As I Continue to Be Behind . . .

I point you to James Patterson's YA website, where you can download the WITCH & WIZARD audiobook for free from iTunes. And yes, this is one of the ARCs sitting on my TBR pile. Also in my December TBR? FALLEN by Lauren Kate.

Karen White's ZZZs of Writing

Karen White is the author of THE LOST HOURS, who I interviewed a year ago. Her newest release is THE GIRL ON LEGARE STREET, the sequel to THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET. (Expect my review soon-ish.)

It turns out authors, like college students, sometimes have trouble getting enough sleep. And it turns out that Karen agrees with me that 20 minute naps are wonderful things! (Most of my friends don't settle for anything under 3 hours.)

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The Zzz’s of Writing


I’ve done a lot of blogs and written about a lot on the subjects of writing, the life of an author, my career, the pros and cons of plotting vs. pantsing. But I’ve never written about something near and dear to an author’s heart. No, not fame, fortune, or becoming a NYT bestselling author. I’m talking about sleep.

At the moment, I’m bone tired. Deep down, mind-meltingly, brain-freezing tired. This isn’t because I have sleep problems. On the contrary, all I have to do is think about my bed and I’m fast asleep until my alarm rudely awakens me at 6:15. My family thinks I might be narcoleptic because all I have to do is be still for seven seconds and I’m out for the count.

The truth is that I need more sleep (obviously). But with a busy family, a husband who travels and all the hoopla of family life, combined with writing two big (100,000+ words) per year, there simply isn’t enough hours in the day to get everything done—so I steal from those hours that most people devote to sleeping. My bad.

Unfortunately, I’m also one of those people who can drink a pot of caffeinated coffee and fall asleep immediately. I know this because it’s happened before. More than once. How fair is that? I’ve tried everything: caffeinated gum, loud music, exercise, apples, hydration with water, standing on my head. And that’s when I realized that it’s more than lack of sleep—it’s the actual activity of writing that is so fatiguing.

I don’t know about other writers, but writing a page is more mentally exhausting than an hour of Pilates. My books tend to be pretty emotional, so I suppose it makes sense that writing them can be emotionally draining. Like an actress, I immerse myself into the character’s point of view and “become” that person when I’m in their head. I think it lends itself to more real emotions and dialogue. I’m also a very visual writer and when I’m envisioning a scene, I close my eyes and, yep, sometimes I’ll wake up an hour later realizing too late that a sleepy person shouldn’t spend too much time with her eyes closed if she doesn’t want to fall asleep!

I have spent completely unproductive afternoons nodding over my laptop, and have a permanent crease in my forehead from the laptop lid. (My kids say it’s a wrinkle because I’m old, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

And then: a break through. While trying to stay away while eating breakfast, I usually attempt to read one of my many periodicals that come in daily that I rarely get to peruse because, yes, I fall asleep if I sit down in a quiet room to read.

I can’t remember what magazine or newspaper it was (sleep deprivation also interferes with memory, apparently), but in it I read about the wonders of napping. Now, as the mother of two teenagers who were once adorable toddlers who, thankfully, were good nappers, I already knew about the joys of napping. But this article talked about how famous people in history—Ghandi and Winston Churchill to name just two—recharged their brains in the middle of the day with a mere twenty minute nap. I couldn’t believe it—two icons in world history NAPPED! Surely, I thought, if it worked for them it could work for me.

Luckily, I’m one of those people who can lie down anywhere and fall asleep. So, after lunch one day, I went up to the guest room, drew the shades, put in my earplugs and set my alarm for 20 minutes. As always, I didn’t even remember falling asleep. All I knew was that when the alarm rang, I was a new person. My mind was clearer, and I was no longer sleepy. I felt refreshed—something I hadn’t been in a very long time. I was able to write with passion and clarity, really focusing on the story and characters instead of how many sentences I could get out before my eyes closed.

The secret to the twenty minutes and not longer is that it doesn’t allow a person to get into REM sleep while still offering the restorative qualities of sleep. If you sleep too much longer than that, you’re doomed to a day of grogginess. But 20 minutes seems to do the trick without any side effects. I’m now a huge proponent of adult napping, even contemplated a move to Spain where napping is a national past time. OK, so I didn’t really consider it, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could live in a place where you could nap and not feel guilty that you should be, well, working?

Napping is now a daily ritual for me. And, living with two teenagers, it can be the highlight of my day. Even my dog knows when it’s naptime, because he heads upstairs with me at the appointed time and settles himself either at the foot of the bed or on the floor next to it. He’s a professional napper himself, and I’m sure he feels he deserves the credit for my newfound restorative habit.

I just looked at the clock. I’ve been up since 6:15 and it’s time for lunch and then my favorite twenty minutes of the day. Then it’s back to writing for me. And I’m just left to wonder why this wrinkle in my forehead won’t go away now that I’m no longer using my laptop as a head prop.

October Round-Up

Sorry for disappearing for a week. The good news is I'm now officially graduating a semester early! (Also, I now belong to a frat, which is odd, even if it is an academic honors society.) I can't believe that I've only got a year of college left. (Technically, I only need 21 hours to finish off both my majors, so it isn't even going to be a heavy year.) I also had a couple of birthday parties to attend, because I'm just that cool.

Come back tomorrow for a guest blog by Karen White.

Contests and Promotions

Cirque du Freak prize pack

Nancy Holder prize pack
Winner: Kristi of Books and Needlepoint

Signed LOVE, MEG hardcover
Winner: Chelsea, the Page Flipper

Interviews and Guest Blogs

Nancy Holder

C. Leigh Purtill

Reviews

ICE SONG

HUSH, HUSH

SECRET SOCIETY

THE DEMON'S LEXICON

THE HOLLOW

KISS OF LIFE

BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS

SOUL CATCHER

BLOOD KIN

THE DARKEST WHISPER

AFTER

I also wrote about my experience at the Austin Teen Book Festival.

Local Authors

Local Authors with Jennifer Ziegler, Varian Johnson, Shana Burg, and April Lurie

Perhaps the most interesting conversation in the Local Authors panel was that of appropriate content for young adult fiction, particularly that which will be read by middle graders and young adults. Varian Johnson believes it's important to avoid gratuity and only include what is true to the characters and the story. He found MY LIFE OF A RHOMBUS difficult to write, particularly because it involved pregnancy and abortion, dilemmas he will never face. He wanted to do it right, which I can respect.



With SAVING MADDIE, he's writing about a Christian boy both wanting to save a girl and lusting after her. Sex and religion can also be controversial, but he maintains that the way to do it well is to be true to the character.

The other authors agreed. But even remaining true to the characters, there might be some changes made. Shana Burg's historical A THOUSAND NEVER EVERS originally included a single use of the n-word.



However, her editor knew middle graders would read the book as well and asked her to remove it. Now the book is on the Lone Star list, which might not have happened due to a single perjorative. Likewise, April Lurie removed a single cuss word from BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS in order for it to be sold through Scholastic. The authors don't do this lightly.

Jennifer Ziegler's HOW NOT TO BE POPULAR is also on the Lone Star list.



Her other published novel, ALPHA DOG, is also clean. So when she turned in an outline to her editor with a questionable scene, the editor asked her if she could change the scene while being true to the story, since there is a need in the YA market for clean books. Jennifer says she likes the new way the scene occurs better, but she would have kept, and fought for, the original if she thought it necessary to the story. Being honest to the characters always wins out.

April Lurie also had to be careful when writing the soon to be published THE LESS DEAD. It's about someone killing homosexual adopted boys, and the protagonist blaming his father for preaching hate. That's definitely something that could upset people, and April knew it wouldn't even be for her own parents. Still, she tried to do her best to tell the story she wanted to tell. Sometimes you can't avoid people being offended. She did have an odd situation with someone saying online that she should be killed for writing THE LATENT POWERS OF DYLAN FONTAINE.



Apparently this blogger thought she had plagiarized two of his favorite novels. April did respond classily: she told him she had never read the novels, but one his recommendation she would. She then followed up after she had finished the two books.

The authors also answered my question is this panel, which was what it was like to be a part of the Austin area YA writing community. They all answered that it was wonderful. Apparently none of them knew Austin was a children's writing mecca until they came here. (Shana was from Boston; April was from Brooklyn.) I know I like it, since it means events like this happen! I hope ya'll enjoyed the write-ups, and that they gave you a little taste of the Austin Teen Book Festival. Unfortunately, I was using a telephoto lens so Jennifer is cut out of this photo of the panel laughing.

Review: After

By Amy Efaw
Released by Penguin (Viking Juvenile)
Review copy provided by publisher



Varian Johnson's comments about his own book, THE LIFE OF A RHOMBUS, reminded me that I'd never reviewed AFTER, another tale of teen pregnancy. AFTER begins at a unique point in the story: as the title implies, it begins after the pregnancy is finished. Athletic, intelligent Devon just left her baby in a dumpster. Now she's quietly bleeding to death on her couch and the police are knocking. What follows is her trial - not whether she's guilty or not, but whether she's tried as an adult.

AFTER will definitely make you think. Amy Efaw doesn't address the more common topic of abortion, but rather other problems that might face teen (or otherwise disadvantaged) pregnant women. Specifically denial of pregnancy. Google it. At least if someone acknowledges their pregnancy, they can go somewhere like Planned Parenthood and learn their options. (Yes, Planned Parenthood does quite a bit for women. It is not a place that simply counsels abortion and that's it.) But women in denial can't prepare in any way. Even if they don't kill the kid, they won't have taken pre-natal vitamins, prepared shelter and food, or anything. And there's almost no support for these women.

But while AFTER gets me thinking, it left me a little cold. In the end, I enjoyed the book more since I didn't believe Devon. But while reading I felt rather mad at her, since I believed she knew she was pregnant. Whether I believed her or not, AFTER did read quickly. It just tended to make me angry for the wrong reasons. (Of course, any book dealing with such a serious issue is going to have trouble toeing that line.)

I also think AFTER presents an interesting view of the juvenile detention system. It isn't pleasant, but it's certainly not the hellish place you'll see in most fiction. But at the same time it makes me sad, given what I know of the prison system. (Which would mostly be how literacy affect recidivism, which isn't super relevant, and capital punishment, which is even less relevant.) Devon ends up with a great public defender and people in the system who care about getting her out of it. I'm happy to see a view of the system that isn't overly harsh, but at the same time it feels too optimistic to be realistic.

If you're into books that grapple with difficult topics, you'll enjoy AFTER. Personally, I'm not sure these kind of books are for me, especially since I didn't like the beloved THIRTEEN REASONS WHY. (I just keep disliking the person I'm suppose to sympathize with.)

Fantasy

Fantasy with Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, Lisa McMann, and Rick Yancey

This was the shortest of the panels, since lunch ran long. It began with Lisa McMann turning a broken rose into a jacket decoration and each of the authors telling something about themselves and their books, Lisa's being WAKE and FADE.



Justine Larbalestier pointed out her Australian heritage, marking her as the one in the panel with an accent. (Carrie Jones had a cute Maine accent and Shana Burg had a nice Boston one.) Of course, it soon became a competition to see who had the most hot guys and dead bodies in their book. (Winner seemed to be Justine, who's LIAR contained both, whereas the others seemed to tend toward one or the other.)



But this mini-contest led to the authors discovering an important fact: the responsiveness of the audience. Libba Bray discovered she could conduct the audience's roars of appreciation.

Being brave (she did wear a cow suit in the GOING BOVINE trailer, which I point out in my interview), Libba offered the following advice to teens: don't let a guy or girl talk you into doing LSD and then going to see Aliens.



And no, it didn't come as surprise to anyone when the authors admitted that they hadn't been popular in high school. (I believe Justine put it, "We're writers.") However, high school was good for one thing: writing stuff that would get rejected. Generally, they all had darlings they hoped would eventually get published. (WAKE was one for Lisa.) On the other hand, some of those earlier books will never see the light of day. For Rick Yancey, it was his second book.

Fortunately, Libba misheard him and thought he said sex book. Rick joked that it might sell if he rewrote it with sex, but nope, it was just his second book. (His newest, THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST, isn't a sex book either.)



They also discussed their reading audiences, mostly boys versus girls. Lisa likes that her covers and content are fairly gender neutral. But none of them seemed to want to limit their audience; they wanted their books to entertain and reach as many people as possible. Once again, it was a very amusing panel. It made me very sad I missed Libba's keynote address, since she was cracking a joke a minute.

Review: Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds

By April Lurie
Released by Random House (Laurel-Leaf)



BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS is April Lurie's semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhood populated by made men and falling in love with a Dominick. However, she made quite a bit up in order to deliver an interesting and exciting story.

If you're into books about relationships, you should definitely consider finding yourself a copy of BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS. April Lundquist has a plethora of suitors: Dominick, her brother's friend Little Joe, and her best friend's boyfriend's best friend with whom she was conned into going on a date with, Bert. Then her brother, a good Scandinavian boy, falls in love with Bettina, the daughter of a high-ranked Mafioso.

But romantic relationships aren't the only ones on display. April watches out for her both of her brothers, as well as Soft Sal's odd son Larry. She's close friends with Brandi, even if their friendship takes some hits in the book due to their divergent tastes in men. She also has an odd relationship with her English teacher, who recognizes her potential but dislikes her penchant to snog boys rather than show up to class on time.

The novel works well because these relationships ring true. Even though it is set in the 70s, the family, friend, and significant other dynamics are very familiar. (Although I never had to worry about a sibling getting whacked due to putting moves on the wrong person.) It's quick and funny, much like a Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy. The subject matter could be dramatic and angsty, but April Lurie keeps it light. And the world needs more light comedies involving La Costa Nostra.

I might not have noticed this if it hadn't been pointed out in the Local Authors panel, but I do appreciate the fact that BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS is clean (no sex scenes or cussing). Lurie does a good job of creating a heroine who is comfortable with her sexuality and not condemning her for having three love interests. April's just a healthy teen girl learning how to maneuver in non-platonic relationships with boys. I love, love, love that Lurie manages this without sex scenes so that I can recommend it to certain girls I know in real life without their mothers showing up at my house with poisoned baked goods, saying "Mangia, mangia."

I don't regret my decision to pick up the cheapest book at the Austin Teen Book Festival. I'm not sure I'll read this one again, but I found it entertaining and think it's a good one to recommend to girls in junior high and high school. (Another great thing? April is brainy and athletic, with fab taste in music.) Despite the hot pink cover, some guys might like it too, given the criminal element.

Zombies vs. Vampires (vs. Pixies!)

Zombies vs. Vampires with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Waters, Carrie Jones, and Heather Brewer
First, a technical note: I wanted to use what I'm learning in school, so none of this is flash photography. I'm also in manual settings. I did use autofocus to take faster shots. (Focusing is one of my weak spots due to my eyesight.)

This panel began with a discussion of how to make fantasy characters work in an urban setting and what they wear. To the right, you can see Heather Brewer demonstrating her powers of imagination by choosing to make Vlad dress exactly like her. (Vlad is Vladimir Tod, the most recent release in the series being TENTH GRADE BLEEDS.)



She did dress for the panel, in a "Zombies Need Love Too" tee, since she was undecided about zombies vs. vampires and feeling generous in the morning. As for integrating her characters, she enjoys mentioning standard things from vampire lore that would be tricky and then subverting them. Besides, not being able to cross running water is just silly.

My favorite question of the panel was, "If the zombie apocalypse comes and you and three other authors are the only ones holding out, who would you choose to be holed up with?" Heather went with her panel members, since they were already with her and would thus survive due to her being prepared for this exact possibility. That sounded good to Carrie Jones, who was pretty sure she'd be dead meat when faced with zombies. (I think she could throw her totally cute shoes at them. It worked for Clara against the Rat King.) However, Carrie did when for most terrifying zombified supernatural, as pixie zombies would be unstoppable. (She wrote the pixie-laden NEED, which I reviewed here.)



Vampires couldn't be zombified, of course, since one must die first and vampires remain undead. Heather proposed that vamp blood could cure zombism, although the audience was divided on the issue. Cynthia Leitich Smith did see on satellite radio that salt can be used to restore zombies to their former humanity. Resident zombie expert Daniel Waters wasn't sure about that, but he said it couldn't hurt to add salt to your zombie kit. (Doubt his zombie credentials? Check out KISS OF LIFE, which I reviewed here.)



Speaking of Daniel, he didn't have a true preference for the three authors he'd take with him. He only knew that they needed to be slower and tastier, rather than more skilled. Cynthia, on the other hand, did have a team picked out. Her ringer? Local author April Lurie, who used to be a nurse. Her medical knowledge would be handy, though she would later disavow her use when told of being picked at a later panel.



Then, when questioned about what they could write about if they couldn't use zombies or vampires, the authors got creative. Cynthia noted that her series, containing TANTALIZE and ETERNAL, had a werearmadillo among many other creatures. Carrie noted that she'd started in contemporary YA . . . and then threatened to write about curtains (among other things). Sitting beside her, skeptical Heather was skeptical. Daniel was less so, but this is the man who admitted he would kiss Tinkerbell (but not a male vampire, whether he be Vlad or Edward).

It was a very fun panel, and Ms. Anderson of BookPeople did a great job moderating. (She also did her own write-up of the panel, which contains many things mine doesn't.) There's a reason everyone was laughing!

Winners!

The two Cirque du Freak winners are taay and celi.a. If you see this before I e-mail you, please contact me with your address.

I realize that I gave people less than a week to enter the contest for LOVE, MEG, so I am extending the deadline to Halloween, the same day the Nancy Holder contest ends.

Austin Teen Book Festival Write-Up

Monday: Zombies vs. Vampires with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Waters, Carrie Jones, and Heather Brewer
Wednesday: Fantasy with Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, Lisa McMann, and Rick Yancey
Friday: Local Authors with Jennifer Ziegler, Varian Johnson, Shana Burg, and April Lurie

What I Missed:

The Keynote Address by Libba Bray

I've been up late all week, so I was desperately tired last night and forgot to actually turn my alarm on when I changed when it would wake me up. So I woke up at 10:23, knowing it would take at least 15 minutes to get to the venue and I still needed to eat, dress, and otherwise make myself resemble a member of humanity.

Originally, I planned on videotaping the panels I attended, but I thought the panels were beginning at 11, as per the schedule on the site. That would be one panel I couldn't tape, due to showing up late. Then I knew I wanted to go to the whole of Zombies vs. Vampires, but I had contacted Cynthia Leitich Smith beforehand and she didn't want to be broadcast since she was recovering from a cold. That would be only one panel I could tape, which seemed pretty silly. Of course, they'd adjusted the schedule to the panels beginning at 11:15. ^_^;; I still took pictures!

Real YA Voices panel with Matt de la Pena*, Margo Rabb and Deb Caletti

There were four panels, but only time to attend three. I definitely wanted to attend Zombies vs. Vampires and Fantasy due to my own bent towards unrealistic fiction, but it was a toss-up between Local Authors and Real YA Voices. In the end, I chose Local Authors due to the good stuff I've heard about Varian Johnson's MY LIFE AS A RHOMBUS and because I bought April Lurie's BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS. (I wanted to buy something so that I wouldn't be rude, and Lurie's was both the cheapest and had a fabulous title.)

*imagine a tilde over the n

A Prize

They had a raffle, in which they called out a ton of numbers since many people had already left, and I had two tickets, but still didn't win. I only saw the prize table when about seven books were left, but most of them were copies of CAPTIVATED by Carrie Jones. That tells you how much goodness was on the table.