Writers' Chasm

Note: This is going to be an abbreviated Year in Short because I didn't do Week in Shorts all last semester. Looking back over the last year, I realized that so much has changed. My life now is so different from my life this time last year, in so many ways. In some ways its for the better and in others, it's not but it's been a very good -- if not crazy -- year. The writing and publishing world has also seen some major changes in the last year. E-books are growing in popularity and piracy is becoming an increasingly larger topic of conversation. We also saw the bankruptcy of Borders (I still can't drive past their empty storefronts). Rowling also contributed with the creation of Pottermore which I have to say is probably the best thing since Harry Potter itself. Writing: The truth about the Mary Sue How to dig out of the Pit of Despair When it's okay to quit Querying: Too many agents, not enough gin: the truth about multiple offer situations Still your itchy trigge...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What were your top five favorite books of 2011? This was a great year for books for me. I read 53 books this year and had a lot of trouble narrowing it down to five favorites. Here are my top five, in no particular order, and excluding those books that I read in previous years and reread this year. 1. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan I was a little late getting to this series. So far this is the only one that I've read but I have Demon's Covenant in my "Must Read Over Break" pile. It was a fantastic start to a trilogy and despite the fact that I had the largest plot twist spoiled for me, I absolutely loved it. 2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson This is one...

Song of the Week: Holdin' Onto Heaven by Nickelback Must Read: 10 things authors should know about Twitter News: Barnes & Noble accidentally shipped out copies of The Fault in Our Stars Spanish novelist Lucia Etxbarria quits writing in protest of piracy Elana Johnson: Give yourself permission Janice Hardy: How kids' games can make revisions fun 3 tips for writing romance in YA by Kody Keplinger Laura: In defense of libraries Querytracker: Dissociative amnesia/fugue Romance University: Sara Megibow talks about the newbie mistakes she made as an agent Merry Christmas! I'll see you on Monday.

If I Lie by Corrine Jackson has a cover and an official release date! **drum roll** Isn't it beautiful?! I love the roughened edges and the black and white picture. Can't wait to have this one in my hands! Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in thei r small, military town. Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise. If I Lie debuts on August 28, 2012. For more information check out Corrine Jackson's website .

***WARNING: There will be spoilers from Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Angel in this review*** Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare #2 in Infernal Devices series In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends. With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom...

Sorry about the long dry spell of posts everyone. College turned out to be a lot more of a time suck than I expected, but my first semester is officially over and I'm at home. Hopefully this means I'll have plenty of time and inspiration so I can start blogging again. I'm going to start by resuming Week in Short posts starting next week. For now, I'll probably continue posting three times a week and if I have enough inspiration I'll try to up it back to five times. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I'll see you on Monday!

In college it's perfectly okay to be a nerd. In high school it was an art form to be able to show up exactly before the bell rang for class to start. If you were there even a few minutes early, you could be teased for "being a nerd." In college (at least mine), everyone is at class early. It's not uncommon for people to be sitting outside of a classroom as early as twenty minutes before the class even starts. My sociology class does this every time because we like to sit around and talk before class starts. I highly recommend showing up early for class the first week, at least. It only takes me five minutes to walk from the dorms to the academic halls, but for the first week I left the dorms a half hour early to go to class just because I was terrified of getting lost and being late to class. If you have the opportunity to explore the academic halls prior to classes starting, take it and find all your classes ahead of time. Don't be afraid to try alternate routes ...

As a college student participating in NaNoWriMo, this tip is twice as important for me. You'd be surprised where you can pound out a couple hundreds words. I write... - To give myself a break between study sessions - At meals if I'm eating alone - While I'm waiting for class to start - During class (highly not recommended) - During commercial breaks for my favorite shows - When my homework is done in the evenings - During the weekends Take a look at your day and if there is any time when you have a few extra minutes in writing-distance to a laptop or notebook, take that as an opportunity to write a bit. All those little bits and pieces will add up quickly and soon you'll be well on your way to 50,000 words.

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This week's topic: What kind of writing coach do you need? When you have to coach friends, what kind of coach are you? NaNoWriMo is in full-swing and, for the first time ever, I am participating along with some real life friends. I love college! What I really need is a writing coach that will make sure that I keep up with things besides writing. Like, you know, homework. If I have everything else done, then I'll have more time and freedom for writing. I also need a writing coach that I can bounce ideas of off when I get stuck and one that won't let me quit because I can't figure out where to go next. I'm a very encouraging writing coach. I'll be cheering all my friends this year on to th...

It's that time of year again! National Novel Writing Month has started and all over the world people are racing towards the 50,000-word goal. I won in 2009 and completely failed at even trying last year so this year I'm back and going for it once again. NaNo is a lot of fun and a great opportunity to meet other novelists. If you don't know what it's about, I suggest checking out the NaNo website and considering joining in. I have a feeling this month is going to be the ultimate lesson in time management for me. I haven't been able to sit down and write since I got to college so this could be very interesting. I'm about twelve hours in and already considering changing my idea because the one I have just isn't working out at the moment. Are you participating in NaNo? How is it going so far?

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This week's topic: What was the best book you read in October? My pick for this month is a classic, Forever by Judy Blume. Though I strongly wish that I'd read this in high school, this was my first time reading it. This is a great book and I highly recommend it to everyone, especially teenagers. If you're like me and you haven't read this book yet, you definitely should.

As some of you know, I am now a college student. Last night, a lot of the people in my hall went to a bonfire. And it rained. And when they got back, they were soaked so they decided to go dance in the rain. I had spent the night in my dorm doing homework listening to them. So they came inside and said, "You should come dance in the rain with us." And I said, "Okay." There were six or seven of us (all girls) running around in the dark and the cold and the rain jumping in puddles and splashing each other and standing in the waterfalls of rain that are pouring off the roof. And then we found a particularly large puddle and one of my housemates decided to lay down in it. So she did. And then we turned it into a house initiation where we all had to lay down in it. It was cold. And wet. But so much fun. There was one guy that saw us and walked by and said, "You girls are all crazy" (we're an all-girl house). We kept trying to convince random pe...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. Happy 100th RTW, YA Highway! This Week's Topic: What has your writing road trip looked like so far? Excitement? Traffic jams and detours? Where are you going next? My writing journey so far is the typical meandering road littered with unfinished manuscripts, forgotten ideas, and trunked novels. My most recent projects are currently on hold while I try to figure out how to revise them. I've had some great ideas recently on how to proceed, but college has kind of put everything on hold. I can't wait to start work on CT. I'm hoping for inspiration for a new work in progress soon. I've had a couple of new ideas recently but nothing that's grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the compute...

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead Is Rose's fate to kill the person she loves most? It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since Mason's death, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practice, can't concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. But Rose has an even bigger secret .... She's in love with Dimitri. And this time, it's way more than a crush. Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protect Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever... I'm not quite sure what I think about this book. The action is great and the romance is smoking, but just so much happens. This is both my favorite and least favorite book of the series. On one hand, the ending is probably the most powerful so far. On the other, I can't believe ...

The first time I saw the picture of the "college triangle" (Pick two: Schoolwork, Social life, and Sleep), I laughed. I would find some way to fit in everything. How hard could it be? I've been at college for a month and I'm not laughing anymore. When I was in high school, I didn't have to study at all before tests until I started taking AP classes. I spent eight hours a day in school, went home, and sat on the computer until bed (usually about midnight or two on the weekends). "Sleeping in" meant nine, maybe ten if I had a particularly late night. Homework took a few hours at most. I was only involved in one club and I didn't really go out much. Take the complete opposite of that and you have my college life. I go to class a few hours a day, but study for so much more. I'm rarely on the computer for something unrelated to class. Progress is going to bed before midnight instead of two in the morning. If allowed, I will easily sle...

Frostbite by Richelle Mead Second book in the Vampire Academy series Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose… It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory. But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadl...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What was the best book you read in September? Unfortunately college didn't leave much time for reading for fun in the last month. However, I did manage to fit a couple books in. I'm very late to the Anna and the French Kiss party, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. St. Clair is a great love interest and the romantic tension is crackling throughout the entire book. After all the wonderful things I heard about this book, it kind of let me down but I think I'll enjoy it much more when I read it again. I can't wait for Lola and the Boy Next Door! Full review here

Before I begin, I should mention that I don't have any e-textbooks. All of these points are inspired by a friend of mine that bought all of the textbooks she could on her Kindle. 1. No resale This is the main disadvantage that I didn't even think about until she mentioned it. If you buy hard copies of your textbooks, you can sell them somewhere and get some or most of that money back. But if you buy the e-book versions, you can't sell that anywhere. 2. No highlighting I'm not positive but I think there are some e-readers that have highlight capabilities. But if you don't own one of those, then you lose the ability to highlight and make notes as you read the chapters in your hard copy textbook. I highlight a lot when I'm reading because I find it helps me focus rather than constantly zoning out. 3. Pages can be messed up One of my friends with e-textbooks found out that, for one of her books, if she needs to get to another page she has to flip through the section...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work? I made a list of things that I realized were recurring in my works, but it's quite old. My recent works have been so different in nature that I'm having trouble thinking of something for this post. A few things that are on the old list are business owner parents, white rooms, and characters that can't pick out clothes on their own (I've had two main characters whose best friends helped them pick out outfits at least once over the course of the story). I think the majority of my early main characters also had brown hair and brown eyes. I was an unimaginative person when it comes to ...

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home. I did just read this book now after hearing people rave about it so long. I kind of wish I'd read it months ago. Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. But after hearing people talk about how it was such an awesome book, my expectations got too high and I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Though I did want to read it again immediately after finishing it so that's a good sign. It started a little slow for me. I sta...

So...I blame Labor Day for my completely lack of ability to remember what day it is. I told myself I was going to do RTW and then I forgot it was Wednesday (I also had classes from one until seven in the afternoon so that didn't help). But because this week's topic was so AWESOME, I decided to do it two days late. Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destinat ion and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What non-YA character would you love to see star in a YA book as themselves? I'm going to cheat and do a couple because I'll be sitting here all night if I try to pick just one. Numair Salmalin If you don't know who this is, you need to go read Tamora Pierce's Immortals series right away. Meaning NOW. I think he was my first fictional love way back in m...

Sorry about my complete lack of blogging on Monday and Wednesday. College has me a whole lot busier than I expected. I have now been at college for over a week and it's giving me a whole new perspective on the debate about college-age main characters. I feel kind of lonely knowing that there aren't many main characters out there that are my age. I didn't enjoy the adult books I've read enough to want to read more, but I feel kind of out of place reading YA (not that I intend to stop any time soon). Why do you think there aren't many college-age MCs? Is it because we're kept so busy that there isn't enough time for interesting things to happen (not true)? Is it because the differences between college campuses (in contrast to the fact that most high schools are relatively the same) make it a difficult task? Is it because there's a stigma attached to college kids that says we don't read (which my hall has repeatedly disproved)? Does anyone hav...

I watched Soul Surfer yesterday. It's now one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, I would definitely rent it when you can. It's an amazing story. Now... On Wednesday, I'm officially leaving for college. Because this is my freshman year, I'm not sure how things are really going to work. Instead of stopping blogging completely, I'm going to cut back. I'll be posting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Because of their time consuming nature (and the fact that, unlike normal posts, I can't just schedule them when I have an idea for a post), I'm discontinuing Week in Shorts, at least until I get an idea of my workload. Querytracker and YA Highway both do a fantastic job of weekly link round-ups. I will, however, attempt to continue participating in Road Trip Wednesday. Except for this Wednesday because I will literally be on the road and without computer access all day. Once I have an idea of my workload, I may up my posting or bri...

Song of the Week: Somewhere Only We Know by the Glee cast (Warblers). I'm going through a Glee phase today. I can't seem to listen to anything else. Must Read: Too many agents, not enough gin: the truth about multiple offer situations First draft syndrome symptoms News: The Republic School District (which you may remember as the same school district that challenged Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, and Slaughterhouse-Five and banned the latter two) has now had a lawsuit filed against them after failing to protect a middle school girl after she was raped. Laurie Halse Anderson talks about it and provides several awesome links to coverage . In an apparently long-line of offers to take books to famous names , PA set up a promotion where people could pay for them to show their books to J.K. Rowling and she knows . Here is PA's full response . Talk of the events ranges from Twitter , Galleycat , The Associated Press , and Publishers Weekly . WriteOnCon: Here ar...

I was glancing through my post drafts and I realized that I never posted my review of this amazing book. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical. I adore this book. It's been several months since I've read and I'm still raving about it. I devoured it in twenty-four hours. It wouldn't have taken that long but I needed sleep and then I had to go to school. I wanted to read it again within a few hours of finishing and I'm dying to buy it so I can. Especially because there were a few lines that were so profoundly made of awesome that I want to write them down on my "favorite...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This week's topic: What is the most inspiring setting you've ever visited in real life? Most of my books take place in imagined towns or even countries. However, I recently went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (which we call "the U.P.") and I'm dying to write a story set there. I'm a little biased, but I think it's the most gorgeous place in the world. There's nothing quite like standing on the rocks overlooking Lake Superior and watching the sun go down. I tried to download pictures from my phone, but my phone apparently doesn't like this laptop. 

***WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS*** After reading the entire trilogy I decided instead of reviewing each book individually like I normally do, I'd just review them all together. A Great and Terrible Beauty This was my first Libba Bray book ever and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. This was also my favorite book in the series, which I don't think I can say about any other first book. I did feel like the characters were a little flat. They all had their set personalities and they never really did anything outside of them. I hated that Gemma thought she could touch the crystals despite her mom's warnings and everything would be fine and dandy. I loved the twist ending that I didn't see coming. Overall: 10/10 Good book with a great premise and voice Rebel Angels This is the book where the characters really started to drive me insane. I hated that Felicity always wanted to go into the realms and have fun without a care to what...

In the age of social networking, agents are now more accessible to aspiring writers than ever. A lot of them have Twitter, Facebook, blogs, or other ways of social networking. General advice tells you to get to know the agents you want to query. Personalize your queries to them and target your agent hunt for agents that you think that your book suits the best. But is it a good idea to follow an agent beyond the typical information search? I don't mean stalking them to their house. I mean, for example, following them on Twitter. Oftentimes writers who follow the agents they're querying find themselves analyzing every harmless tweet the agent makes. An agent mentions an amazing partial that they're reading and you immediately begin to panic, wondering if it's yours and worrying that if it isn't, yours will pale in comparison. On the other hand, some agents tweet when they've caught up with queries. This is great with both non-responders and responders. With ...

Song of the Week: Searching for a Heart by Luke Olson (this isn't a well-known song, but I heard it on Pandora and immediately fell in love with it. Must. Have. Album.) Must Read: The power to choose News: Prayers to everyone in London and everywhere else affected by the riots. Stay safe. I hope you're all okay. I'm thinking of you all. WriteOnCon: Just a few more days! Mary Sues: There's been a lot of discussion about Mary Sues on the blogosphere lately. Zoe Marriot began with her post on what a Mary Sue truly is. Sarah Rees Brennan talked about insecurity in fiction and real life. Holly Black makes the great point that female characters are at the center of the story because they are the protagonist and suggests that the intentions of the writer should be left out. Cora Buhlert discusses Mary Sues in-depth and suggests that it's normal for beginning writers. BookEnds: Workshop Wednesday ktLiterary: What not to tell an age...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What time do you prefer to do your writing? I write anytime inspiration strikes and I have time and access to a computer. I've never really had a set writing schedule. However, I am typically a night owl. I've been known to not write a single word all day and then stay up until three in the morning because inspiration struck and I couldn't stop writing. Psychologically, night has always kind of been my "play" time and day has always been my "work" time. Because of that, I write more during the night and revise more during the day. I have a lot of work that needs to get done during the day so when night hits, my brain knows it's time to settle in and have some fre...

Yesterday I posted a list of the books I've bought or borrowed from the library recently and why I picked those books. Today I wanted to talk about the results. I also wanted to compare this year's results from last year's. 2010 tally results My results from August 2, 2010: 23% Word of mouth 15% Liked author 15% Book in a series 15% Cover/book trailer 8% Similar to another author 8% Referenced elsewhere 8% Similar to a WiP 8% Back summary only My results from this year: 35% Book in a series 20% Liked author (10% read author before, 5% heard good things about author, 5% author's internet presence) 20% Word of mouth 10% Already read and wanted to own 5% Being made into movie 5% Summary I'm not surprised that my purchase of books in a series went up 20%. A lot of the books from series I'm reading came out in the last couple months. There are also more series on the market and more that I'm reading. Liking the author and word of mouth bo...

About a year ago, I decided to do a little experiment to see why I buy the books that I do. Over the course of a few trips to the bookstore, I came home and wrote down the reasons why I bought those particular books over all the others. I thought it would be fun to do this again, to see if my habits have changed. 2010 tally results Note: This also includes books I checked out of the library. Already Read, Wanted to Own Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Bought because it was the only book in the series that I still didn't own. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak -- I actually read this some time ago, but I bought it recently because I loved it so much. Book in Series Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares. Bought because it's the last book in the series and I have to know how everything ends now. Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan. Bought because it's the second book in the series and the first one was amazing. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. From librar...

Song of the Week: Bad Day by Daniel Powter College is three weeks away and I'm overwhelmed with how much stuff I have to get done before I go. I NEED MORE HOURS IN THE DAY. The bright spot of my week: I got into Pottermore! After three days of sleeping through the clues and the alarm that was supposed to wake me up for them, I finally managed to catch one. I also spent an extraordinarily large amount of time watching vlogbrothers videos starting with the very first Brotherhood 2.0 ones back in 2007. It's like traveling back in time. Must Read: Zoe provides a new perspective on the term "Mary-Sue" Kody's post on sexual politics, women's rights, and becoming an adult Rejection insights -- Tweets by Angela James, executive editor of Carina Press, covering snippets from a rejection report she was working on collected by Juliana Haygert News: The YARebels are auditioning vloggers WriteOnCon: Live forum events and how they work Ninja agents! More faculty a...

Two things have happened in the last couple weeks: I turned eighteen and my mom started working second shift. In less than a week, I went from being a teenager to an adult and I've learned a few things about time management. 1. Switch when something's not working. If you're stuck on a scene or a revision point, do a load of dishes, take the dog for a walk, or do some cleaning. I find this helps to loosen up my mind and help me get past blocks. 2. Allocate time to certain tasks. For example, during the day is my "work" time. This is the time I use to do stuff around the house, work on revisions, beta-read, and do other things on my to-do list. Night is my relax time. This is the time I just hang out, watch Netflix, read for pleasure, write, and sometimes do things that I didn't finish during the day. 3. Use rewards Give yourself a reward for each task you complete. This can be a TV show you have recorded, a movie that you want to watch, or some time...

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. And there are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy. Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik At Coral Tree Prep ...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: The Five Senses. How you use them in your writing, how you are inspired by them, pictorial essays, that character with smelly socks, books that have used them well, the ones that are currently missing from your work, etc. This is a really hard topic for me because description is definitely my writing weakness. I've been actively concentrating on making sure I get the right amount of description and it uses all of the five senses. I think the most commonly used senses are sight, sound, and smell. Sight is definitely the most common because it's the easiest to use in description. The two most under-used are taste and touch. Those last two are definitely the ones missing...

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares Now Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget have grown up, starting their lives on their own. And though the jeans they shared are long gone, the sisterhood is everlasting. Despite having jobs and men that they love, each knows that something is missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends. Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks of Kostos and the road she didn't take. Bridget lives with her longtime boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to settle down, a bigger part can't seem to shed her old restlessness. Then Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane tickets for a reunion that they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it will change their lives forever -- but in ways that none of them could ever have expected. ***WARNING: There will be spoilers throughout the review*...

I said goodbye to my Borders this weekend. I'll admit I almost cried when I got home. I've shopped at Borders for as long as I can remember. I just can't believe this was the last time I'll walk through those doors. We had to wait awhile for our ride to come back from CVS where he'd gone while we were shopping so while my mom waited for him outside I actually went back in the store and just walked around the YA section for awhile. Goodbye, Borders. Today, I want to talk about why I love brick and mortar bookstores so much. First of all, there's the smell. That beautiful, crisp smell of books. If they could bottle that smell, I would spray it around my room like crazy. I love to just walk into a bookstore and take a deep breath. (Stop looking at me like I'm crazy.) Another thing I love to do in bookstores is walk around the shelves and run my fingers along the spines. I love the feeling of the smooth book spines under my fingers as I take in the different tit...

Song of the Week: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. I can't stop listening to this song. Must Read: Still your itchy trigger finger -- Why you should wait before hitting send News: Borders has officially gone under and is selling all of its stores. I feel like I just lost my home. Janet Reid is taking a break from queries Peeta and Gale from Hunger Games are on the cover of Entertainment Weekly What do you think? I'm hoping Gale and Peeta's looks are different in the movie than the are on the cover. IMO both of them look too old and I've always imagined Peeta as looking younger and softer than that. Katniss looks okay. The publication date for The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has been moved up from to January 10th from May. My first thought: IS IT JANUARY 10TH YET? Omnivore Books live-tweeted in-store surprise marriage proposal WriteOnCon: It's almost time for WriteOnCon 2011! How the live events work Faculty announcements BookEnds: Workshop Wednesday -- ...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: What was the best book you read in July? The best reread was, of course... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling I spent a large portion of July rereading this book in preparation for the movie. This was the third time I've read it, the first time I've read it since I started writing seriously, and I'm happy to say that it has not lost it's magic. This book is still one of my favorites of all time. And yes, I cried. The best book I read for the first time was... Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan I love this book with a passion. It's actually overdue at the library by about a week and I don't want to take it back. You can read my full review of it here . What w...

Legacy by Cayla Kluver #1 in Legacy trilogy In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair. When the palace guard captures and intruder—a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy—Alera is alarmed…and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands. In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it either. I wanted so badly to love it, but I couldn't. Through the first half of the book I was constantly waiting for the "real" action to start. When it did, I got caught up in the story a little bit more but by the tim...

It's probably the most common question any writer gets asked after "Are you published?" "Where do you get your ideas?" Like a writer is suddenly going to answer with the location of an Idea Store where beautiful ideas line the shelves and we can just walk in and pick up a likely looking one. The real answer tends to be a lot more complicated. My answer is always the same: Everywhere. It's the best answer I can give and it's 100% true. I've had ideas hit me while I was sitting in a car driving down the road. I've had ideas hit me at track meets. I've had ideas hit me while I'm sleeping. Here are the stories behind some of my novels. Destiny The original story (called Andra) came from a dream I had. I know there was more to it, but the only part that I can remember with full-clarity now is an actual scene in the book. My dream self woke up on a stretch of grass and looked up to see a barbed wire fence surrounding her. She screamed...