture to view the covers at a larger size):

1) "As he leaned down to kiss me, I closed my eyes and saw not the flat black of the dark but something else. Something brighter, closer to light, shining small but ever steady. More than enough to go on as a part of me pushed up and out, finally, to meet it there."

2) "Somehow we stay together. We are graced, and we are together, and the twoliness is trumping the loneliness and the doubt and the fear."

3) "We didn't have sex. We never got naked. I never touched her bare breast, and her hands never got lower than my hips. It didn't matter."

4) "His fingers were ice-cold, like he’d been holding them in a snowdrift before class. But that wasn’t why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us."

5) "The whole "weak in the knees" thing, which she always thought was just some idiotic expression back from the golden age of idiotic expressions, was real."

6) "You. I've spent my life waiting for you."

7) "There are some people who fall in love over and over: And there are others who can only seem to do it once. "

8) "You are the only thing I have that is neither duty nor obligation, the only thing I chose for myself. The only thing I want."

9) "Needless to say, the fact that he actually spoke to me at all practically caused me to pass out. And then the fact that he was actually saying something that sounded like it might be a prelude to asking me out - well, I nearly threw up. I mean it. I felt really sick, but in a good way."

10) "What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful."

Resources for Writing and Stuff

Besides thick, leathery skin, fierce determination and maybe a multiple personality disorder, here’s the basic stuff you need in your writer’s arsenal to make sure your book is so well written, it jumps off the shelf:

A dictionary. Sometimes you’ll use a word and…well…people will laugh, because it totally didn’t mean what you THOUGHT it did. Not that I’m talking from personal experience, nope, not me.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 9th edition. 1995. Oxford Press. ISBN: 0198613199

A decent rhyming dictionary. The one I have on my coffee table is a bit old, 1992 – but still kicks butt. A rhyming dictionary is a must have for songwriters. Great for creative spell casting, ancient curses and prophecies, too.

The Complete Rhyming Dictionary Revised. Edited by Clement Wood. Random House. 1991. ISBN: 0440212057

A book of clichés. There’s nothing more witting than starting with a cliché and twisting it in unexpected ways. Listen to popular tunage – most songs are built around a familiar hook, a cliché – just make sure you give it some of YOUR attitude and creativity and you’ll have people listening to your awesome lyrics, as well as your trance inducing melodies.

Cassell’s Dictionary of English Idioms. By Rosalind Fergusson. Cassell Reference. 2003. ISBN: 0304363847

A thesaurus. Actually, you’ll need several. And the lame one in Word doesn’t count. I have a few modern ones for current lingo, but I also scour library discard shelves for older editions with fantastic, rich words hidden inside their yellowing book covers. Each thesaurus will have different levels and depths.

The Synonym Finder. By J.I. Rodale. Rodale Press. 1978 (told ya I had an older one). ISBN: 0878572368.

Resources for Writing Techniques

You can borrow these from the library or purchase them to read again and again…oh, and again.

Books for Writers:

Hooked: Write fiction that grabs readers at page one and never lets them go. By Les Edgerton. Writer’s Digest Books. 2007. ISBN:9781582974576

Plot. (Elements of Fiction Writing Series). By Ansen Dibell. Writer’s Digest Books. 1999. ISBN: 9780898799460

Beginnings, middles, & ends. (Elements of Fiction Writing Series). By Nancy Kress. 1999. ISBN: 9780898799057

You Can Write A Novel Kit. Sounds lame, but is SUPER fantastic for the newbie author. By James V. Smith, Jr. Writer’s Digest Books. 2008. I never realized how many of their titles I have until I started this list – but they are all amazing. ISBN: 9781582975269

Self-editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print. OMG – every writer must know how to EDIT! And learn some grammar! By Renni Browne & Dave King, 2nd edition. HarperResource. 2007. ISBN: 0060545690

Writing Dialogue: How to create memorable voices and fictional conversations that crackle with wit, tension and nuance. By Tom Chiarella. Story Press. 1998. ISBN: 9781884910326

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and exercises for crafting dynamic characters and effective viewpoints. (Write Great Fiction Series). By Nancy Kress. Writer’s Digest Books. 2005. ISBN: 9781582973166

Spunk & Bite: A writer’s guide to bold, contemporary style. Like butta, this book is. Writing just isn’t tasty without it. By Arthur Plotnik. Random House. 2007. ISBN: 9780375722271

Writer Magazines

Writer’s Digest
West World: Magazine of the Writers Guild of Alberta
The Writer
Quill & Quire: Canada’s Magazine of Book News and Reviews
Writers’ Journal: The Complete Writer’s Magazine
Storytellers’ Journal: Real-Life Stories from Your Favorite Fiction Authors

My Personal Favourite Writing Resource:

Screenplays.
Nothing shows you how to write witty dialogue charged full of characterization, purpose and punch better than reading the script of your favourite movie or TV show episode. You can also learn a ton about plot structure, character development, subtlety, larger than life moments and how to NOT KILL THE TENSION.

Film scripts I revisit often: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Smart People.

TV scripts: The Office, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother

Newmarket Press publishes scripts under The Shooting Script series. You can order them through your local indie bookstore - and the service is awesome! Or online at Amazon/Chapters/whatever.

You can also read scripts for free online in PDF format at: http://www.simplyscripts.com The Twilight script is up if you’re interested.

Just For Teens.

I found these resources after a quick Chapters search. Haven’t read them, but they look great. There are also a ton of resources online. You just have to look.

Seize the Story: A Handbook for Teens Who Like to Write. By Victoria Hanley. Cottonwood Press. 2008. ISBN: 1877673811

Whats Your Story?: A Young Persons Guide to Writing Fiction. By Marion Dane Bauer. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 1992. ISBN: 0395577802

Critique Groups:

There are lots of different ones online. Here’s my fav:

http://www.critiquecircle.com/ - Critique Circle is probably one of the best spots to connect with other writers and develop a core group of critters. You can join for free – I wouldn’t pay for the advanced membership stuff. You don’t really need them. There’s even a teen writer section for teens to crit for teens.

Want more face-to-face feedback? Form a critique group at your local library where you meet once a month and chat about your writing, do readings or swap stories for quick crits. Or start one with your friends – it’s easy to set up a group in Yahoo – you can control membership, post files and set up a critique schedule (say on Monday post new story/chapter and everyone has to crit / be critted by the next week).

After Your First Draft is Finished:

Writing the Breakout Novel: Insider advice for taking your fiction to the next level. By Donald Maass. A big shot literary agent – aka – listen to this guy. Writer’s Digest Books. 2001. ISBN: 9781582971827

Bird By Bird: Some instructions on writing and life. By Anne Lamott. Random House. 1994. ISBN: 9780385480017

Agents / Publishers

There are so many publishers and literary agencies out there that it is impossible for me to list them all for you. But these sites will help you narrow your search to the best agent to represent YOUR writing and the publisher who’s going to give it a home.

http://www.agentquery.com/ – once your book is critiqued, revised, hacked and slashed, and polished to perfection, this is where you go to find someone to sell it for you.

http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/ - and here’s where you go to make sure your agent or publisher isn’t a fraud and gonna steal all your money.

Okay, that should get you started.
Now - go forth and WRITE!

NOTE: I totally didn’t follow the correct way to cite sources in this document, and I probably made a ton of grammatical errors. Oops. My bad.

Tips to Staying Sane and Entertained- What to Do When You Get Laid Off

Considering people are losing their jobs left and right, I thought I would share a few tips I used when I got laid off last February that kept me sane. I was jobless for six months and with the help of unemployment and a few small things I did to spread the money around, I was able to keep myself entertained.

1. When you run errands, do them all in one day. No need to go out every day and waste gas restarting your car. Plan your day so you don't back track.

2. Put aside a few dollars toward your favorite coffee shop/place to write and get a gift card. That way, you can keep track of how much you're spending. I did this with Panera. I would put $10-15 on a gift card and could only spend that amount in a week there. I would sit and write for hours (my favorite place to write) with a cookie and iced tea. It was heaven. Once I ran out for the week, I had to wait until the next week.

3. Instead of buying books, use your local library. If they don't have the book you're looking for, sign up for PaperbackSwap (US residents only I believe). For only the price of shipping (media mail rate so around $2) you can get any book that is available (including hardbacks). I've belonged to the site for 3 years now and LOVE it. I've said almost $500 (based on used book prices) since joining. They also now have Swap a CD and Swap a DVD, too!

4. Look for places around your house that are free/cheap to go that you haven't been in awhile. My husband and I went to areas of the city we never thought to check out. Outdoor activities are always free. Usually, local museums have days that are free/cheaper. Check your local city's offical page. You'd be surprised.

5. One word: Netflix. They have a free trial on their site. After that, plans are starting at only $4.99. As you know, from my post from last week, going to the movies is expensive! Instead, you can have the movies delivered to you at a fraction of the price. When I was laid off, I would watch a movie almost every day (we have the 3 movies at a time plan). It was a great way to stay entertained and catch up on all the movies I never saw.

6. When shopping for groceries, be smart. Look for things on sale, buy meat/veggies in bargain sizes and use coupons. You'd be very suprised how much you can save with a few coupons and price checking.

7. If you go out to eat, try Happy Hour (if you're old enough for Happy Hour). You'd be surprised how cheap and how many items are available during happy hour at a fraction of the price.

8. Most important, this gives you time to write, write and write. You can never spend too much time writing. I wrote half of my current book while I was off work. If you don't use the time wisely, you'll regret it once you're back to work.

9. A lot like #9, this also gives you a ton of time to read! I was a reading machine while I was off of work. Now that I'm back at work, I miss having so much time to read.

So, if you're going through hard times, how are you keeping busy? What are your tips to saving money, but still having fun?

Author Visit Number 1

Here’s a sequence shot of me proudly displaying my gift from the library for visiting the teen book club. My yellow lab, Willow, sniffed for quality control. The mug reads: Books with Bite @ your library.

I could blame the snowy, cold weather, or the girls basketball practice at the high school – but whatever the reason, I enjoyed my time hanging with the small but mighty group at my first author visit.

And so it was that I talked about writing vamp/were stories to two guys and their mother (Who, I think, also worked at the library.). Ah….teen book club author visit number one – how will I ever forget you?

Today was a gradual introduction to this new world of writer-on-the-road.

The world of technology glitches when showing booktrailers on a projected screen, which leads to momentary loss of the ability to breathe, only to resolve mysteriously in the nick of time.

The world of typing up a list of newbie writer resources (print and online) and photocopying 40 too many.

The world of singing a tune on your guitar and pausing half-way through to apologize for its “girlyness”.

So what if I didn’t really speak with anyone in my target audience? The most excellent hosting librarian, Tanya, took my list of resources and is going to purchase them for the library. And the guys’ mother is thinking about writing a book one day – so who knows…it’s all about planting seeds, right?

And – I also got one hell of a cool mug out the deal.