Thankful Thursday – I Heart Goodreads

April 7, 2011April 6, 20118 Comments

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.)

This week I’m taking a moment to sing the praises of one of my very favorite social networking sites…

My sister-in-law introduced me to Goodreads about a year ago. I started an account, listed some books, and promptly forgot about the whole thing. Then, a few months ago, I discovered that there was a Goodreads app. I downloaded it and have checked in literally every day since then. I’ve organized my shelves and listed as many books as I can recall reading. While I don’t post reviews (I do write book recommendations here though!), I star books and my Read list has become a journal of sorts. My To-Read list has grown by leaps and bounds and is now a book shopping list that I carry with me and consult every time I set foot in a Borders. I check out my friends’ updates daily and often add their new additions to my To-Read list.

When I hit a bout of insomnia (which lately has happened more often than I care to admit) I often turn to Goodreads reviews. When I dislike a book, I quietly commiserate with the people who wrote unfavorable reviews, and when I really love a book, I have an inward celebration with those who left glowing reviews. I also sort of love reading (thoughtful) negative reviews of books I’ve enjoyed. I’ve found that I learn a lot from fresh, differing perspectives.

Yep, Goodreads makes me very happy. You can find my profile HERE. I’m always happy to make new book-loving friends. 🙂

So, what are you thankful for today?

Thankful Thursday

March 31, 2011March 31, 20118 Comments

1) Last week I entered Brenda Drake’s Show Me the Voice! blogfest/contest. There were well over 100 entrants, yet somehow the first 250 words of my YA ghost story Where Poppies Bloom was awarded third place! I’m very thankful to the judges, especially lovely literary agent Natalie Fischer who’s going to critique my query letter. (Pardon me for tooting my own horn on this one, but yeah… I’m excited!)

2) My husband is at Ranger School. If you’re unfamiliar, Ranger school is an intense 2 month Army training school that is often referred to as a cross between boot camp and a concentration camp. I don’t use that comparison lightly. Ranger School is all about pushing participants to their physical and mental limits. Very little sleep (outdoors, in the rain), very little food (MREs), mind games, and miles and miles of walking with a hundred pound ruck sack. No fun! What, you might ask, does Ranger School have to do with being thankful? Well, I’ve been getting letters from my husband! Like, the old-fashioned paper and pen kind of letters. Plus, every night I get to write to him. It’s a little retro and a lot inconvenient, but there’s something so romantic about opening the mailbox and finding mail from someone you love.

3. This POST from Hannah Moskowitz about making a playlist for your WIP. Rules to write by. 🙂

4. Fellow writer/blogger Caroline Tung Richmond, and her recent mention of the online indie clothing site ModCloth. Cute clothes alert! I placed an order yesterday, which included this adorable dress (I plan to wear it to my husband’s graduation from Ranger School):

5. If you follow me on Twitter you might know that my daughter (three-and-a-half) had one of her teeth knocked out the other day. She was climbing up the ladder of one of those inflatable bouncy slides, slipped, and somehow nailed her tooth at the perfect angle to take it out. Needless to say, I was SO sad! Her new tooth won’t grow in for about two years, plus she was bleeding and worried that our dogs wouldn’t love her anymore because her tooth was missing. Ugh… heartbreak! Still, I’m thankful. It could have been worse. There could have been broken bones or a neck injury or any other number of tragedies. Plus, she’s still cute as can be, even with a missing tooth.

What do you have to be thankful for today?

RTW: Book Memories

March 30, 2011March 29, 201126 Comments

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: What books were you obsessed with as a kid? 🙂

I was a voracious reader during my childhood. Sadly, my tastes weren’t exactly literary. I am proud to say I read (and reread) the Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High series pretty much in their entirety. I was also a big fan of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books and R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series. I had shelves and shelves of paperbacks that I deeply regret garage-saling when I grew too old (too cool?) for such tomes.

My very favorite author growing up was Judy Blume. (Who am I kidding? I still love her.) I adored Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, and Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I read them repeatedly. But, my favorite of Judy’s, my favorite book of childhood really, was Just as Long as We’re Together.

This was the cover I had!

I read it so many times the binding actually split, leaving me with two separate bits of book that I held onto and continued to read. Now that I think about it, Just as Long as We’re Together might’ve been the launching point for everything I love about YA literature today: Coming of age, dynamic families, complicated friendships, longing for unattainable boys, and evolving self-images. There are all kinds of quirky things I remember about this book, even though I haven’t read it for close to two decades: Alison’s talking dog, Steph’s love of donuts, and Rachel’s undying perfectionism. Just as Long as We’re Together even taught me about the color CHARTREUSE. 🙂

So, what about you? What books were you obsessed with as a kid?

Thankful Thursday

February 24, 2011February 24, 20115 Comments

I’m not usually a Thursday blogger, but Oasis for YA is hosting a meme that’s too great to pass up.

Oasis for YA knows that the surest way to get good things in life is to be thankful for what you already 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.)

So, what am I thankful for today? Here’s a hint:

My cutie pie, because she’s my favorite person in the whole world! ❤

In all seriousness, my daughter is my constant. She makes me smile, she thinks I’m awesome no matter what, she has exceptional taste in children’s literature, and she’s all kinds of fun. She’s definitely my proudest accomplishment.

RTW: Interactive Q & A

February 23, 2011February 23, 201121 Comments

Today’s Topic: Interactive Q&A. Post a question on your blog, then travel the highway answering others’ questions.

I was going to write this post last night, but a couldn’t for the life of me come up with a good question. The ones that popped into my head felt lame or one-dimensional or already done. So, ladies of YA Highway: three cheers for you, because this question thing is harder than it looks!

That said, here’s what I finally came up with…

If you could live in any city in the world (assuming money is no issue :)) which city would you choose?

For me, the small town of Lahaina on Maui is the obvious choice. I love warmth. I love quaint. I love seafood. I love beaches and suntans and flip flops. And hello, how gorgeous is this sunset?

Now, since I made the rules and money isn’t an issue, maybe I can have a second home in Charleston, SC as well.

What city would you choose to live in if it were just that easy?

Road Trip Wednesday: Love Is In The Air

February 9, 2011February 9, 201124 Comments

Today’s Topic: In celebration of Valentine’s Day, what are your favorite literary couples?

*Before you begin reading, you should know that some of the explanations below contain mild spoilers. Just sayin’.

For some reason whenever it comes to Road Trip Wednesday prompts I can never pick just one. Such is the case with my favorite literary couples… there are so many great ones! I have a feeling as I read everyone else’s posts, I’m going to end up remembering even more favorites. Here’s my list of the ones I love:

Sam and Grace from Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, because they were so freaking considerate of each other. I can’t think of a sweeter, less drama-filled couple (well, other than the whole wolf thing…).

Adam and Mia from Gayle Foreman’s If I Stay, because even when everything else was lost, Mia chose Adam. Plus, that scene when he cries…

Romeo and Juliet from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, because even though they were selfish and immature, they did what they thought was right for love.

Ron and Hermione from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, because they were funny and magical and constantly kept me guessing.

Lennie and Joe from Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere, because they had the hottest kisses and they just seemed to get each other.

Laila and Tariq from Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, because I love best friends who become more.

Ryan and Sarah from Elizabeth Scott’s The Unwritten Rule, because even though I’m only a quarter of the way through the book, I’m already rooting for them.

What about you? What literary couples make you swoon?

RTW: Groundhog’s Day

February 2, 201117 Comments

It seems the groundhog has predicted an early spring!

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.

Today’s Prompt: In celebration of Groundhog’s Day, what book would you read over and over?

I can’t choose just one, and my choices are all over the board. A children’s classic, my favorite YA, and an adult fiction that moved me like nothing else ever has. What do these books have in common? I’ve read all three more than once, and I absolutely adore them…

From Goodreads: An affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A prancing, playful bloke, Wilbur is devastated when he learns of the destiny that befalls all those of porcine persuasion. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that reads “Some Pig,” convincing the farmer and surrounding community that Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved. In this story of friendship, hardship, and the passing on into time, E.B. White reminds us to open our eyes to the wonder and miracle often found in the simplest of things.

Who doesn’t love Charlotte’s Web? I’ve read this book to every class I’ve ever taught, and I’ve found that kids can’t get enough, no matter what grade they’re in. The goose and her silly speech patterns is my favorite. 🙂

From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can’t collide without the whole wide world exploding. Just as much a celebration of love as it is a portrait of loss, Lennie’s struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often hilarious, and ultimately unforgettable.

I’ve talked about The Sky is Everywhere more than once on this blog, and for good reason. The writing is gorgeous, and likeable protagonist Lennie is both the unluckiest and luckiest girl in the world.

From Goodreads: A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years, from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding, that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives, the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness, are inextricable from the history playing out around them. Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love, a stunning accomplishment.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is my very favorite adult novel. It’s heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and unforgettable. I’ve read it twice, and even though I knew every twist that was coming, I loved it even more the second time.

What about you? What book do you love so much you could read it over and over again? And don’t forget to stop by YA Highway to check out all of the other recommendations!

Echoes and Imprints

January 29, 2011January 30, 20114 Comments

I recently read two fabulous books: The Body Finder (out now) and Desires of the Dead (out February 15th), both by Kimberly Derting.

From Goodreads: Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers. Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him. Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

From Goodreads: The missing dead call to Violet. They want to be found. Violet can sense the echoes of those who’ve been murdered—and the matching imprint that clings to their killers. Only those closest to her know what she is capable of, but when she discovers the body of a young boy she also draws the attention of the FBI, threatening her entire way of life. As Violet works to keep her morbid ability a secret, she unwittingly becomes the object of a dangerous obsession. Normally she’d turn to her best friend, Jay, except now that they are officially a couple, the rules of their relationship seem to have changed. And with Jay spending more and more time with his new friend Mike, Violet is left with too much time on her hands as she wonders where things went wrong. But when she fills the void by digging into Mike’s tragic family history, she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

First let me say, I’ve seen Kimberly Derting’s books referred to as both fantasy and paranormal romance. Personally, I’d classify them as magical realism: fiction set firmly in reality, but with a fantastical element. In this case, Violet’s “talent.”

I’ve been familiar with The Body Finder for many months now, but all I knew was the basic premise: Girl has weird ability to locate murdered bodies. While it sounded interesting, I didn’t feel a strong urge to pick it up because, frankly, I like a little (better yet–a lot!) of romance in my books. WELL… good news! Both The Body Finder and Desires of the Dead are intensely romantic! In fact, Violet and Jay’s relationship is one of my new favorites. It’s natural, sweet, and steamy. Jay is exactly the kind of guy I wanted to date when I was in high school (in fact, his personality is a lot like my husband’s). He’s protective, funny, apparently hot and, best of all, a really good friend to Violet. And Violet herself is a very likeable protagonist. She’s no damsel in distress and she’s honest, for better or worse.

I have to admit that before reading, I was skeptical about the serial killer terrorizing a small town bit in The Body Finder. It seemed very likely that in a YA novel a serial killer plot could come off as cheesy or… I don’t know… too fluffy? Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Kimberly Derting handles the crimes in both books realistically, yet with restraint. She very courageously delves into the mind of a serial killer (The Body Finder) and a stalker (Desires of the Dead), even devoting short chapters to their (disturbing) points of view. Seriously, I read these book over a few nights before bed and was totally creeped out when I turned off my light. The mysteries in both plots are equally riveting. I imagine Violet’s gift for seeing the echoes of the dead and their imprints left on killers made it difficult to drop a lot of red herrings into these stories. Violet can very clearly see who has killed and who hasn’t, and yet some pretty crazy plot twists kept me guessing throughout both novels.

I love Kimberly Derting’s writing style. That’s saying a lot since I rarely fall for books done in third-person. It’s lyrical, but not overdone to the point of distracting. And I was totally in Violet’s head. I could clearly picture everything described, from Jay’s dorky, crooked smile to the strange oil-on-water echo left behind by a murdered body.

One more plus for these books, at least for me: they take place in Buckley, Washington, a small town that’s located just a few miles from MY small town. It was fun to read books set nearby. I’ve seen White River High School. I take my daughter swimming at Lake Tapps. I look out my window at Mount Rainier every morning. And I shop at the same Nordstrom as Violet and her friends. So cool to see how an author views places that are a part of my every day life. I definitely recommend you check out The Body Finder if you haven’t already. Its follow-up, Desires of the Dead, is out February 15th.

Big thank you to The Body Finder Novels and Kimberly Derting for the signed ARC. 🙂

RTW: A New Universe

January 26, 201120 Comments

This week’s topic: If you could live within the universe of any book, which would you choose?

I’m a military wife, so packing up and moving to a new place does not hold that “the possibilities are wide open” kind of promise for me. More like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I have to do this all over again!” In almost eight years of marriage, I’ve lived in three states and SEVEN different houses. So, yeah. Over it. Still, it is sort of fun to think about all of the different worlds I’ve immersed myself in while reading and imagine myself a part of them. I scrolled through my Goodreads list and noted all of the books with settings that appealed to me. Two themes quickly emerged:

BEACH/LAKESIDE – The Boys Next Door, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Twenty Boy Summer, and The Summer of Skinny Dipping

BOARDING SCHOOLS – Harry Potter, Anna and the French Kiss, The Mockingbirds, Prep, and Looking For Alaska

I can draw only one conclusion about the above: Someone needs to write a book set at a boarding school ON the beach so I can live in that universe. 🙂

There are many books I’ve read and loved that are set in universes I definitely would NOT want to set foot in. Here are a few… A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Hunger Games, The Giver, Matched, Dirty Little Secrets, The Chosen One, Stolen, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Pillars of the Earth, and The Replacement

Which fictional universe would you like to be a part of? And don’t forget to stop by YA Highway to see how everyone else answered today’s prompt.

RTW: All I Want For Christmas…

December 15, 201013 Comments

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 own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: You spot Santa at the mall, climb onto his lap, and whisper that you’ve been a good girl in his ear. What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

Can Santa bring me a kick-ass agent and a dream book deal?

No? Not his department?

Okay then… I’ve asked Santa (otherwise known as my fab husband and generous family) for any or all of the following three things:

1) Flowers by Kenzo Perfume – The poppies on the packaging first attracted me and the scent–so pretty! Soft and floral.

2) A Massage Gift Certificate – Do I even have to elaborate?

3) Borders Gift Card – I can blow $50 in Borders in about 3 minutes, so a gift card would be greatly appreciated and happily used.

So, that’s it for me, Santa. **Oh, and if you could just work on the whole agent/book deal thing, that’d be great.**