The Next Generation of Readers

I was one of those kids. You know the ones - who sit in the shade with their noses buried in books, when they're "supposed to be" racing their bikes up and down the street with the other neighbor kids. Or the ones who take books along with them to slumber parties. Or snuck one under the table when it was supposed to be family dinner time.

Pretty much nothing could yank my nose out of a book once I'd started reading. I was about eight or nine when I first remember becoming completely obsessed. It was via a copy of Little Women. I don't know if it was the whining little sister I identified with, or the dashing Laurie I already swooned over, but I have vivid memories of sitting in a corner and dropping tears on the pages of my mother's copy when Beth died.

Even as a child, I was a voracious reader, and so I needed more books - LOTS more books. At nine, Ramona was already a bit young for me, but I read all those. Then I plowed through Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret? But after that, for some reason, all I really remember reading was The Babysitter's Club (ad nauseum) and Sweet Valley High (though I never did like those girls.)

For a couple of years, for some reason, that was pretty much all I found. One bright shining spot was A Wrinkle in Time - oh, goodness, I think ten-year-old-me still has a girl crush on Meg Murry - and another less sparkly one is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

By the fifth grade, I was getting pretty tired of EVEN MORE Babysitter's Club (obviously, I was never that fond of children.) But still, every once in awhile a book would come along, now for class reading, that would make me re-obsessed with reading. The Devil's Arithmetic and The Giver ignited my love for dystopian (yes, I know The Devil's Arithmetic is Holocaust, but still dystopian, no? Not trying to diminish it, obviously.), but when no more of those books for children could be dug up for me in the library, it was a huge bummer. I remember being so frustrated about having to pick up those serials again.

But somehow, just at the right moment, my fifth grade teacher got it. She knew I had to read and she knew it had to be something good. I'll never forget the day she handed me a copy of Jane Eyre.

I. Was. In. Love.

And it was about more than Jane and Mr. Rochester, although they remain my absolute favorites to this day. I could read grown-up books! And, even better, my teacher thought I was smart enough to read grown-up books! I read Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. I read Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion (oh, Captain Wentworth!) I tackled A Tale of Two Cities and The Count of Monte Cristo.

I was reading about love! And horror! And social politics! And corrupt government! And starcrossed love! And war! And revenge! It was absolutely amazing. (I thank God every day for that teacher) And even though it was all in grown-up books, I understood everything. I loved it. And I wanted more.

This experience of being a mildly precocious reader has left me with a couple of realizations as an adult:

Kids can read books written for adults, and they should be able to,
but
They shouldn't HAVE to.

When I look at my kids, I want them to be able to get their hands on books that are written for them, that feature protagonists with whom they can identify, but that are smart enough to challenge their hungry little minds. I want the books to take them to new worlds, make them believe in impossible things, and tug at their heartstrings. I want the books to acquaint them with sadness and fear, and tough situations. I want them to drop tears on the pages of a paperback (or reader screen) because the words on the page are so powerful that they've just had their little hearts broken.

In the book-publishing biz, we hear a lot of talk about what will sell. I guess that I wish, twenty years ago, there had been a lot less talk about what would sell and a lot more talk about what would do all that stuff I just said above. Maybe then there would have been more Middle Grade Count of Monte Cristo on the shelves in front of me, to balance out all the Babysitter's Club.

So. Today, I thought we'd do a bit of cheerleading.
Or, you know, copious cheerleading. I love cheerleading.

I, for one, am looking forward to hoarding some of my YA favorites for my kids to read. Here are my top three loves for that particular purpose right now:

Break by Hannah Moskowitz
Possession by Elana Johnson
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

All very different - Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Dystopian, Fantasy. Wildly divergent protagonists on all levels. Some have swearing, some have sex, all have kissing. All are multi-layered and ripe for wonder, excitement, discussion, and obsession. There's something about Hannah's books in particular that are dear to my mother's heart, because I can shove them in my kids' faces and say, "See? Teenagers can write important things, too."

Here's where my CPs come in. (of course!) We're all on the tough road to publishing, and some of us know that the books we're querying now might not make it (chv'sh ptuh ptuh ptuh). But I'll be darned if my kids aren't going to have the chance to read about conflicted Kelsey, spitfire Maggie (and dreamy Tommy,) brave Grey, smart Avery, stubborn Tam and Izuko, and schizophrenic Alex.


It is at this point that I take a moment to reflect on my gratitude for e-readers. 

At the end of the day, I really don't care what sells. I want to pass stories about bravery, hope, and believing in oneself to my kids and all their cutie friends. Because even if they never get published by a Big Sixer, they're the stories I wish I could have had twenty years ago. Maybe, just maybe, one of them will make one of my kids fall in love with reading.

And I'm sure they'll never, ever forget it.


Your turn, sweet readers! What books made you fall in love with reading? Which ones do you wish were around when you were a young reader? And which ones are you looking forward to passing on to kids you know?

How I Query

So....ONE has been querying for a week! Yaaaay!

Just wanted to do a little post on how I query, since I know a good portion of my critique team thinks it's crazy. This is mostly an attempt to convince them - and myself - that it actually makes sense. In some universe.

So, before I do this, I'm just going to make the blanket statement that this is MY querying practice, because I think it's the right way FOR ME to query AT THIS TIME in my career. If you do something different, and you like it, and you're happy, well, that's all that matters, my love.

Now that that's out of the way.....here we go.

First of all, I work on my query until I'm sure it's good and clear and voicey and hook-y. I don't post it on forums, because I don't know the folks over there, and I don't have the emotional or physical energy to deal with people who tear things up just for the sake of tearing them up. I send it to some people I "know" or have "met" via Twitter, critique groups (CPs of CPs) and then my actual CPs for this. Just like when they're critiquing my novel, they're not afraid to tear it up, tell me something doesn't make sense, and I know it's all with the intention of making my novel succeed.

Second, I set up an initial list of agents I'd like to query - somewhere between 60 and 80. I spend a good week on Query Tracker, scoping out agents listed as representing YA, making sure that they'll look at Science Fiction, and noting what projects they've sold to see what kind of styles and voices they like. (I don't stress too much about the styles-and-voices thing, because I know that for an agent, it's all about finding a book she loves. How many of us have fallen in love with a book completely different from all the other ones we've ever loved?) I make notes about what materials they're asking for, so setting up queries later is easy-peasy. (Yes, obviously, this is not as easy as it seems. Hm.)

I query my Dream Agent first. This is for a few reasons.

• One, she's the agent I'm most nervous about querying, and so if I get over my terror of clicking "send" on her query, it's all downhill from there. I mean, sending every other query is relaxing in comparison to that experience.
• Two, if she sends me a form rejection, then I'm not stuck wondering "what if" for the rest of my queries. I know she doesn't want it, so I can set my sights on other agents and move on.
• Three, if she IS interested in the material, she gets first crack at it and I have no qualms about (please please pretty please) signing with her.

Then, I begin a series of what I like to call Query Flurries.

I send an initial query batch of 20-30 (I think this time, contests and web forms included, it was something like 26)

I like to throw in a couple of agents I'd LOVE to work with, some that I know are awesome but I have no special attachment to, and some that I haven't really heard of, but seem to have great clients and sales.

Now, I know you're saying, "Hold on. 20 agents is a whole heckuva lot at one time." 

But here's the thing. A good request rate - like, a really good one - is about 20%. So, let's say you and your query and your writing sample totally kick butt. You send out 20 queries, and get four requests. You are ON FIRE. If one of those agents reading your manuscript is totally in love, and wants to sign you, that means that you still have three others considering your work at the same time. This puts you at a great advantage.

(Personally, I'm not really believing that a 20% req rate is very possible these days. I'm thinking more like 10% would be admirable. But that's neither here nor there.)

After I send the first query flurry, I wait until I get a decent number of responses.

This past week, I got two requests and eight rejections.

So, today, I'll send out eight more queries, to make up for the eight rejections I got last week.

In this way, I always have about 25-30 queries out in the universe.

(I'll also be contesting my MS, which I consider a "soft query." It'll tell me which agents aren't interested, without me sending an actual formal query to them.)

"But, Leigh Ann," you might say. "How do you know that all those rejections aren't because your query SUCKS?"

Well, I don't. But I don't stress that much about it (unless I'm getting 100% rejections for awhile) for a few reasons:

•  First of all, I've done the research and worked really hard on my query, remember***? I've had a lot of feedback on it. I'm super-confident in its ability to do its job.
• Rejections come for lots of reasons other than a query sucking. It could be that the agent likes science fiction about cyborgs, but not superheroes. Rejection. It could be that the agent just signed a superhero novel, or for whatever other reason is not confident in her ability to sell it. It could be that the agent is really only looking for multi-ethnic fiction. It could be that she hates first person present, or she had a rough commute, or her kid is obsessed with X-men and she just can't bring herself to deal with anything else regarding superheroes. All reasons that might make me, personally, not want to read a book, let alone try to sell it. REJECTION.
• 
  
• Lastly, form rejections almost never come with any helpful feedback on the query itself. Agents don't have the time to tell you WHY SPECIFICALLY they don't think that they can sell your book. So, I could try to change the query purely based on the fact that I'm getting a lot of rejections, but without agent feedback, how do I know WHAT to change?

(***If you are worried about your query, GET MORE FEEDBACK. Run it by people who you know are supportive but haven't read your book and don't know you - i.e. don't really care about upsetting you that much. Make sure they're people who know what grammar looks like, and who understand query basics. Read QueryShark. Read From the Query to the Call. Do your homework.)

As I get more rejections, I send more queries.

Along the way, I might tinker with my first page or query to see if it gets more bites. But overall, again, I don't sweat it.

I do this until I run out of agents to query.

When I've run out of agents to query, I put the book in a drawer and gear up to query the next one....

And I'll blog about that on Wednesday.

If you feel comfortable sharing, my loves, what are your tried-and-true-and-loved querying practices? Have you changed anything since you first started querying? What are some resources you love?

Friday Obsessions: New Covers for POSSESSION and SURRENDER!!!

You guys, it's been one of those weird weeks where I have felt very busy, but when I look back on it, I haven't gotten too terribly much done writing-wise. I mean, I did a synopsis, which ate a whole day, and probably a good chunk of my CPs' (thanks, ladies, for your love and patience.) And the synopsis is pretty good.

So I guess that's something.

I would say I'm in a sad, sad state for obsessions. I'm sleeping WAY more than I'm accustomed to (or would like to) and I'm eating WAY less than I'm accustomed to (or would like to) thanks to squished stomach space.

(In other words - We can blame my little monster sweetheart-on-the-way for lack of gushing posts about TV shows or tater tots, which I know we all LOVE.)


But wouldn't you know it? The writing community is made up of amazing people who are always THERE FOR EACH OTHER. So, in addition to being an extra-classy authoress, Elana Johnson must also be psychic. Because she asked a handful of lucky bloggers the other day if we'd be up for showing off her new covers.

Let me say that again: SHOWING OFF HER NEW COVERS.


Um. Yes, yes, a thousand times YES. I've had an author crush on Elana Johnson ever since I read her first book, POSSESSION. This week's obsession (and probably all the weeks till June): FOUND.

So, without further ado, THE COVERS!!!

Here's the new one for POSSESSION:

And here's SURRENDER's (swoon, swoon, I'm dying over here)

Now, let's recap. A little cover commentary.

1. The color fade just BLEW ME AWAY. I don't know how something so subtle could be so powerful - probably because the intensity of color really is strongest at the bottom right corner, making you just want to grab it and open it and OH GEEZ WHY IS THIS BOOK NOT OUT UNTIL JUNE 5????

2. For those of you who have read POSSESSION, you'll understand how apropos the image of a butterfly in an ice cube is. The creature is so beautiful, but so hopelessly trapped.

Except...butterflies are stronger than they seem, stronger than people expect them to be. Just like Vi. And if you look carefully, there's the smallest crack in that ice cube...the smallest chance that she'll be able to escape.

And if you know Vi? She' going to take that chance, or die trying.

3. I haven't read SURRENDER yet (much to my chagrin) but this cover image of a hummingbird hovering at the mouth of a glass jar has me absolutely buzzing to get my hands on it. It's looking out of the side of the jar, even though escape awaits it at the top.

This cover tells me that there's a clear way for Vi to escape all the terrifying ridiculousness going on in her life (read POSSESSION to find out what that is!), and that maybe she senses that the escape exists, but she has no idea where to look. She just has to find it, and she'll bust out of there like a mofo.

The last word: It's a good thing I can't preorder books more than once. Because I'm pretty sure I've already tried to order SURRENDER about six times. This cover just makes the urge that much stronger....which is awesome.


So...what do you think of the new covers? I know Elana's DYING to know!

A Tale of Two Queries (Drafting Your Query While Drafting Your MS)

As much as I hate it, I know. All writers seeking traditional publication must write a query. I know. 

I'm not about to ignore the advice of sage individuals like Peggy Eddleman who instruct us to work on our query letters for almost as long as we work on our manuscripts - seriously, months and months. (Listen, a few months ago I would have conveniently ignored her but considering that this was one of the things that helped get her her rockstar agent and all....well...yeah. I'd better listen to Peggy.)

Anyway. Yesterday I was all whining about how, now that the first draft was done and I'm hoping to query in April, I should probably get to work writing that first query draft. It was making my stomach twist and drop and my heart race and my head feel light for all the reasons I've already told you. ONE is my baby! She's the only thing that helped me get over my first MS! How can I just condense her into a couple of paragraphs and send her out into the world? People might misunderstand her! People might most certainly will (God forbid) REJECT her! It's all too much.

But then, Jessica shook some sense into me, all the way from the West Coast.

Not to mention she was seriously enthusiastic about critiquing whatever hot mess of a query draft I managed to put together. By some strange miracle.

So, after I'd finished weeping over Chessie's NaNo novel a second time (read: finished my in-line crits, and now I can finally start to emotionally recover until the next time I pick up the wonderful heartwrenching blasted thing) I sat down and got to work.

First move - head over to query-writing guru Elana Johnson's website and her collection of blog posts on the topic. 

 Hook. 
Setup. 
Conflict. 
Consequence. 
Got it. No problem.


I mean, I KNOW all these things about ONE. I should be able to write a goshdarn 250-word letter summing them up, right?  So, I spent a good two hours breaking my head over the letter. Here's what I came up with for the first couple lines:

All Merrin Grey has ever wanted is to be able to fly like a real Super. At sixteen years old, the entire Super world is conviced that she'll always be a sad floating freak.

Merrin’s betting on a transfer to Nelson “Normal” High to let her fly under the radar while she gets good enough at Organic Chemistry to wrangle a job at the Supers’ Biotech Hub. 

*YAWN* In case you couldn't tell, this freaking sucks. This makes EVEN ME want to chuck ONE in the trash. And it just got worse and worse.

But if I'm anything, you guys, I'm a trooper. So I kept at it and got together about 250 words with the Hook, Setup, Conflict, and Consequences. Knowing it was full of too many details and emdashes, among other things, I sighed a heavy sigh as I prepared to send the whole horrid thing to Jess and watch her tear it limb from limb.  All I needed was the wording for the last line, and since my brain was fried, I figured I'd just lift it from my last query letter for drafting purposes.

I punched "query" into the search field of Evernote and guess what popped up, like an oasis in the middle of a freaking writer's desert?
A query I wrote for ONE back in August. Two weeks after I started drafting.
See, at one point, I had been a righteous follower of Guru Elana Johnson, who gently advises us to write the query before we write the manuscript.
But August-me got frustrated, reasoned that, since I'm a pantser, this advice didn't apply to me, and abandoned the query to concentrate on drafting.

Anyway. Here were the first few lines I found in that blessed File from the Past:

Sixteen-year-old Merrin Gray can float, but she can't make herself fly. When almost everyone else is a Super, with at least two powers, or a Normal, with none, being a One is the worst kind of in-between.

The rest of that letter was equally hook-y and voice-y and simple, and made my heart jump. "Yep! THAT's what ONE is about," I said to myself. After a few tweaks, it was off to Jess's inbox, and here's what she said:

Then, yeah, she sent me detailed crit in my inbox. But I'll be darned - she hardly hated it at all. 

Lessons: Query Guru Elana Johnson is always right. You know more about the bones and basic themes about your book when you first start drafting. You're probably also way less tired of it, emotionally attached to it, and mired in its details then. So just spend a bit of time drafting one up. Stick in in your files or notes. Who knows? It might do you a LOT of good later.

Also, no matter what stage your MS is in, buck up and write your damn query.

And in case you're wondering, I did send Jess the last deleted (kissing plus) scene from ONE in thanks. Because that kick in the bottom was exactly what I needed.

An Important Author Lesson to Learn RIGHT NOW

You are learning the most important lesson you need to be a published author right now.

Right this moment. Whether you're just beginning your very first draft ever, going through the critique process, beginning to query, or deep in the query trenches, you need to focus on learning this lesson right now.

How to say, "Thank you."

Because an author's platform is so very much anchored in cyberspace, she has more opportunities than ever to say "Thank you."

 It's a phrase that is no longer confined to the acknowledgements section of a published book. Every person who reads your book, every tweeter who tweets about it, everyone who recommends it to a friend or does a blog post mentioning it, is making your success as an author. And each of those people deserves a "thank-you."

I've seen authors act with so much class in this regard, it's not even funny.

Elana Johnson has commented on this little blog a handful of times, and given me a heart attack each one. Beth Revis has commented, too, and she even gave me a pep talk over at Formspring when I started querying. (Yeah, it took me a day or so to get over the shock of that.)
Brodi Ashton and Gennifer Albin have deigned to tweet and Facebook with me. (eeep!)

These ladies don't have to do that. But they do, because they are smart (and sweet.) They get it. They know that if they're going to be successful each individual reader has to be treated like she's worth her weight in gold. And so they do it.

I will read and cheer on any book they write, ever, from here unto eternity. Just because they've done this.

By now, it might go without saying, but I've also mentioned some authors via Tweet or blog, in a non-crazy way, mind you, who have acted exactly the opposite of classy in this regard. Just the other day I tweeted that I pre-ordered a book, mentioned the author, and she didn't tweet back! Needless to say, I'm far less likely to read their future work, and if I do read the book, I'm less likely to look kindly on it. (I mean, seriously? How much time and energy does it take to respond to a tweet from a fan to say "thank you?") 

Anyway. I figure I'd better get this skill down cold right now. Saying "thank you" like it's your job should come naturally to any published author because...well...IT IS YOUR JOB. So here we go.

To the online writing community:

• Thank you for writing such informative and inspirational blog posts, to help me improve my craft and knowledge base about the industry.
• Thank you for throwing amazing conferences like WriteOnCon and contests like "An Agent's Inbox" and "Mystery Agent" to help the pre-agented get more exposure and give our queries a greater chance.
• Thank you for hosting bi-annual networking campaigns to connect us with other writers like us.
• Thank you for commenting on my blog, and letting me know that you value what I have to say.
• Thank you for keeping track of my WiP and being such amazing cheerleaders in my writing process. Ditto for queries.
• Thank you for being a real-time writing-and-query panic support group via Twitter and email.

To my critique partners:

• Thank you for reading my horrendous drafts and ten incarnations of scenes I just can't get right. And not minding a minute of it.
• Thank you for endlessly brainstorming what must seem like minute, trivial character details and plot points with me. And not minding a minute of it.
• Thank you for giving me loving lectures on the accuracy of science in my books, birth control, and query panic, and not thinking less of me afterwards (and, if you do, not telling me about it.)
• Thank you for drawing pictures of my characters, and making me cry.
• Thank you for telling me when a song makes you think of my book, and making me cry.
• Thank you for sending me care packages with inspirational notes, and making me cry.
• Thank you for loving my book and its characters almost as much as I do. That's what I call belief in something, and it's powerful stuff.

To the agents who have asked to see more of THE TRAVELERS:

• Thank you for spending any of your valuable time considering my work.
• Thank you for being unafraid of a brand-new writer.
• Thank you for continuing to read when you run across the occasional mistake or pet peeve.
• Thank you for any feedback you (might? hopefully?) give.
• Thank you for giving me a chance.

To anyone who has ever asked to read my book, just because you thought it sounded awesome:

THANK YOU.

Just...thank you.

Okay, your turn to practice! Who do you want to say "thank you" to? Or, what is another important authoring lesson we can learn before we're agented or published?

Author Crush - Elana Johnson

Have you read Elana Johnson's POSSESSION?

If "yes" - Congratulations. You're in the "I've Read One of the Best Books Ever and I Know It" club.
If "no" - Seriously!??! Go read it. Now. Maybe take the day off work or get a babysitter to watch your kids. It would be worth it.



Here's the short summary from Goodreads:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself. 

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn. This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Got it? Good.

So, Ms. Johnson is an incredible writer in pretty much every area (which I hear you have to be, you know, if you want to be published.)

Examples? You know I've got 'em.


Her world building is intriguing and spot on:


Good girls don't walk with boys. Even if they're good boys - and Zenn is the best. He strolled next to me, all military with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing the black uniform of a Forces recruit. The green stripes on his shirtsleeves flashed with silver tech lights, probably recording everything. Probably? Who am I kidding? Those damn stripes were definitely recording everything.

Walking through the park in the evening is not technically against the rules Good people do it all the time. But walking through the park with a boy could get me in trouble.

She can deliver Big Messages in the midst of action and it doesn't feel weird or condescending at all:
"It's just a control tactic, Vi, to make you believe one thing over another."

I knew that, I did. But a lifetime of labels is hard to overcome. Maybe I just needed a new label, one that was neither good nor bad.


Her characters leap off the page:

Jag followed me, his breathing ragged. When I glanced at him, he was glowing. There I was, terrified, making stuff up on the fly, and this guy acted like he was on vacation.

The romance! Oh, the romance:

"You do smell like a guy, Jag whispered, his voice soft in my ear. His breath trickled down my spine. His fingers filled the spaces between mine perfectly.
"Shut up," I managed to say, but my voice sounded breathless. Surely he noticed the effect he had on me. I wasn't that good at hiding it. We'd only been living in the microscopic cell together for two days, but I felt a connection with Jag somewhere inside - somewhere I hadn't known existed until I met him.


But there's one thing in particular I'll never forget about POSSESSION. The Voice. Oh, my goodness, the Voice:


"Goodies are walking paper dolls, devoid of personality - and brains.
Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I don't want to be a paper doll."

(Ahhhhh.)

So, In the Pantheon of Prose, I'm dubbing Ms. Johnson the Goddess of Voice.

This book is written in first person by a particularly badassed main character. By the time you're done reading this story through her eyes? I'm giving you about a 75% chance of sauntering around for the day, imagining what you would say to your whining children or boss if they were Thinkers, talking to you like that.

You might also start half your sentences with, "Yeah...." (just like Vi does.) But it'll only last for a couple of weeks, tops, and besides, it's worth it.

But you think my author crush ends with the book? No way. A good book is super-important, but someone only crosses into author crush territory if she is a super-extra-classy human being.  And Ms. Johnson? Well, she's among the best.

Her dedication to the writing community is so deep and intense that she's devoted hours of personal time to helping all of us on that fraught road from "I've always wanted to write a book" to "Holy schniekies, I have to edit it? and revise it?" to "Wait, agents aren't going to be clawing at my door to read this?" to "It might not sell?"

So, when us lowly unpubs panic, Ms. Johnson is right there.

First of all, she's written and released - 100% FREE - her amazing e-book, FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL, that holds your hand and walks, you, step by step, through the incredibly nerve-wracking process of putting your novel-baby out there in the world of agents and saying, "Read this? Love it? Please?" without looking like a total idiot.

This book is the one and only reason that I can officially call THE TRAVELERS "ready to query." If I want, I can send out a 100% polished query, synopsis, and full or partial manuscript with a professionally worded email without panicking, stressing, or going into a fetal position.

Go download it. Now. I'll wait.

She also has a blog with even more tips on writing, querying, and everything about the publishing world.

Second, and most mind-blowing amazingly, Ms. Johnson is one of the founders of WriteOnCon, an intense, jam-packed, infinitely useful and inspirational annual online writing conference that is - wait for it - 100% FREE.

Hundreds of other authors wait in the forums to help you with your query, pitch, synopsis, writing, all of it. It's the hub of the online writing community for four days every summer, and it's so supportive and amazing.

As if that weren't enough, WriteonCon also has (description from Ms. Johnson herself) :
Literary agents! Editors! [Published] Authors! Live chats and events. AND a Ninja Agent program where your query could earn the feedback from an anonymous pro!
(No, I'm not stalking the ninja agents. Not at all.)


Well, I think that about wraps it up. If you don't have an author crush on Elana Johnson now, too, then you haven't been paying attention.


 So, who else is in the club? Loved POSSESSION? Love Ms. Johnson just as much? Tell me all about it.

Books and the Courage to Keep Writing

Hi there! If you happen to be Mr. Michael Bourret, agent extraordinaire, please click over here to read all about how your incredible client, Brodi Ashton, gave the unflappable Gina (and me, too!) full-on permission to 'stalk' you. I promise, Gina and her manuscript are worth your while.


(Sunday) I've just spent the morning at the zoo with my children. It was so hot, my head is left with a fuzzy, thick feeling. The sinus cold my baby just gave me probably isn't helping. 

The house is cluttered, the children aren't wearing pants, and there are crumbs ground into the carpet. I just vaccuumed yesterday. (Didn't I?)

I am exhausted. (Who isn't?)

I need to write. There are other things I need to be doing. But I need to write.

Needs: 1. Air Conditioning 2. Coffee 3. Other people who revere words strung into stories.


I'm going to the bookstore.

I don't believe that paper books are better than digital. I don't care about the smell of their pages or the feel of their weight or the crack of their spine. 

Except when I do.

People live in these books. The people who wrote them and the characters they wrote. People who abandoned the housework and fought oppression and kept their eyes open despite exhaustion and poured their entire beings into their work and did magic and saved the world, and maybe saved themselves as well.

Which is author and which is story? 

(Does it matter?)

When I look down the rows the evidence lines up, spine strong against spine, an army of authors telling me that I shouldn't give up. 

"Look at us," the books say. 

"Just look. We had day jobs and housework and exhaustion and heartache and we did it. We still found a way to pour our hearts and souls into words, to breathe life into characters and stories that never existed before, and to defy the odds to get them printed on this paper."

I sit with that for a moment, considering them, countering that they were better writers and more determined people. And then they whisper, "What makes you think you have the right to stop trying?"

And then I turn to my keyboard and start to write.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - Elana Johnson's ARC Contest! (Author Crush)

What makes a great story? I mean, what really sticks with you, grabs onto your heart and never lets you go?

The answer is "a lot of things," of course, but for me, a few of them are: stunning prose, gut-wrenching obstacles to be overcome, incredible characters, and a timeless love story.

Oh. And a beautiful cover doesn't hurt.


I've been in love with Maggie Stiefvater Maggie Stiefvater's "Wolves of Mercy Falls" series since I accidentally downloaded the first one, Shiver onto my Kindle. (True story.)

The third and final book came out last week and It. Is. INCREDIBLE.

What? You want some sample lines? Nooooo problem.

"Overhead, the stars were wheeling and infinite, a complicated mobile made by giants." 

I know, I know. Now, how about this:

"There is no better taste than this: someone else's laughter in your mouth." (*sigh* *swoon*)

It's these kinds of things that make me fall in love with an author and leave me star-struck by her. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Maggie Stiefvater is a prose goddess in the pantheon of YA authors, and I bow to her.

You know what might be approaching how incredible this series is? The fact that Elana Johnson (another author crush and prose goddess, yes, you'll hear more about her from me later, DON'T WORRY) is giving away a SIGNED ARC of the last book, Forever today on her blog!!!!

If I win it, I won't send it to any of you, but I will let you borrow my Kindle copy. So, that's something.