Writers' Chasm

LIAR by Justine Larbalestier Micah will freely admit she's a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she'll ever tell you. Over the years she's fooled everyone: her classmates, her teachers, even her parents. And she's always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But it is possible to tell the truth when lying comes as easily as breathing? If you're looking for a light-hearted read for a rainy day, this is not it. I honestly think his was the strangest book I have ever read in my life, and I mean that in a good way. The writing style might be jarring for some people, but personally I thought it fit perfectly with Micah and her story. LIAR is the kind of book that makes you think and sticks in your head long after you've closed it. This book hooked me from the start. I felt like part two dragged on a little more than it should, but par...

The 2011 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren is almost here! For more information and to sign-up check out the link above. The objective is to to read a least twelve debut Young Adult or Middle Grade novels released in 2011 over the course of the year. This year, I'm taking the challenge. Here are some of the books that I hope to read next year: A TOUCH MORTAL by Leah Clifford LIKE MANDARIN by Kirsten Hubbard WILDEFIRE by Karsten Knight WHERE I BELONG by Gwendolyn Heasley ANGELFIRE by Courtney Allison Moulton THE WATER WARS by Cameron Stracher THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab POSSESSION by Elana Johnson DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth WITHER by Lauren DeStefano TIMELESS by Alexandra Monir ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis XVI by Julia Karr DARKNESS BECOMES HER by Kelly Keaton THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER by Jana Oliver I AM J by Cris Beam ENTWINED by Heather Dixon THOSE THAT WAKE by Jesse Karp LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa and Laura Roecker BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepet...

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! For those of you who live outside the U.S., I hope you had a wonderful Thursday. :) Hope everyone is staying safe and having a fun time shopping on this Black Friday. Song of the week: Just The Way You Are -- Glee cast. This week's episode of Glee = MADE. OF. WIN. I haven't stopped listening to this song since Wednesday. I didn't think I'd ever find a song that topped Teenage Dream or an episode that topped Never Been Kissed...but they did it this week. Must Read: 10 commandments of social networking for writers Gatekeeper: Overheard at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America party GLA: Michelle Brower: 10 tips for attending writers' conferences Kimberly Shumate: How to create a professional submission Jennifer Laughran: The best time to query Marieke's Musings: How to write YA sci-fi with Beth Revis Nathan Bransford: Nine circles of writing hell Queryshark: #188: YA urban fa...

It was no contest this month with a reread of one of my favorite books of all time... HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS! By J.K. Rowling It seems like just yesterday that I was joking about trying to read it and walk out of the store at the same time (I wanted to, but I managed to hold off until we got into the car). Just yesterday that I curled up in my room, scorning human contact for twelve straight hours in favor of my favorite characters as I raced through the pages. Instead it's been two crazy years and part one is now in theaters. This was my third time reading Deathly Hallows and it never gets old. It's still the same amazing story that it was the first time. I still cry my heart out over the end. I still grin as I turn the final page and feel the bittersweet pang of sadness that this wonderful series is over. Overall: 10/10. Deathly Hallows gets an O for Outstanding. :) Well done, J.K. Rowling. An incredible end to what has been an incredible ride.

A lot of people worry about adding real life references to their books in fear of dating them. Others don't have that fear at all. I'm somewhere in the middle. I like references to the real world in novels. It makes the characters and the plot more relatable. This is especially true for contemporary novels where creating a story that is relatable for teens is one of the most important things. The problem for me is where the references become so prevalent that they actually draw me out of the story. For example, I read a novel last year where the main character literally lists off every song she listens to during certain parts of the story. There is no plot reason for her to list off all the songs, she just does. I had no idea what any of the songs were, or their artists, and I didn't love the book enough to have the interest in looking them up. A year later and that's the main thing I remember about that book. Occasional song references are good things. They give the s...

First the non-spoilery review. Part one was AWESOME. End of story. Good-bye. The end. (Virtual cookie to anyone who can tell me what that's from.) It didn't meet my insanely high expectations, but that's mostly because it was build-up for what's coming in part two. It'll be a lot better when the two parts come together. It was still worth stayed up until three in the morning and being exhausted in school the next day. SO. FREAKING. COOL. I'm hoping to go see it again Wednesday night. Eight months until part two! WARNING. THERE ARE LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS COMING. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS, CLICK THAT LITTLE RED X RIGHT NOW. Things I Liked The part at the beginning where Hermione wipes her parent's memories. I'm really glad they added that part. Ron. I think Rupert was my favorite actor in this movie. He was SO GOOD. Fred and George. Enough said. Ginny. She's better in this movie than the last one, trust me. The part where Gi...

This week was AMAZING. Best week I've had in a long time. :) Song of the week: Glee's rendition of Teenage Dream. I am so addicted to this song. Must Read: Writing through doubt References and dating your manuscript News: Jessica Faust updates on submissions and is closing to them from November 25 to January 5 James Frey's Book Factory Mess: Basically: James Frey is running a young adult book factory. He recruits writers and then asks them to sign their lives away. Almost literally. A few of the worst terms even continue after the contract has been terminated. This is the essence of the terms being offered by Frey’s company Full Fathom Five: In exchange for delivering a finished book within a set number of months, the writer would receive $250 (some contracts allowed for another $250 upon completion), along with a percentage of all revenue generated by the project, including television, film, and merchandise rights—30 percent if the idea was or...