Author: Katy Upperman

Thankful Thursday… And a Giveaway!

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Oasis for YA knows that the surest way to get good things in life is to be thankful for what you have.  So why not encourage a group thankful-fest once a week in which we all send out good energy and hope to get some back in return? Plus, participating in Thankful Thursday is a great way to connect with other writers.

Here are the rules:
1.  Do your own blog post on what you’re thankful for today.  It doesn’t have to be book or publishing related (but it can be!).
2.  Be sure to grab our badge and include it in your post.
3.  Post a link to your blog in the comments here so that others can find you.
4.  Go forth and share your gratitude!  (And when friending new blogs, be sure to let them know you found them because of their participation in the meme.)

Today I’m thankful for this amazing, amazing, AMAZING book:

I’m thankful that Gayle Forman (immensely talented!) wrote If I Stay and this follow-up, Where She Went, out April 5th. I’m thankful that Kiersten White decided to give an ARC away on her blog. I’m thankful that luck was on my side (for once!) because I WON the ARC! Most of all, I’m thankful that this sequel lived up to (far surpassed, really) all of my expectations. The writing is gorgeous, the plot is compelling, honest and painful, and the story had my heart pounding and my nerves on edge constantly.  At the risk of spoiling anything, I’ll just say this: I LOVED Where She Went, and I think Gayle Forman is a genius.

You know what else I’m thankful for? The opportunity to pass my ARC of Where She Went on to another reader.

So, want to win an ARC of Where She Went? The rules are simple:

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite contemporary YA title is and why you love it. (I’m always looking for book recs. :))
2. For an extra entry, tweet about this contest, including a link to this post. Leave me a second comment letting me know about your tweet.
3. This contest is open internationally, now through Sunday, March 27 at 11:59pm PST. I will tally all of the entries and draw one winner randomly. 
4. Check in on Monday to find out if you’ve won.

Good luck!

RTW: Howdy, Neighbor!

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Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: Which book character would you like most as a next door neighbor?

When I read this question, an immediate answer popped into my head. Then I spent a few hours trying to think of something different, because I figured I wouldn’t be the only one with this answer. But, I couldn’t come up with better. Really, I couldn’t come up with anything else at all, which tells me that going with my first instinct, original or not, is the way to go today. 🙂


My dream next door neighbors would be the entire Weasley clan, which means I’d get to live adjacent to the fantastic Burrow! The Weasleys’ house is one of my favorite settings from Harry Potter. It’s just so quirky. So magical, and full of warmth and love. While some might say its curb appeal is a little… shoddy, I think there’s a lot to love about the unique (um, crooked?) architecture, the wide open spaces, the orchard and the corn fields, not to mention the population of garden gnomes who reside on the property.

How cool would it be to live next door to whole family of wizards and witches? Quirky Arthur, maternal Molly, brave Bill, the outlandish twins, bumbling Ron, and Ginny, who I still can’t quite peg. And Harry, Hermione and the many members of The Order of the Phoenix are constant visitors. Plus, there’s the delicious food, the owl post, the Quidditch and the magic wands… too much awesome to list!

Who would you choose for literary next door neighbors?

SHOW ME THE VOICE Entry…

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Today I’m posting my entry for Brenda Drake’s Show Me the Voice blogfest/contest. For more information (rules, prizes, etc…), check out my previous post, or visit Brenda’s site.

Here are the first 250 words from Where Poppies Bloom. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a moment to critique it honestly in the comments after you read. 🙂 

TITLE: Where Poppies Bloom
GENRE: Contemporary Ghost Story, YA

            I never used to be the type of girl who hotboxes her bathroom.       

            Sitting perched on the countertop next to my sink, I slip a joint between my lips and lose myself in a haze of pungent smoke that distorts the flower patterns dancing across my shower curtain. My bare feet bounce against the cabinet below, drumming out a staccato beat. I zone in, a microscope focused crisp and clear, absorbing the irregular thudding until it permeates through flesh and muscle and organs, vibrating right into my bones.

            Joint to lips. Deep, deep inhale. Hold the smoke until my chest sizzles. Exhale.

             Smoking is a solitary thing for me. Something I started doing six months ago, the first time grief clenched my chest, squeezing air from my lungs the same way one might wring out a wet rag. Trapping blood in the chambers of my heart until I’m certain they’ll explode. Stinging my eyes with hot, salty tears, telltale tracks racing down my cheeks. It’s during these times, when the hurt becomes too much to bear, that I steal a moment to lock myself away in my bathroom. Only then can I truly breathe.

            The irony doesn’t escape me­­—polluting my lungs with illegal herbal smoke shouldn’t comfort me the way, say, a warm hug used to. But the smoke—the simple, methodical act of smoking—kneads otherwise suffocating thoughts from my brain and calms me like nothing else.    

            I’m drifting today—more so than usual. A wisp of cotton caught in an unpredictable summer breeze.
                      

Show Me the Voice!

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Brenda Drake is hosting a blogfest/contest, and Natalie Fisher of The Bradford Literary Agency has agreed to judge the finalists. How cool is that?! Here’s how it works:

On March 20 and 21 (tomorrow!), post the first 250 words of your finished manuscript (any genre) on your blog to get critiques from your followers and then hop around to the other participants’ sites and give critiques. Polish those 250 words and email them to brenleedrake@gmail.com with CONTEST in the subject line by (12:00AM EST) on March 22. If your 250 words ends in the middle of a sentence, please go to the end of the sentence. All entries submitted before the cut off time will be considered. The first round will be judged by a chosen panel of your peers (agented and unagented). We’ll pick the best 20 entries and post them on my blog by March 24. The 20 entries we pick will be judged by Natalie. The winners will be announced on or before Monday, March 28.

Bet you’re wondering what prizes Natalie is offering, right? Well, here they are:
1st place – a critique of the first 20 pages
2nd place – a critique of the first 10 pages
3rd place – a query critique

For more information (or to sign up!) please visit: Brenda Drake Writes…  

Friday Five – Can’t Wait For…

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There are some amazing books coming out this spring. While I’m on a self-imposed book buying hiatus (my To-Read pile is ridiculously out of control), I plan to make an exception for these titles. Their concepts are unique. Their covers are beautiful. And two are sequels I’ve been waiting months for. Can’t wait to read… 

Wither by Lauren DeStefano – March 22, 2011 – What if you knew exactly when you would die? Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

*This one’s not supposed to be out until next week, but my Borders miraculously had them in stock yesterday. Totally picked a copy up, and let me tell you, the cover is even more gorgeous in person!

Where She Went by Gayle Forman – April 5, 2011 – It’s been three years since the devastating accident … three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever. Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other.

*So excited to have won this one from Kiersten White’s blog contest. Cannot wait to get it in the mail. I plan to give it away when I’m done reading (unless I sob all over it!) so look for a contest on this blog coming soon.

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han – April 26, 2011 – It’s been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college– only, their relationship hasn’t exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It’s time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.

Divergent by Veronica Roth – May 3, 2011 – In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky – May 23, 2011 – Maddie lives in a world where everything is done on the computer. Whether it’s to go to school or on a date, people don’t venture out of their home. There’s really no need. For the most part, Maddie’s okay with the solitary, digital life—until she meets Justin. Justin likes being with people. He enjoys the physical closeness of face-to-face interactions. People aren’t meant to be alone, he tells her. Suddenly, Maddie feels something awakening inside her—a feeling that maybe there is a different, better way to live. But with society and her parents telling her otherwise, Maddie is going to have to learn to stand up for herself if she wants to change the path her life is taking. In this not-so-brave new world, two young people struggle to carve out their own space.

What Spring 2011 titles have you itching to get to the bookstore?

RTW: Peas in a Pod

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Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: Who (from real life) have you written into a book?

In the manuscript I’m currently querying, Where Poppies Bloom, Callie is sent to Oregon for the summer to help her Aunt Lucy renovate an old Victorian into a B&B. Aunt Lucy is the type of person who tells it like it is. She’s sort of eccentric, easily distracted, and nosy. Under stress, she becomes anxious. She’s an excellent cook and is really into 1980s fashion and music. In my head, Aunt Lucy looks something like Debra Messing on one of her wild, curly-haired days.

That said, please meet the inspiration for Callie’s Aunt Lucy:

My first baby, Lucy 'Pup'perman

That’s right. Fictional Aunt Lucy is based heavily on my dog, also called Lucy. They share similar characteristics: My Lucy is unpredictable, in-your-face, and a bit neurotic. Though she’s never voiced a particular taste in music, I get the impression she’s totally into Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. She doesn’t cook, but she’s passionate about peanut butter and bacon. And hello?! She’s a redhead!

What about you? Have you ever based a character on a “person” from your real life? And don’t forget to stop by YA Highway to see how everyone else responded!

Beginning Again…

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I’m starting a new manuscript. Mostly because I had this burst of inspiration a few weeks ago that’s finally had enough time to simmer, but also to help preserve my sanity while trudging through the query trenches.  The idea of “starting to write a book” is so intimidating, and while it’s always a scary prospect, I’ve gotten into a sort of preliminary planning routine that seems to be working for me. While I’m certainly no expert, I’ve done this a few times now, and I thought I’d share a bit about my process.

WIP inspiration...

After I’ve mentally toyed with my shiny new idea for a few weeks (or a few months), I dive in to Lori Wilde’s Got High Concept ebook. Going through her various brainstorming exercises helps me flesh out my idea, narrow the focus of the story I want to tell, and get to the heart of my of my characters’ backgrounds, desires, and vulnerabilities. I’m also able to come up with ways to really challenge my characters, as well as integrate plot devices, enticing topics and universal themes.

By the time I finish with Got High Concept, I’m able to write a compelling pitch that helps me stay focused on the heart of the story. Big rule: the pitch must be twenty-five words or less. Later, I use this pitch to craft a three-line pitch, and then a query. The pitch I came up with for Where Poppies Bloom (before I ever started writing the story itself) was: Guilt-ridden Callie Ryan chooses between life with the golden boy who dulls her pain, or eternal escape with the ghost who holds a dark secret.

Once I’ve zeroed in on the basic premise of the story, I make a really basic list of  the scenes I already have in my head. Then, I tackle a beat sheet, plugging scenes into appropriate places, and coming up with new ones to fill in the gaps. The beat sheet I use is a sort of custom melding of the one in Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat and the summary of steps in The Hero’s Journey. I like a lot of detail. It looks something like this:
 
Ordinary World/Opening Image
Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure
Resistance to Call to Adventure
Meeting with Mentor
1st Turning Point
Pinch #1
Ordeal
Midpoint/Inmost Cave
Rosy Glow/Celebration scene
Pinch #2
2nd Turning Point
All is Lost/Dark Moment
Lightbulb
The Road Back
Climax
Final Image

More WIP inspiration.

It takes me awhile (like, several weeks) to get my beat sheet completely filled in. Once I do, the story starts to feel more manageable, not like the jumbled mess of actions, reactions and interactions it was in my head. I use my beat sheet to then craft a more detailed scene outline, one I follow pretty closely once I begin to write. Of course my scene outline isn’t set in stone. I add and delete as I go, because once I start writing, the story begins to come to life and certain aspects inevitably become more or less important.

And more WIP inspiration...

I should mention that all this planning is done in conjunction with researching whatever aspects of the story I need to (setting, random legal/medical stuff, names, dates, whatever…). While my process may seem formulaic (sometimes I wish I could just start writing and see where I end up!), an organized start is exactly what I need to gain enough confidence to dive in to a two-hundred-fifty page story.

What about you? Are you a plotter? An outliner? A user of Post-It notes? A fly-by-the-seat-of-your-panster? How do you prepare to begin writing a story?

“My Favorite Picture Book” Blogfest

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Hosted by Megan K. Bickel at Write-At-Home-Mom, the “My Favorite Picture Book” blogfest is exactly what it sounds like: In celebration of this unique literary form combining two art forms (writing and illustrating), blog about your favorite picture book.  It can be your favorite as a child or your favorite as a parent, a writer, or a teacher.  What made (or makes) you love it?  Share two sentences or fifteen paragraphs.  Be creative or plain.  Just celebrate picture books! (And big thanks to Kat Owens for letting me know about this fantastic blogfest!)

While this blog focus mostly on young adult literature, I am also a lover of picture books. As a former teacher and current parent (my daughter is three-and-a-half, in case you’re wondering), the picture book collection in my house is extensive.

I considered blogging about a classic like Goodnight Moon or The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but in the end I just couldn’t. While I love those books (I give them as shower gifts anytime a friend has a baby),  there’s another book I kept coming back to, one I bought for my daughter on a whim at the Seattle Aquarium about two years ago: The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

From Goodreads: When a tiny snail meets a humpback whale, the two travel together to far-off lands. It’s a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too close to shore, will the snail be able to save her new friend?

The verse in The Snail and the Whale is adorable. I’m such a sucker for rhyming picture books, and The Snail and the Whale is done exceptionally. I know nothing about poetry, but the lyrical rhythm of  this book reminds me of Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter. The form probably has a name, but all I know is that it’s quick and bouncy and perfectly appropriate for the tone of the story.

Speaking of the story, this one makes me smile every time I read it. The snail has an “itchy foot” and wants to leave his rock to see the world. He hitches a ride with humpback whale and the two explore oceans near and far. Then the whale becomes disoriented in a busy harbor and runs into trouble. It’s up to the tiny snail to save his friend, and the tension during the climax of the story is palpable, especially considering we’re dealing with two fictional animals.  You’ll find yourself rooting for the snail and whale as if they’re your greatest friends!

This book has gorgeous illustrations. They held my daughter’s attention even when she was much younger.  Colorful, detailed and unique, they’re a perfect complement to the story. If you haven’t read The Snail and the Whale, I highly recommend you check it out. I think you’ll be glad you did. 🙂 And don’t forget to click HERE to read the other “My Favorite Picture Book” entries!

So, what’s your favorite picture book?

RTW: Like… Anyone but myself!

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Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: In honor of the release of Like Mandarin by YAHighway contributor Kirsten Hubbard…

First, I find it only appropriate to share a share a short synopsis of Like Mandarin, a book that’s been on my To-Read list for months, and just came out yesterday.

From Goodreads: It’s hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it’s not her mother’s pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they’re united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town’s animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin’s unique beauty hides a girl who’s troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

So, who did I want to be like when I was Grace’s age? Um, anyone but myself? Thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen were not my best years–in fact, I’d probably go so far as to call them my WORST. Braces, perm (I know!), and very little confidence… Really, did anyone have a good time in middle school?

Much like Mandarin‘s Grace, I was envious of people who were full of poise and self-assurance. People who didn’t seem to register  or care about what others thought of them. People who did what felt right without days of consideration and doubt. I wanted to be someone who flew free without a worry in the world.

As I’ve grown up and into myself, I’ve learned that no one’s like that all the time. We’ve all wondered if we’re good enough, we’ve all stressed about a big decision, and we’ve all felt left out. So, while I would have been happy being just about anyone other than myself back then, I think now I’ve found confidence that only comes with time and experience.

So, who’d you want to be like when you were younger? And don’t forget to stop by YAHighway to see what everyone’s posting!

Cutting Words…

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I’ve been mentally MIA for the last eight days. Why? I’ve been up to my eyeballs in a fairly significant revision of my manuscript, Where Poppies Bloom. Without getting into all the details, someone recently advised that I cut back the length of my manuscript (originally around 86K), which would, obviously,  pick up the pace. Fifty-ish pages, she recommended. That’s somewhere around 11K words, incase you’re counting.


I’ll admit that it sounded impossible at first. I didn’t think Poppies was dragging. I didn’t think it was wordy or over-written. And my scenes! All the beautiful scenes I’d spent hours planning and writing and editing… some of them were going to have to go. Heartbreaking, I tell you! But, the more I considered it, the more I started to look at this revision opportunity as an interesting sort of challenge.  

So, I copied and pasted the entire 328 page story into a new document and went to work. I figured if I could cut at average of ten useless words per page, I’d be a third of the way to my goal even before chopping full scenes. In an effort to keep myself from becoming completely overwhelmed, I focused on that and dove in.

As I read (and cut), read (and cut), I became very, very critical. Unnecessary dialogue tags were first to go. Next, too-detailed descriptions, then over-expressed emotions. I deleted instances of telling when I’d already shown (I do that sometimes… apparently I worry about being thorough). Finally, I trimmed the beginnings and endings of character conversations in an effort to get to the meat of what was really being said.

When that was all said and done, I took a long, hard look at my scene outline. I figured out which scenes could be deleted entirely (honestly, there weren’t many), which scenes could be combined to streamline the story, and which scenes could become a quick paragraph of exposition. Then I went back to work.

When it was all said and done, I’d trimmed just over 11K words (49 pages) from Where Poppies Bloom. I’m currently three-quarters of the way into a final read through, just to make sure everything still flows, and I have to be honest: I’ve never loved this story as much as I do today. While it was in great shape before, it’s SO clean now. It moves quickly and the suspense is that much greater. I truly believe the revision I once thought was impossible might be the greatest thing to happen to this story, and I’m so glad I took on the challenge.

Care to share your most helpful hints for trimming word count?