Would You Rather: Elana Johnson Edition

DUDE. You know the awesome Elana Johnson and her uber-popular BLOG. Of course you do. *wink*


 I just read her sophomore book, SURRENDER, and super-size loved it. It's a companion novel to POSSESSION. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this: I think you can read the second book without having read the first.

Yes, Zenn, Vi and Jag reappear, but as side characters. Sure, you get to know their dystopian version of the world in POSSESSION. But, if you haven't read it yet and feel like reading SURRENDER first, I say go for it. Because it's a different setting this time, and you'll figure out the super cool world they live in as you read. 

Also, ZOMG, the tension and longing between Raine and Gunner begins almost immediately and is so intense, you'll just keep flipping pages to find out if they will ever get to be together. YES YOU WILL. I PROMISE YOU. Plus, it's done in dual male/female POV and Elana pulls it off so well.

You'll HAVE to go back and read POSSESSION anyway, to find out more about Vi, Jag, and Zenn.

 Just sayin'...

SYNOPSIS: Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.


Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….


A FAVORITE LINE: I fought the urge to look behind me, see if any of my buddies saw me talking with this amazing girl.

PURCHASE YOUR COPY HERE

*********

Now on to my silly questions.

Elana, WOULD YOU RATHER:


Vacation on a beach or in a busy metropolis?

A busy metropolis. I really don’t like wearing a swimsuit, and sand works its way into everything! I love the big city, with big buildings, and new restaurants.

Go to a great movie or great concert?

Great movie! I can talk during it and I don’t have to feel like I have to jump around to enjoy it.

Have readers admire your lovely prose or become engrossed in your story arc?

Both! I want to write something lyrical and beautiful and still have the story arc be engrossing. Every story lends itself differently to the “lovely prose” part though, so sometimes that’s a challenge.

Splurge on a great pair of jeans or shoes?

Jeans! I know, I’m not a real woman because I don’t care about shoes. Call the fashion police. (*snert*)

Peeta or Gale?

Team Gale! (*shock*)

Wonder Woman or Bionic Woman? 

I want to be Bionic Woman. I mean, running at 60 miles per hour (yes, I googled that)? Yes, I’ll do that.

Leave the house with lips or eyes left undone?

Uh, both. I hardly ever wear makeup of any kind. When I do, I always have my eyes done, and hardly ever wear anything on my lips besides chapstick. (Told you I was hardly a woman!)


Last, THE ULTIMATE Elana J. question: Bacon or your first born child?

Well, when you put it that way… I’ll take my first-born to breakfast and we’ll both nosh on bacon! (cop-out?)


THANKS ELANA! XO :-)))))

Elana's work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on her website. She runs a personal blog on publishing and is a founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at The League of Extraordinary Writers, co-organizes WriteOnCon, and is a member of SCBWI, ANWA and LDStorymakers.

She wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

This Is All I've Got

Heh, heh. Kinda how I'm feeling today.

Coming off a busy spring break, making lots of jewelry, and writing my butt off on my newest WIP. So I'm feeling kinda fuzzy, like a warm cozy blanket.

But hey don't despair, I used the alert half of my brain over at Janice Hardy's blog, where I'm guest blogging today (THE Janice Hardy--you know, the MG author that has the crazy-good writing blog?)

Help a mush brain out and say hi over there instead?

XO See you in a couple of days!

Super Freaky Glasses

Hi there! Stefanie Wass, Christina's CP, here. *WAVES* I'm hijacking her blog today to talk about Middle Grade fiction. 

I just read SEEING CINDERELLA, by Jenny Lundquist and HAD to tell you about it!

Below are my Top Five Reasons To Read This Book:

      1. The Premise: Calliope Meadow Anderson (“Callie”) finds out she needs glasses.  Her new frames are hideously large—a total nightmare, except for one cool feature: When Callie wears them, computer screens appear over everyone’s heads, revealing their innermost thoughts!  Suddenly, Callie knows what her best friend, secret crush, and locker partner REALLY think about her.  Sometimes, that’s not a good thing.

     2. Callie’s new friend Ana: She definitely has something to hide. But even with her super freaky glasses, Callie can’t decipher Ana’s thoughts, since the words on Ana’s computer screen appear in her native tongue: Spanish.

     3. The Cinderella Metaphor: Callie auditions for the lead in her school’s production of Cinderella.  But when she gets the part, she gives it to her best friend Ellen. It’s easier to be the understudy and avoid the spotlight.  Isn’t it?

     4. Super Freaky Chapter Titles:  My favorites:

*Super Freaky Glasses Rule #3: Most People Tell Little White Lies. Don’t Be Offended. You Do The Same Thing.

*Super Freaky Glasses Rule #9: It’s Easier To Dislike Someone When You Don’t Have To Read Their Thoughts.

*Super Freaky Glasses Rule #12: People Guard Their Secrets Well. Your Magic Glasses Can’t Change That.

     5. The Lesson: (from p.213) “One thing the glasses taught me: No matter how different we looked on the outside, on the inside we worried and wondered about the same things. We all hoped we’d find someone who would see us for the person we really were, and the person we wanted to be.”

Jenny is represented by Kerry Sparks of Levine Greenberg Agency. Seeing Cinderella will be published by Aladdin M!X in the Spring of 2012. (On-Sale Date: 3/20/2012).

 Pre-order Seeing Cinderella on Amazon today!

***Jenny is also doing a giveaway of an ARC and funky socks on her BLOG this week. All you need to do is leave a number between 1 and 225 in the comments section! The contest ends this Sunday at midnight. 

"Life Isn't Fair" Motto Isn't Just For Kids

My former critique group member, Kim Van Sickler, is in the query trenches right now, so I knew she'd have something spot on to say in this guest post (below).

Take it away, KIM:


A friend of mine sent around an e-mail that's supposedly advice Bill Gates gave to a high school class about things he never learned in school. I opened it today. The advice struck a chord with me but it didn't sound like Gates, so I Snopes-checked it and found out it didn't come from him. The real author is Charles J. Sykes, who wrote, Fifty Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education

No matter. I really like the first ELEVEN RULES and promptly posted them in the Note section of my Facebook page with the proper attribution. (Kim, my favorite rule is #11)

Then I started wondering why I was so gung ho about these rules. It didn't take me long to figure it out. I mean, yes, I did just have a blow-out argument with my thirteen-year-old daughter last night over her infuriating habit of ignoring me as I'm trying to rush us out the door, my college-student son is majoring in partying, and both kids plus all my stepkids think I'm incredibly "unchill." But that wasn't it.

No. It was because yesterday I finally e-mail-queried ten agents about my mermaid novel, Beached. (SIDE NOTE: Kim's writing is the bomb and her book is GOOD) And today I'd already received four e-mails saying they weren't interested in reading it. And while two of them were polite blanket rejections, and one was a flat out admission that the agency wasn't taking on any mermaid books right now, one was a chillingly blunt refusal. "No, thank you," it read.

At least it said, "thank you." (SIDE NOTE: I've gotten those before too. *POUTY FACE*)

In an era where our society bombards us with commercials, entertainment, and self-help gurus telling us that we're "special" and "worth it", how do we deal with the failure that all of us ultimately encounter?

Do we give up? Wallow in it? Or pick ourselves up and keep going? (GO, KIM, GO)

I got into this writing business wanting to see my books published. And since I'm looking at traditional publishing right now, that means I've got to keep plugging along. Every writer will tell you it's hard work, and that the only way to succeed is to persevere through the rejections.

This list isn't just for ungrateful kids. In some form or another, it's to all of us. (Did you read the eleven rules?)

Thank you, Kim! I am SO rooting for you!

***Kim blogs over at SWAGGER, with seven other writers in various stages of publication. They are just getting up and running, so if you have time, say hi or go follow!


HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!

IF YOU SEND A WRITER A VIRTUAL COOKIE

One of my critique buddies, Laura Malish, over at THE NEW EMILY blog wrote this great take on the book, IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. She also happens to be a fantastic MG and YA writer, with so many works under her belt, it makes my head spin!

So, take it away, Laura!

*********
IF YOU SEND A WRITER A VIRTUAL COOKIE:

If you send a writer a virtual cookie, she'll return the love, but will notice that you’ve updated your profile. Clicking on your new smiling image, she’ll see that you’re on Twitter. She’ll decide to send you a tweet which will remind her that she forgot to post a tweet on her account. Closing her blogger friend’s page, she’ll remember that she was supposed to be blogging.

Sitting in her quiet office, waiting for inspiration, the dryer beeps in the background. Avoiding ironing at all costs, she pops out of her chair and quickly hangs up the warm clothes before the dreaded wrinkles can set in. On the way back to her desk, she’ll notice the stack of unopened mail on the table by the back door. Sorting through ads and bills, she finds a professional looking envelope with the name of an agency she queried.

Sighing, she resigns herself to the expected rejection letter which reminds her that she needs to query that agent she found online yesterday. Tossing aside the not quite right for our agency letter, she dashes back to her desk to dig through the pile of notes, desperately trying to find that email address. In the pile, she discovers the science paper that her daughter had been searching for last night. Grabbing her keys, she’s out the door. She turns on the radio and hears a beautiful love song that reminds her of the scene she’s writing in her latest manuscript. Repeating it over and over, she hopes to cement the lyrics in her brain so she can remember it when she sits down to write.

Returning home, she tries to remember what she wanted to write. Hurrying to her desk, she notices the empty screen still waiting for her blog post. Staring at the flashing line, she ponders what the heck she can write about. Maybe, organization? Maybe a more professional entry would be better in case a prospective agent checks out her blog. Agents and editors! She forgot to send a query to the editor from the fall conference. Quickly, dragging out her binder of important papers, she shuffles through until she finds the submission guidelines. Three months? She swallows and counts how many weeks since the conference and remembers she needs to make an appointment for a haircut.

Going to the mirror, she looks to see if any gray roots are showing. Looking at her reflection, she wonders if she will ever get her manuscript published – there are a few wrinkles appearing around her eyes. That’s what her character needs! Wrinkles. Back behind the desk, she brings up her work-in-progress. A soft ping announces she has mail. Opening the email, in case it’s the agent she queried last week requesting a partial, she finds a big chocolate chip cookie from her critique friend. Thought you could use something sweet today. Oh, no!
********

YAY LAURA (story of my life)! ((hugs))

BTW, I know (believe me) how time-consuming it is to hop around to different blogs everyday, in addition to getting everything else done. So if you don't have time today, no worries at all.

BUT, if you have a minute to say hi to Laura over there (you can do it instead of here) at THE NEW EMILY or to click her followers link, please do. Remember how strange it felt the first few months of blogging? *HELLO, IS ANYONE OUT THERE?* :D

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Guest Post: How I Found my Agent by Sherrie Peterson

This post is special to me, because SHERRIE and I were having an email-a-thon in December, about about a couple of jewelry orders she pondered, all while stressing over an agent phone call.
And she didn't even tell me, until the next day! :D Silly girl!

Take it away, Sherrie!

*****

It felt like a little piece of me died when I got the latest rejection. It had been a referral, one of two I’d received for my middle grade novel. I’d hesitated, not sure if this person was really right for my story. But how could I ignore a referral? Wasn’t that a slam dunk, a sure thing? I should have at least gotten a request for a partial from it. Instead, I was staring at a form rejection from an agent I wasn’t even sure I had wanted in the first place. (I've SO been there.)

I sent one of my critique partners an email with just four words: I give up. Seriously. (!!!! My critique partner Kate, and I, had this conversation once.)

But one week later, I got an email from another critique partner who was also depressed over a rejection.

I finished licking my wounds and sent her back this message:
I have to believe that persistence and luck are the only ingredients missing for us right now so we just have to keep trying and not be one of the people who gives up because it WILL happen. Hopefully before we're dead. :D :D

Just to prove that I could follow my own advice, I sent out one more query.

***Can I just say how wrong, how awful, it would have been, if I had given up? Because sending one more query…it changed everything. (sing it, girl)

Less than two weeks later, I had an agent. One who spent the first ten minutes of our conversation telling me everything she loved about my characters and the story I had written. One who was just as excited to hear my “yes” as I was to hear her offer of representation.

Every writer’s path is different, but here’s what worked for me:
1. Join a really good critique group or form one yourself. Not only will they help you make your writing stronger, they’ll support you through all the dark times.
2. Do your research. Make sure the people you approach are the best possible fit for you and your story.
3. Query slowly. I sent out a few queries at a time. If I didn’t get any requests, I would rework the query, make it better. Once I started getting rejections from the requests, I would rework the story based on whatever comments I received. ME TOO!
4. Take advantage of things like the Secret Agent contests at Miss Snark's First Victim
and Red Light, Green Light at Writing for Children and Teens . Both experiences provided me with valuable feedback on my writing. YEP!
5. Find beta readers. As much as your critique group loves you, they can only read your story so many times. Find fresh eyes to look at the story to make sure your changes work.

Beyond that, my best advice is to not give up! Work as hard as you can to make your story as good as you can, but know that you will be rejected. You will get depressed. The key is to pick yourself up and keep going. And someday you too will find your own Agent Wonderful and be ready to start the next leg of this journey to publication.


SO AWESOME, SHERRIE!

**By the way, her agent is Michelle Humphrey at International Creative Management.

The book that caught her agent's interest is, WISH YOU WEREN'T. And here's the logline: Marten’s little brother is a pain. But no wish to get rid of him has ever worked. Until now.

Read the first chapter, here!

A Writer's Best Friend?

This guest post is from Kim Van Sickler, another fabulous member of my critique group.

Her story really resonated with me, because it's how I feel about my own chocolate Labrador named, Reilly.

Kim writes middle grade an Young Adult fiction and critiques like nobody's business.

Here she is with her pretty doggie, Peter:

Thank God For My Dog

I wasn't going to get one until I was a "traditionally published" children's author. That was the carrot I held out to myself for motivation. But...this formerly abused Labrador mutt who couldn't live with his rescuers any longer because of his Alpha Male Syndrome needed a home.

So I cheated and nabbed him early.

Thank God I did.

For any one out there who dreams of writing for an audience, you know what I'm talking about when I say writing can sometimes suck the life out of you. What a needy group we are: begging friends, family and strangers to read our diamonds in the rough, hoping that they see our potential to dazzle like Suzanne Collins.

But in my quest to be discovered, I'm lonely. I spend hours every day in front of my computer or my Alpha Smart writing and re-writing. And when I'm living those other non-writing parts of my life, nobody wants to hear about the breakthrough I made in that mermaid fight scene that was keeping me awake at night.

Except my dog.

I bounce ideas off him on our daily walks. Or when he follows me around the house. Or when I'm gardening, or throwing the ball for him, or even picking up his dog doo. He never changes the subject, texts while I'm talking to him, or looks miserable when I brainstorm ways to make my troubled MC more likeable.

He listens patiently.

When I'm writing, he lays beside me. He lets me read passages and even whole chapters to him without a grumble. If I speak in a higher pitch I even get a tail wag out of him. He wouldn't dream of acting bored (like the kids) or suggesting ways for me to be more like Lee Child (that would be the husband).

Sometimes, though, he does want to be petted.

An author's diet must consist of constructive criticism. I get that in my two critique groups. They keep me humble, yet encourage me to keep plugging away. I appreciate everything these other fledgling authors do for me. We're all in the same boat, trying to keep one another afloat.

But thank God for my nonjudgmental, tolerant, friendly pooch.

He's my life preserver in a sink or swim profession.

*******

So true Kim! Thank You!

Guest Post by Writer Stefanie Wass

So I belong to a great critique group.

We meet monthly in-person to critique each other's work.

My critique group member, Stefanie, who has written two middle grade novels (and is also in the query trenches), also teaches writing workshops and has had her short stories published in various places, like Chicken Soup For the Soul Books. We all know those books, right?
So she's making money on the side while writing her novels. Don't we all wish we could write for a living in one way or another (ignore me right now if this is not true for you)?

So here's her advice. Take it away Stefanie!


Ten Steps to Writing a Chicken Soup for the Soul Story:


1. Immediately Put The Reader In The Scene: Start the story with a quote, describe the setting/backdrop, or describe a challenge to be overcome. Write from the first person point of view.

2. Stay Focused: Tell about one heartwarming event or incident, like the Saturday afternoon you spent making cookies with your kids. Don’t tell everything that happened on Saturday or every detail of your children’s lives!

3. Action, Action: Readers like fast-past stories. Don’t meander and tell unimportant details. Your story should be 800-1,000 words max.

4. Include Elements of Good Fiction Writing: Did you include clear story structure, natural-sounding dialogue, descriptive setting, metaphors and similes, musing voice, personification, and a definite theme?

5. Wrap It Up: End by showing positive change, an uplifting message, a lesson learned. The reader should feel good about life!

6. Don’t Hit Send! Re-read your story aloud. Tighten extraneous words. Use spell-check and Stunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Replace weak verbs. Vary sentence structure. Remember E.B. White’s advice: “The best writing is rewriting”.

7. Find A Critique Partner: Ask someone to read your story and ensure it has universal appeal, is emotionally honest, and isn’t overly melodramatic or “gushy”.

8. Still Don’t Submit! Double-check the writer’s guidelines. Does your story theme meet current publication needs? Print out a hard copy of your story for safekeeping.

9. Submit! Follow the online submission guidelines: http://www.chickensoupforthesoul.com/

10. Read! (And write!) Write another story! Read examples of personal essays to see how it’s done. (Good sources: The Art of the Personal Essay, by Phillip Lopate, The Best American Essay Series, edited by Robert Atwan, Fifty Acres and a Poodle and Growing Girls, by Jeanne Marie Laskas, and the Cup of Comfort and Chicken Soup for the Soul books.)

PLEASE HELP ME in WELCOMING STEFANIE and saying THANK YOU!

***You can visit her website to find out what she writes and to read one of her Chicken Soup stories! And also to find out the dates of her next workshops.

Guest Post: Frankie Diane & The Art of Query Wars

Do you guys know Frankie Diane Mallis from Frankie Writes? Head over there if you don't!

She got an agent in April for her book STOLEN, which she describes as a contemporary YA fantasy full of forbidden love, hot kisses, demon butt-kicking, betrayals, angst, mystery and magic, and the occasional face punch. She had me at hot kisses--LOL!


*******
I was so excited when Christina asked me to guest blog and share my agent story with you all. Thanks for having me and I hope you find my story helpful and inspiring!

The Art of Query Wars

I signed with my dream agent, Laura Rennert of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, lovingly known as Agent Laura on my blog in April. Laura had basically everything I wanted in an agent, a good track record, a list of clients I LOVED, an organized way of working, she was super easy to talk to and develop rapport with, but most importantly....she got my story. While other agents loved my book, Laura was the first one to say that the core of my story inspired her. When she told me that, I knew she got was I was trying to achieve and so far, working with her and the rest of the agency has been a dream.

Here's how my dream was achieved...

I approached querying like a war (which is funny because I'm normally so peaceful). But anyway, querying to me was like gearing up for battle, and all good warriors know that you need three things to win:

1) Training

2) Weapons

3) Battle Plan


Training:

I know some people write their first book and start querying right away and sometimes they sign on with someone immediately and sometimes...it takes a few years.

I was not one of those people. I was the sort of person who waited...and waited...and waited...

I'm not sure what it was, but I always had a kind of intuitive sense about my writing--basically that it wasn't ready for anyone to see until this year. I knew from the start that I wanted to kick butt in the query wars, so I was very patient with myself, writing and rewriting, reading books in my genre, reading books on the craft, taking workshops and classes on query writing, joining SCBWI, forming a critique group, studying writing in my masters program, writing and rewriting some more, and...more writing.

Oh and let's not forget revising.

When I finally had my story the way I wanted it, and I'd revised the crap out of it and had it read by beta readers and gamma readers and delta readers...not to mention the ending was making me cry, I knew I was ready and it was time to gather my weapons.

Weapons:

The biggest weapon in your querying arsenal is always going to be your manuscript--awesome, shiny and polished to perfection--don't lose sight of this. You can write the most kick butt query letter in the world, you can have the world's most successful blog, you can be married to your dream agent's brother...

But if your story isn't ready for publication, none of that counts.

So once your manuscript is ready to go, you need a query letter--an intro to your book and yourself. My query training came from taking a query workshop with Janet Reid (Suzie Townsend and Joanna Volpe were also there) and an online query class with C.J. Redwine which was fantastic. I worked my butt off on my query letter, revising it over and over and over again until it was perfect.

Other weapons I used in battle were:

My blogs: Frankie Writes has been live since 2008 and First Novels Club has been live since 2009 (these weren't such big weapons, but were still nice to include in my bio and helped me connect to other writers in the training process)

Conferences: Several of the agents who ended up requesting my full and/or offering representation I had met at conferences and networking events--so I always made sure to remind them of who I was in my query so they could put a face to my letter. (Meeting agents at conferences doesn't guarantee you representation, but it does help you get noticed in the slush pile and get a quick response--at least this was my experience).

So if you've perfected your craft, perfected your story, spent several sleepless nights agonizing over your query letter (plus acquired any other weapons you plan to use--blogs, referrals, publication list) you're ready to create your battle plan.

Battle Plan:

OK, so here's the good stuff.

I queried a total of 16 agents. Every single agent on the list was there for a combination of the following reasons:

1) They represented books similar to mine, or had expressed an interest in representing books like mine (you can learn what agents are looking for--or what their wish lists are--by attending conferences, following agent blogs and stalking agents on twitter).

2) They represented books that I liked and authors that I respected (when my full was requested by the agent who represents my favorite author, I think everyone thought I was having a heart attack--but in retrospect I shouldn't have been surprised since we have a similar style).

3) I got along with the agent in person and/or I got along with their clients or thought we'd mesh based on online contact. Agent Laura also represents Jay Asher and Maggie Stiefvater--2 authors I not only love, but also have hung out with in person. I knew if I got along with Maggie and Jay and they got along with Laura, it was pretty likely I'd get along with Laura too.

I can't stress enough how important the above combination is. Out of the 16 there was only one agent I queried on a whim--and they were the only one to not respond to me. Everyone else replied anywhere from within 5 minutes to 2 weeks tops.

I started out with just 7 queries in the world, and every time I got a response from an agent whether it was good or bad, I would query another. INTERESTING! In the end of I queried for 30 days, 16 agents, with 8 full requests and 3 offers of representation. UM, Frankie that was so quick I don't think you had time to blink! Seriously!

WHEW!

Yeah, querying was stressful, but it was also mostly fun and exciting--and I think I felt that way because I was prepared.

If I'd stress anything about the querying process, its this--don't be afraid of querying, don't be afraid of agents--be prepared to meet them head on in battle. You'll get what you put into the process and when you're prepared for battle, you're far more likely to walk away from the field as a victor.

Good luck to any warriors about to enter the trenches of query wars!

Frankie

Wow, her story was so different than Rachele's story from last month. I guess it shows how very different everyone's journey is.

THANKS FRANKIE! xoxo