Writers' Chasm

It's Friday! I hope everyone's staying cool and safe in this ridiculous heat. It hit 100 here yesterday. I can't even remember the last time that happened. The season finale of Legend of Korra was on Saturday, but I didn't get to watch it until Tuesday. BEST. SEASON FINALE. EVER. Seriously. Song of the Week: Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin. I completely forgot how much I LOVE this song. Must read:   Pub Rants: Action vs active openings to grab attention ALA:  YAHighway: Live from ALA Adventures in Agentland:  Novels in Nowhere Land Blood Red Pencil:  Another perspective on audio books Author visits by Skype  DRM - Digital Rights Management  Janice Hardy: Kill them all: Does killing off characters make readers care less? Mentalfloss:  Eleven authors who hated the movie versions of their books Myth & Mystery:  Covers from around the world Pub Rants:  Breaking the rule: Show don't tell Mechanics v...

Every once in awhile, a song comes along that impacts your life. A song that takes you back to another time and place. A song that makes you shiver or gives you goosebumps or makes you cry. The biggest song for me is "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. It's an old song and my mom always used to sing it to me when I was young. The older I get, the more I find it relates to my life. Looking up that song and listening to it has made me think about other songs that have impacted my life. "Honey, I'm Home" by Shania Twain is the first song I remember being my favorite. My dad had a Shania Twain CD and I'd sing along while he'd play it. This is the only song from the CD that I can still remember.  I remember the exact moment when I saw "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride's music video for the first time. I heard it playing on the TV and I walked out into the living room from the bedroom, sat on the couch, and watched it. I can...

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 June?  I read a lot of books this month, especially for me, so I'm going to cheat and do my top three. I love them all for different reasons so it's tough to decide. The first one is Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. It was the first time I've read one of her books and I loved it. I don't know why it took me so long to start reading them. She's a fantastic writer and I adored the ending. Every time I think about it I can't help smiling.  Second one is Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann. I had nightmares about this book and it still makes me shiver just thinking about it. It's not something that I would norma...

Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel The American Fairy Trilogy #1 Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west": California. Along the way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company — there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate .   Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samant...

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind.  But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by an unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: Help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to...the one who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.  Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search -- and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....  This book isn't something that I would normally rea...

It's officially summer! I hope you're all staying cool and not melting in this heat. The finale of Legend of Korra is tomorrow. I can't believe the season is over already! It seems like just yesterday I was skipping around my room excited about the first episode... Song of the Week: "(Kissed You) Good Night" by Gloriana [I didn't realize how much I missed them until I heard this song.] Must read:  Lauren DeStefano: Feeding another quarter to hype machine A Fool's Golden Paradise:  Slush pile: When agents stop reading Blood-Red Pencil:  Listen to the PDF lady: using Read Aloud function to revise Embracing technology: Audio books Janet Reid:  Editing symbols Janice Hardy:  The Great Twitter Experiment: what does "more Tweets" really get you?  Living in my head: Crafting natural-sounding internal thoughts Kidlit:  Guiding the reader emotionally Button on character Mother Write: The beta reader browse Querytracker: 3...

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick “One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.” The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?  This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous ver...