Writers' Chasm

As far as I'm concerned, this season never happened. Compared to the pure awesomeness of seasons one and two, this season sucked. The first two seasons I would watch three or four episodes at a time and I could barely go two days without watching one. My record was six days when I told myself I couldn't watch another episode until I finished everything on my to do list. This season, on the other hand, it wasn't uncommon for me to watch one episode and then easily go two or three weeks before watching the next. For me, season three felt like they tried to force two seasons of the show into one because they thought it would be canceled. Apparently the last five episodes were made after a hiatus and it definitely feels that way. Also the final episode ends on a slightly painful cliffhanger that's probably going to drive me insane for a few days. I spent the majority of this season screaming at the characters. If Veronica wasn't driving me insane, it was Logan, Parker, ...

I decided to do another quotes post this week because I found some awesome ones looking for a senior quote to put in the yearbook. "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic." "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." "Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least." "You couldn't get a clue during the clue mating season in a field full of horny clues if you smeared your body with clue musk and did the clue mating dance." ~ Edward Flaherty "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt "We probably shouldn't have done that, but hey, we lived." ~ My mom "Screw the path less traveled, I'm going trailblazing." "Some guy hit my fender and I said 'be fruitful and multiply' but not in those words." "You could get your heart broken or you could ...

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where we post a weekly writing- or reading-related question. 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 neighbour? There's no way I could pick just one... Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals quartet. She loves animals, she's nice, and she has wild magic. Alec from Walter Farley's Black Stallion series. I'm not sure if I really want him as my neighbor or just his awesome racehorses, but I think it would be pretty sweet to pick his and Henry's brains about horses. Hermione because I seriously thought we were kindred spirits when I was a kid. Cabel from Lisa McMann's Wake series. Yeah...I know he has Jamie, but he's so cute. Eragon and Saphira from the Inheritance Cycle. Because I think it would be awesome to have a dragonrider and his dragon living next door. Actually, I'd be fi...

Unlocked by Ryan G. Van Cleave Andy is the janitor's son, an outcast, a nobody. Then the rumor starts-that Blake has a gun in his locker. In a moment of misguided hopefulness, Andy steals the keys from his dad and opens up Blake's locker, hoping that finding the gun will change his own status. But the gun isn't there and Andy remains an outcast. When an unlikely friendship develops between the two loners, Blake shares most of his secrets with Andy, including the gun. But there's one secret that worries Andy more than anything-the date circled on Blake's calendar. Does Blake have something planned? Something that Andy can prevent? I Am J by Cris Beam "Hola, Jeni." J spun. His stomach clenched hard, as though he'd been hit. It was just the neighbor lady, Mercedes. J couldn't muster a hello back, not now; he didn't care that she'd tell his mom he'd been rude. She should know better. Nobody calls me Jeni anymore. J a...

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen "Wake up, Caitlin." My English teacher wasn't the only who'd noticed. "Caitlin?" my mother said at dinner. "Honey, are you okay?" "Caitlin!" the dance coach barked as I flubbed another cartwheel. "Caitlin?" Rina, my best friend, asked in our one shared class. "Hello?" And finally, the one voice to which I snapped to attention, every time "Caitlin," Rogerson said, and I'd listen so hard, trying to tell just by the cadence what might happen when we were alone. What no one understands is that Caitlin can't afford to leave this dreamland, this half-sleeping state where everything -- and everyone -- can be kept at arm's length. Because then she'd have to face the ugly truth about her relationship with Rogerson, magnetic, fascinating -- and very dangerous -- Rogerson. What is it about Rogerson Biscoe...and why can't she leave him? Ever since I read Along for the Ride I...

Wow I can't believe it's actually been three weeks since I've done one of these... I almost couldn't remember how I'm supposed to do it. Song of the Week: Loser Like Me by the Glee cast. That song is AWESOME. Must Read: Phoebe North on sex positive YA News: Katniss has been cast for Hunger Games movie! I've never heard of her so I'm withholding my opinion until I see the movie. BookEnds: Workshop Wednesday Basing characters off real people GLA: Active vs passive characters Querytracker: Sequels Everyone have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday!

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: Who have you written into a book? Most of the similarities with my characters to real life people is subconscious (seriously, I swear it is) but here are a few that I could think of. Kaye's father in Burning Bridges has qualities from both my mom and my grandpa. The guy that played me my sophomore year is in Jump where I borrowed his player qualities and some of his arrogance. My ex-crush is written into several of my stories. My boyfriend is going to be in Cardinal Three but I haven't gotten to the point where he enters the story quite yet. I don't really steal exact qualities that I can think of afterward, it's more like I steal parts of personalities like arrogance or obnoxiousn...

Dark Life by Kat Falls Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor, the Dark Life. Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea, helping his family farm the ocean floor. But when outlaws attack his homestead, Ty finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from the Topside who has come subsea to look for her brother, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life...secrets that threaten to destroy everything. This book was a good undersea dystopian. I'm on a bit of a dystopia kick lately. I flew through the last half of the book, but it never really caught me. I enjoyed the characters and I really loved the setting, but the writing and the voice never captured me. I did like that the writing used a lot of "local"...