Eye of the Tiger- A look to the new year

Most people set out at the start of a new year with some kind of resolution. New Year’s Day is for hopes and dreams to seem like they could become reality in the coming year, and they can!

Yesterday I put my 2008 journal on the shelf for good. It was ratty around the edges, holding memories of a roller coaster year. 2008 brought me a layoff from my job that was happily accepted, a book finished and another book start (which is now officially half way written…WOOT), a great critique group, and a new job. Overall, 2008 was a good year. I didn’t hit all of my resolution goals, but feel success in the ones I accomplished.

A start of the new year feels clean as I crack open a new journal, looking at the fresh pages and thinking about how I’d like to see 2009 unfold. I hope to finish Lost and Found, my WIP, by January 31. I want to edit it and submit to at least a handful of agents. I look forward to starting a new book, coming up with new ideas. I would like to beat last year’s number of books read (71), but that may be hard to do. The great thing is, right now, anything seems possible.

What do you plan for the new year?

Going through my database of books read in 2008 (yes, I keep track. I am that big of a nerd), I thought it would be fun to share with you my top 5 favorite YA books I read this year. I won’t put them in order, just the group of 5.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
How to be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Paper Towns by John Green
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

What were your favorite YA books read in 2008?

Pimp My Line - WINNER

Okay - we promised the winner would be announced early today. And so our winning entry belongs to ... EMILY!

Thanks to both Lisa and Emily for participating in our contest. We'll try this again sometime. Keep watch for announcements here, and on Twitter. (http://twitter.com/yaedge).

Emily - please email us YAedge@yahoo.com with your prize choice and address so we can mail it out to you.

Happy New Year from all of us at YAedge!

Pimp My Line VOTE TIME

Alright – we’ve got two entries for our first ever Pimp My Line contest….and during the Christmas break, too – not bad.

It’s now up to our readers to vote for their favourite line. Just comment with kudos to either Lisa or Emily. If we don’t get any voters, the YAedge crew will decide. This is your chance to hold the power!

Contestants are vying for a free, gently read copy of a title from the following list:

Sweep #1: Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan

Being by Kevin Brooks

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey


Here’s the original line contestants had to pimp:

“I don’t know how long I was out for, but I woke to an odd sight.”

Lisa’s entry:

"it wasn't until i opened the door that i realized i was dead."

Emily’s entry:

"I could have been unconscious for three seconds or three years, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I opened my eyes."

READY - SET - VOTE!