Jessica Brody's Blog, page 10

Get My Online Writing Courses for up to 70% OFF! (Limited Time Offer!)

Writers, take heed! All three of my online, self-paced writing workshops are now up to 70% off! This is a very limited time, deep discount offer, so take advantage of it while you can!

Whether your goal is to get published, write more, brainstorm blockbuster ideas, or just learn the basics of writing great fiction, there’s a course here for you. Check out the offerings below and pick the one that most interests you (or buy all three for only $75!)

All three courses are completely on-demand and self-paced. Once you enroll, you get lifetime access to the course, including all the videos and all the materials. You can take the courses in your own time, at your own pace and as many times as you want! Udemy (where the courses are hosted) even has a mobile app where you can download courses and take them with you! Click on any of the links below to learn more about the courses, read reviews, and watch free previews from the course!

 

Productivity Hacks for Writers – 70% OFF

Simple strategies and proven techniques to be more productive and get the most out of every writing day.

Over 180 5-star reviews and an average rating of 4.7 stars!

Click here to learn more and nab this discount!

How to Develop Blockbuster Ideas that Sell! – 67% OFF

How to brainstorm and develop bestselling “high-concept” ideas for books and movies.

Over 150 5-star reviews and an average rating of 4.8 stars!

Click here to learn more and nab this discount! 

Fiction for Young Writers – 70% OFF

NEWEST COURSE – A fun, interactive workshop to help young writers unlock their creativity, improve their craft, and write better stories.

Over 25 5-star reviews and an average rating of 4.8 stars!



Click here to learn more and nab this discount!

Happy Writing!

Jessica

 

 

Related Posts:Productivity Hacks for Writers – New Online Course!5 Tips for Rocking NaNoWriMo (How to Write a Novel in 30…Drunk Monkeys Wrote My First Draft: The Art of Finishing a…A Week of Mondays – Week 12 (LAST WEEK!)…A Week of Mondays – Week 3 #BehindtheBook

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5 Ways to INSTANTLY Improve your Fiction Writing

Happy New Year everyone!

To help you achieve those writing-related new year’s resolutions, today I’m sharing with you my 5 tips for improving your fiction writing…instantly! These are tips and tricks you can implement today, on the very next scene you write and it will instantly improve your writing. So let’s get into it.

 

1) Determine what every character in the scene wants before you start writing the scene

Every major character in every scene you write should want something. They should have some sort of motivation or reason for being in this scene. This motivation or goal doesn’t have to huge. They don’t to have to want to ask someone to marry them or want to change jobs in every single scene. But everyone should have some sort of “want.”

Random examples might include: Someone wants to get to work on time, someone wants to adopt a puppy from the puppy adoption center at Petsmart. Or someone wants to walk by Petsmart without adopting a puppy. (Easier said than done.) But every single person who’s important to the scene  needs to have some sort of want. If you figure this out before you start writing the scene, it will make the writing process go a lot more smoothly. And it will be a better scene to read.

 

2) Insert conflict into every scene

What is conflict? Conflict is problems, difficulties, challenges. You know, the stuff that makes scenes interesting. Readers love reading about conflict. Human beings love to see other people struggle (because basically we’re all just masochists.) But it works. Mostly because conflict or struggle makes scenes real. It makes them relatable. Because who among us hasn’t ever struggled? Putting conflict into a scene will instantly make the scene better. Remember when I told you that every major character in the scene has to want something? Well, the easiest way to introduce conflict into a scene is to just make it difficult for that person to get what they want.

So let’s say a character (we’ll call him Joe or Bob, or  better yet…JoeBob!) shows up at a girl’s door to ask her out on a date (this is his want.) So why can’t he succeed at this? What is standing in his way? What is JoeBob’s conflict? What’s keeping him from accomplishing this goal? Maybe he’s scared. Maybe he has flashbacks of all the times he’s asked a girl out and she’s laughed in his face. (Awkward.) Or maybe there’s a giant dog that keeps running through the yard yapping every time JoeBob gets to the question. These are all great ways to add conflict to something very simple.

Better yet! If you have a scene with two characters who both want something, simply make those wants very different.  This is another easy way to instantly add conflict to a scene. So let’s say JoeBob just wants to ask the girl out. And the girl just wants to leave the house, because she’s running late. Instant conflict! He’s trying to keep her there so he can finally build up enough nerve to ask the question and she’s just trying to get the heck out of there.

Of course, your conflict can be a lot bigger than this. Like bombs going off and fight scenes and the end of the earth, but every single small scene also should have conflict too.

3) For every scene you write, ask yourself, “Is this scene necessary?”

So what makes a scene necessary? Well, it should do one of two things:

It should either tell us something about the character (who they are, what they want, what their flaws are, etc.)
Or it should move the story forward in some way (getting us from point A to point B, moving the plot, setting up some important future event)

So every time you start to write a scene, write down what the point of the scene is (on a separate piece of paper or notebook). Make yourself clarify what this scene is for. Is it introducing a new character? Is it showing a relationship between two characters? Is it setting up a major fight or disagreement? Basically you’re answering the question: What will the reader get out of this scene? If you can’t answer this question, the reader is probably not getting anything out of the scene and you can probably cut it or skip it.

4) End every chapter or every scene on a different emotional beat than you started

When a character enters a situation, they need to feel differently about it than when they leave the situation. So if they enter the scene feeling nervous, they should leave feeling a little bit more sure of themselves. If they enter the scene feeling hopeful, they should leave feeling a little less hopeful. Or maybe even hopeless. These don’t have to be massive changes but every scene that you write should have at least a small emotional shift.

This makes the scenes feel more engaging and it helps with the pacing of your plot. Your story will feel more fast-paced if it’s filled with these kind of emotional ups and downs, or what I like to call “the bouncing ball” effect.

5) Show and Tell

I know a lot of classic writing advice tells you to show not tell, but I’m a believer that all great fiction does both. The key is to know how to blend the two together. I like to show things and then use telling elements to enhance what I’m showing.

Here’s an example from my book A Week of Mondays. This is from the beginning when you first meet the character of Owen. I’ve used both Show and Tell method to introduce the relationship between the main character of Ellie and her best friend, Owen. I show you their relationship but also tell you key details that you need to know in order to enhance what’s being shown.

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He stops when he hears the song playing. “Uh oh. What happened?”

I give him a questioning look.

He plops his backpack on the floor and climbs into the passenger seat. “You only put the Beach Boys on after something bad happens.”

I scoff at this. “My life doesn’t have to be in shambles to listen to the Beach Boys.”

He closes the door. “Yes it does.”

“What if I just felt like listening to something beachy?”

But Owen knows me too well. We’ve been best friends since the summer between third and fourth grade when he talked me into jumping off the ropes course telephone pole at Camp Awahili. “The Beach Boys are in your ‘Psych Me Up Buttercup’ playlist. And I happen to know that playlist is reserved for emergencies only.”

He gives his head a dog-like shake, flinging drops of rain from his dark, shaggy hair onto my dashboard. I grab the small cleaning cloth I keep in my glove box and wipe it off. Then I slump in my seat. “Fine. Tristan and I had a fight.”

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What I did here was show you a little piece of their relationship with dialogue and character-driven action, and then I told you a little bit more so you fully understand that relationship. You can’t show everything and you can’t tell everything. You need to find that happy medium.

 

So those are my 5 tips for instantly improving your fiction writing. If you want more free writing advice, be sure to sign up for my Writing Mastery newsletter where every month I send you free writing tips, link round-ups, reader Q&As, and my favorite new apps and software.

Happy writing everyone!

Related Posts:A Week of Mondays – Week 10 #BehindTheBook5 Tips for Rocking NaNoWriMo (How to Write a Novel in 30…A Week of Mondays – Week 3 #BehindtheBookA Week of Mondays – Week 2 #BehindtheBookA Week of Mondays – Week 5 #BehindtheBook

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Descendants School of Secrets Book Giveaway!

 

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s that time of year again! Lots of food, lots of family, and lots of gifts! So what better gift than a set of SCHOOL OF SECRETS books, signed by the author, yours truly?!

I’m giving away 5 autographed sets of CJ’S TREASURE CHASE and FREDDIE’S SHADOW CARDS. That’s right TWO books in one prize!

This giveaway is open to ALL Descendants fans around the world. That’s right. It’s an international giveaway!

You do have to be 13 or older to enter, so for my younger readers, please ask a parent or guardian enter for you. 

On December 17, I will be choosing FIVE winners at random to receive the gift set. (I will try to ship all winners their prizes by Christmas day, but because of slow holiday shipping times, Christmas delivery is not guaranteed, especially for winners outside of the United States. Sorry!)

Please use the Promo Simple widget below to enter! All entries will be verified before winners are chosen. Cheaters will be automatically disqualified.

I Still Side with Hope

Anyone who knows me knows I am an eternal optimist. On the night of the election, I tweeted, “I side with hope.” And I meant it. I’d always rather deal with disappointment later, then live without hope now. Which is why, like so many people, I never, in a million years, believed that America would elect Donald Trump as President. I had faith that the people of this country wouldn’t let that happen. Yesterday, that faith was broken. And so was my unwavering optimism about life.

They say there are five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Yesterday, I experienced all of them. I shook my head in disbelief and shock, convinced there had to be a mistake and if I just waited long enough, it would be found and it would be fixed. Then I just got mad. How could this happen? How could we let this happen? How could someone like this ever become President? Then I tried to negotiate with myself. Maybe it won’t be that bad. Maybe the media has blown it all out of proportion. After all, he’s been lying this whole time, why should we believe he’ll actually do anything he’s said he would do? Then I fell into a deep depression. It felt like the worst break-up in history, and everyone was experiencing it at once. I felt physically ill.

Whenever this happens, whenever I feel hopeless and helpless and alone, I look to what I know for guidance. I look to the one thing that has gotten me through so many of my darkest moments: Storytelling.

All great stories are about a flawed and broken hero who doesn’t know they’re flawed and broken. Through the vehicle of story, these flawed heroes experience a personal transformation, remaking them into something better. Something a little less flawed and a little more whole. But before they can do that, they have to go through the part of the story that I refer to as the Dark Night of the Soul. It’s a place where all hope is lost and helplessness reigns king. It’s a place where dark thoughts and despair become the new norm. But most important, it’s a place where the hero searches into their heart and soul, digs deep, deep down, and discovers (and eventually accepts) their own brokenness. It’s the moment the hero finally, finally admits to those flaws and faces those demons. And not until then, can they break out of their Dark Night of the Soul and start on their path to healing. Not until then, can they emerge as the improved and bettered version of themselves and prove they are worthy of being the hero of this story.

When I look at our situation through this lens, it brings me solace. This is our story, America. We, as a country, are a flawed and broken hero. And this beginning of our Dark Night of the Soul, is our time to reflect on that. The shield has been lifted from so many of our eyes. For some, those who deal with racism, bigotry, intolerance, sexism, and isolation every day, the shield was never there to begin with. But now, for the rest of us—people like me who had that undying faith, who never believed this could happen to us, who refused to accept that those demons existed—now we’re with you. Now we know. Now we, as a country, can take that closer look inside ourselves and discover what it’s going to take to emerge from this as the heroes we want to be. The heroes we know we can be.

No one can say how long this Dark Night of the Soul will last. No one can say how long it will take for us as a country to recover. But I believe that this election was our first step. Now we just have to figure out how we’re going to move forward. How we’re going to heal these wounds that evidently have already been there, but that, for some of us, have just started to come into the light.

During my stage of depression last night, when I was inconsolable, in tears, feeling hopeless about our future and helpless to do anything to help, my husband, in all of his calm, Zen wisdom asked me, “What about this situation bothers you the most?”

I couldn’t answer. I told him everything about it bothers me. The injustice. The intolerance. The antiquated electoral system that allowed this to happen. The uncertainty it brought to the world. The fear it’s caused in so many people. The way other countries now see us. The voice it gave to hatred. The list went on and on.

When I was done ranting, my husband advised me to search my heart and try to pinpoint the biggest source of my pain and grief, because that’s where my own healing energy is needed the most right now. That’s where I should look for opportunities to help.

Today, I start that process. I start trying to pinpoint my biggest source of grief and looking for ways to heal it. Whether that’s volunteering, getting more involved in communities, writing letters or blog posts, I don’t yet know. But I’m determined to find it.

Remember, there are still more people in this country who did not vote for Trump than those who did. Which means there are still more people who believe in love and acceptance. There are still more of us who would rather side with hope than with fear and isolation. Which means if every day we all did something to counteract that fear, if every day we all did something out of love and not hate, then ultimately love has to win.

To me, it’s as basic as basic math.

We start small. We do what we can. We tackle one grief at a time. But if we all did that, imagine how much less grief there would be?

When I coach other writers who want to write a novel, I tell them, “Don’t think about writing the whole novel. It’ll only overwhelm you and you’ll never start.” Just think about writing the first chapter. And when you’re finished, then you can think about writing the chapter after that. And so on and so forth. Eventually, little by little, chapter by chapter, you’ll reach the end of the book. You’ll achieve that goal.

That’s how I, personally, need to think about the challenges ahead of us. If I start thinking about getting through the next four years, if I start thinking about everything that’s wrong with this country, I feel overwhelmed. I feel alone. And I don’t even want to start. But if I think about what I can do today, and tomorrow, and even the next day, I feel empowered. I feel hopeful again.

So maybe there are actually six stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, and finally Hope. Because it’s not enough for us to just accept what’s happened. It’s not enough for us to be complacent. We accept it only so we can change it. We discover we are flawed and broken only so we can fix it. We come to terms with our grief only so we can eventually find a way to be hopeful again. So we can rediscover faith. So we can return to optimism. So we can say, “I still side with hope.”

And I do.

Because I believe that, together, we’ll get through this. One chapter at a time.

 

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New Book Deal: THE CHAOS OF STANDING STILL!

HOORAH! I’m so excited to announce I’ve sold TWO more young adult books to Simon & Schuster (the publisher of BOYS OF SUMMER)! Both books will be contemporary standalone titles and the first has already been announced and is releasing in Fall 2017! Just around the corner!

It’s called THE CHAOS OF STANDING STILL and here is the description from the deal announcement (full summary coming soon!)

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Jessica Brody’s THE CHAOS OF STANDING STILL, about two strangers stranded in the Denver airport during a blizzard who accidentally swap phones, setting them loose on an unexpected, life-changing, all-night adventure, to Nicole Ellul at Simon Pulse, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret (World English).

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I’m so terribly excited about this book. It’s a very special story to me as it’s my first time as a writer, tackling the subject of grief. Plus, I’m super excited to be working with my Boys of Summer editor, Nicole Ellul again.

Check back soon for more reveals (cover, excerpt, summary! OH MY!)

 

 

 

Related Posts:New Book Deal – My First Middle Grade Novel!NEW BOOK DEAL!!!!Boys of Summer – Cover Reveal!Meet the Boys of Summer – MikeMeet the Boys of Summer – Grayson

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5 Tips for Rocking NaNoWriMo (How to Write a Novel in 30 Days!)

Woo hoo! It’s almost NaNoWriMo time! For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it’s a great event that happens every November where novelists around the world take on the challenge of writing a novel (equivalent to 50,000 words or more) in one month.

As someone who writes four more books per year, every day of my life is pretty much a NaNoWriMo. In fact, I just did the calculation and last year I wrote over 351,000 words over the course of four books. That’s an average of 30,000 words per month…every single month. Or 1,000 words per day…every single day. So yeah, I know a thing or two about crazy word counts. That’s why, for this NaNoWriMo, I decided to share with you my 5 tips for getting lots of words down on the page every single day, so you come November 1st you can start stacking up those coveted NaNoWriMo badges.

So, the math has been done for you. The magic number to hit 50,000 words in 30 days is 1,667 words per day. Challenging but my no means impossible. Especially if you follow some of these tips:

 

1) Start with an outline

I know, I know, you “pantsers” out there, the ones who like to write by the seat of your pants instead of plot ahead of time, are cringing right about now. But look, it doesn’t have to be a huge outline. It doesn’t have to account for every page or even every chapter. Just a simple three-act structure outline will really help you organize your thoughts and keep you on track so you don’t find yourself mid-November meandering down some obscure plot road that has absolutely no connection with your story.

Trust me, if you want to write a novel in 30 days, you have to know at least a little bit of what that novel is about. Sure, you could write 30 days of pointless backstory and random character exploration, but the name of the event is National Novel Writing Month, not National Pointless Backstory and Random Character Exploration Month. So do yourself a favor: before you sit down on November 1st, try to get an idea of where the story is going. If you need help outlining, I recommend the book SAVE THE CAT! By Blake Snyder which is a plotting and structure book for screenwriters that I’m currently in the process of adapting for novels. But because my novel edition isn’t going to be available in 2018, you should start with Blake’s book. Or if you don’t have time to read a full book and just need a Save the Cat plotting crash course, download my free Save the Cat for Novels Starter Kit here.

But if even that’s too much structure for you, try to at least figure out your basic three acts.

Act 1 – Set up: who is your character, what are their flaws, what are their major problems and what inciting incident is going to send them on the journey of your novel.
Act 2 – Conflict: what exciting new world or new way of doing things does your character encounter? And how do all of those new experiences create conflict and messiness for your character.  If your character doesn’t GO anywhere or DO anything differently in the second act, what’s the point of the story?
Act 3 – Resolution: How does your character get out of all the messy conflict you’ve set up for them in Act 2?

If you can figure out at least a rough idea of those three things, you’ll be much more likely to not only finish NaNoWriMo but finish it with something that actually resembles a completed novel.

2) Don’t edit

I know this is hard. You’re a perfectionist, I’m a perfectionist. We’re all perfectionists. But NaNoWriMo is not about perfection. It’s about word count. It’s about 50,000 words logged into your computer. It’s about getting stuff down. The more you erase and backtrack and fix, the less you’re putting down on the page. It’s basic math.

I actually don’t ever edit the novels while I’m drafting them. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, I always want to peak back at what I’ve written and start tinkering with it to death. But I resist. Because I know that doesn’t push me forward. It only holds me back. And writing a novel in 30 days, or what I like to call “Fast Drafting,” is all about forward momentum. So I don’t even re-read what I’ve written, unless I need to remember what I’ve written so I can continue with the flow of the story. But I don’t ever edit what I’ve written. Not even misspellings. Because one minute you’re fixing a misspelled word and then the next minute you’re wondering is that really the right word? I mean would that character actually say that? Maybe that’s not who this character is at all!

And then two hours later you’ve got your entire novel torn apart in pieces and you’re stuck in an internet spiral of doom looking for character inspiration photos while chatting with nomophobics in a mobile chat room.

(And in case you’re wondering nomophobics are people afraid of losing cell phone service. Yes, it’s a real thing.)

So in other words. Just don’t look back. Don’t edit. Keep your inner perfectionist bound and gagged in the closet. And yes, they will scream and try to break free and run for help. But you’re a good kidnapper, you won’t let that happen.

Yes, your writing is going to suck. But guess what? That’s not your problem. That’s Future You’s problem. Future You is amazing at editing crappy writing. It’s their only job! Let them deal with it. Your job is to write as much as you can in 30 days. So do your job and let Future You do their job. Otherwise, if you spend all your time editing now, they’ll be nothing for Future You to edit (because you won’t have any new words written!) and then Future You will be sad because they’ll be out of a job. Don’t put Future You out of a job. That’s just mean. So yeah, write horribly, but write a lot. This will make Future You feel happy and needed.

But how do you keep yourself from editing? My best suggestion is to start each day start a new word document. Yes, this makes it harder to tally up your total word count, but it’s worth it. You can’t edit what you can’t see. Keep all other documents closed and just focus on the one in front of you.

I have to be honest, this no-editing-as-you-go tip is one of the hardest for people to implement. It was for me at first too. But I promise it’s worth it. Let yourself write badly. It’s the fastest way to finish a novel. Or like I always say, Don’t be afraid to write crap. Crap makes great fertilizer.

3) Turn off the Internet

That’s right. NO internet for you!

No mail. No twitter. No Facebook. No nomophobic chat rooms. (I promise you it’s a thing. Google it! But not while you’re writing, because you’re internet should be off.)

Turn off your WiFi on your computer. Hide your phone in another room. Venture off to a writing place that has no internet. (Do such places exist?) Or if you can’t trust yourself to do any of that, pay for a service like Freedom which actually turns off your Internet for you for a set amount of time. Set aside at least 1 hour of completely uninterrupted, no Internet time per day when your ONLY job is to get words on the page.  You’ll be surprised and delighted at how many words you can get down when you have no distractions. When just checking Facebook for two seconds is not even an option.

4) Keep a list of edits/revisions as you go

So there you are: you’re writing like the wind, the internet is off, you’re not looking back, you’re not editing and then…BOOM! You slam on the breaks because something wonderful just came into your head. It’s the most perfect opening for this novel EVER. It’s going to set your main character flawlessly. It’s going to turn this novel into a work of art. Can I just go back really quickly and write it in?

NO!

Because essentially changing means deleting and deleting means less words. And then what happens when you write in that brilliant new idea and it sparks a whole new idea for the next scene after that? Then before you know it, you’re rewriting and not writing. You’re moving backward instead of moving forward.

But of course, you don’t want to forget that brilliant idea. So here’s where my obsession with list making comes in handy.

I keep an active list of changes and revisions I want to make very close at hand at all times. Either in a word document, notebook, Evernote, or even a list-making app. I write down all my ideas for that brilliant change, and any other brilliant changes I come up with along the way. Then once I’ve finished the messy, crappy first draft of the novel, I have a nice tidy to-do list ready for me to implement on my revision.

And here’s the best part! Once I do finish the novel, I’ve had so many MORE and BETTER ideas for fixing stuff  that half of the things on that list no longer even apply. And aren’t I glad I didn’t waste all that time changing things if they were just going to change all over again?

This is the ultimate time saver and the essence of fast drafting. When you don’t revise until the end, you save yourself so much time in all of those subsequent revisions you would have had to do. Now you just get to implement the best of the best ideas and cross all those old, stale ideas that once seemed so brilliant, off your list.

5) Participate in word sprints

The NaNoWriMo community is amazing. Actually the whole writer community is pretty amazing. And very supportive of each other. I would definitely encourage you to check out all of the community options on NaNoWriMo.org. If you put in your zip code, they’ll match you with other NaNoWriMo-ers in your area that you can team up with in person to write together. Or you can join online NaNoWriMo-ers and get support that way.

But one of my all-time favorite things to do with other writers is word sprints. This is when you team up with someone or a group of people, either in person, or online and set a timer, usually for anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. Then you all write as much as you can in those 30 minutes.

This is also a great trick for implementing tip number 2: Don’t edit. Because I don’t know about you but when that timer starts, my competitive instincts kick in and I’m like YOU WILL NOT OUTWRITE ME! I will write you all under the table! There is NO time for editing when glory is on the line. And when all you have is 30 minutes or less to get as many words down as possible on the page, it’s amazing how easy it is to shut that inner perfectionist up. Because your inner Victor is way too loud and bossy.

And it doesn’t have to be NaNoWriMo to do a word sprints. My writer friends and I do word sprints all the time. All year long. And if you finish one word sprint and still want to write more, start another. I’ve found that I can write up to 2,000 words in just a few 30-minute word sprints. And remember they don’t have to be good words. They don’t have to be words you’ll keep. They just have to be WORDS.

The hardest part about finishing a novel is FINISHING a novel. Because it’s just too easy to go back and try to make everything beautiful. But that’s the fastest way to never finishing a novel.

You can’t decorate a house until it’s built. Just like you can’t revise a novel until it’s written. Let yourself put down a bare-bones foundation, THEN you can go back in and start filling in the walls and hanging the paintings and deciding which color carpeting to use in the bedrooms. If you don’t know what your story looks like, there’s no way for you to fix it with any sort of clarity. So turn off that internet, kidnap that inner perfectionist, and get those messy 50,000 words down on the page as fast as you can.

 

If you’d like more tips about maximizing your daily word count, be sure to check out my online, self-paced workshop, Productivity Hacks for Writers, which includes all of my strategies and proven techniques to be more productive and get the most out of every writing day.

Click here to get Productivity Hacks for Writers for 75% off!

 

Also if you need help brainstorming a novel idea to write, check out my How to Develop Blockbuster Ideas workshop, which is also online, on-demand, and completely self-paced so as soon as you sign up, you have lifetime access to the course and can take it whenever you want, and as many times as you want.

Click here to get How to Develop Blockbuster Ideas for 75% off!

 

 

Good luck with NaNoWriMo! Happy writing, everyone!

 

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YA Scavenger Hunt: Fall 2016 Edition

Welcome to the Fall 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! (THE RED TEAM!!) But play fast: this contest will only be online for 5 days!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are six contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the RED TEAM— but there is also BLUE, GOLD, GREEN, ORANGE & PURPLE teams for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt Author List.

If you get stuck or need help, you can check out the How to Hunt page.

Scavenger Hunt Puzzle

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the RED TEAM, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, October 9th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Welcome, Clara Kensie!

Today, I am hosting Clara Kensie on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.

Today Clara is a RITA© Award-winning author of dark fiction for young adults. Her RUN TO YOU series is a super-romantic psychic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past, and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies, and danger. The RUN TO YOU series was named an RT Book Reviews Editor’s Pick for Best Books of 2014, and Book One, DECEPTION SO DEADLY, is the winner of the prestigious 2015 RITA© Award for Best First Book.

Clara’s next book is AFTERMATH, a dark, ripped-from-the-headlines contemporary thriller in the tradition of ROOM and THE LOVELY BONES, releasing November 15, 2016 from Merit Press.

Clara’s favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would be gross.

Find Clara online:

Website | Newsletter | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Insiders Street Team | Goodreads

About Aftermath

Charlotte survived four long years as a prisoner in the attic of her kidnapper, sustained only by dreams of her loving family. The chance to escape suddenly arrives, and Charlotte fights her way to freedom. But an answered prayer turns into heartbreak. Losing her has torn her family apart. Her parents have divorced: Dad’s a glutton for fame, Mom drinks too much, and Charlotte’s twin is a zoned-out druggie. Her father wants Charlotte write a book and go on a lecture tour, and her mom wants to keep her safe, a virtual prisoner in her own home. But Charlotte is obsessed with the other girl who was kidnapped, who never got a second chance at life–the girl who nobody but Charlotte believes really existed. Until she can get justice for that girl, even if she has to do it on her own, whatever the danger, Charlotte will never be free.

AFTERMATH releases November 15, 2016. Available for pre-order.

Find AFTERMATH at your favorite retailers, including:

Amazon | B&N | BAM | Indiebound

Exclusive Content

AFTERMATH

by Clara Kensie

Fan Casting

Thanks for hosting me, Jessica! I’m so excited to be part of YASH this year. I hope everyone is having a great time and discovering some new favorite authors and finding lots of new books to read!

For YASH Fall 2016, I’m going to show you my dream cast, if my book AFTERMATH is ever made into a movie. The main character is a sixteen-year-old girl, and she has an identical twin sister. It was tough to cast these two characters – surprisingly, there aren’t many teenage identical twin actresses out there! But I finally found a pair who are the perfect age and have the perfect look for the characters. Here they are, along with the actors I would cast for some of the other characters in the book (I can’t reveal all of the characters, or it would spoil some plot twists!):

 

 Amanda Pace

(Weeds, The Bold and the Beautiful)

as Charlotte Weatherstone

a sixteen-year-old girl who returns home four years after being kidnapped,

only to discover that her family has fallen apart in her absence. To put her broken family back together, and to help find the body of her captor’s first victim, the traumatized girl must first heal herself.

Photo credit:

 

Rachel Pace

(Weeds, The Bold and the Beautiful)

as Charlotte’s angry and rebellious twin sister Alexa

Photo credit:

 

Here are the twins together:

Amanda and Rachel Pace as Charlotte and Alexa Weatherstone:

 

Photo credit: IMDB

They are so perfect! If AFTERMATH really is ever made into a movie, I’m going to beg Amanda and Rachel to play Charlotte and Alexa.

 

Here’s the rest of my dream cast for AFTERMATH:

Angelina Jolie

as Charlotte’s distraught mom, Vickie

Photo credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office –

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foreigno...,

CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Bradley Cooper

as Charlotte’s ambitious dad, Cory

Photo Credit: Tony Shek Uploaded by MyCanon – Bradley Cooper, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Delroy Lindo

as tough but sensitive Detective Rick Lindo

Photo credit: By Mike Wooldridge – Delroy Lindo at Spelling Bee,

CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Elle Fanning

As Charlotte’s friend and Alexa’s ex-friend Bailey Brandis

Photo credit: Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Blythe Danner

as Charlotte’s beloved therapist, Dr. Goldbloom

Photo credit: By Mass Communications Specialist Chad J. McNeeley, United States Department of Defense. – Originally posted to Flickr as 100530-N-0696M-182., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10614028

Chris Cooper

as Charlotte’s kidnapper, The Keeper

By David Shankbone – David Shankbone,

CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6773530

 

 

Now that you’ve read the description of AFTERMATH, what do you think of the casting? Who else would you suggest to play the characters? Tell me in the comments!

 

xoxo

Clara

*****

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Clara! Don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me (Jessica) and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 11. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the RED TEAM and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Continue the Hunt

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author on Eric Lindstrom’s website.

 

Related Posts:YA Scavenger Hunt: Spring 2016 EditionYA Scavenger Hunt: Fall 2014 EditionYA Scavenger Hunt: Spring 2014 EditionYA Scavenger Hunt: Spring 2015 Edition plus Bonus Audiobook…Guest Star: Sara Hantz

The post YA Scavenger Hunt: Fall 2016 Edition appeared first on Jessica Brody.

Get ALL My Online Writing Courses for 75% OFF! (Limited Time Offer!)

Writers, take heed! All three of my online, self-paced writing workshops are now on sale for a CRAZY 75% off. This is a very limited time, deep discount offer, so take advantage of it while you can!

Check out the course offerings below and pick the one that most interest you (or buy all three for only $60!)

All three courses are completely on-demand and self-paced. Once you enroll, you get lifetime access to the course, including all the videos and all the materials. You can take the courses in your own time, at your own pace and as many times as you want! Udemy (where the courses are hosted) even has a mobile app where you can download courses and take them with you!

 

Productivity Hacks for Writers – 75% OFF

Simple strategies and proven techniques to be more productive and get the most out of every writing day.

Click here to nab this discount!

Fiction for Young Writers – 75% OFF

NEWEST COURSE – A fun, interactive workshop to help young writers unlock their creativity, improve their craft, and write better stories


Click here to nab this discount!



How to Develop Blockbuster Ideas that Sell! – 75% OFF

How to brainstorm and develop bestselling “high-concept” ideas for books and movies.

Click here to nab this discount! 

Enjoy!
Jessica

 

 

 

Related Posts:Productivity Hacks for Writers – New Online Course!Drunk Monkeys Wrote My First Draft: The Art of Finishing a…Hacking the Magic – How to Quickly Get into the Writing…“Begin Again” by Taylor Swift – Beat Sheet

The post Get ALL My Online Writing Courses for 75% OFF! (Limited Time Offer!) appeared first on Jessica Brody.

Download 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER for only $2.99!

Check it out! For a very limited time, my YA comedy, 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER is on-sale for only $2.99 for any eBook format! That’s a steal of a deal!

CLICK BELOW TO PURCHASE:

Full Summary:

“In my seventeen years of life I can remember four times that my father has said he loved me…and every single one of them occurred on national television.”

Coming-of-age in front of America has never been easy for famous teen heiress Lexington Larrabee. The tabloids love portraying her as the spoiled, bratty princess who has a knack for landing herself in trouble (her most recent cover-story debacle was crashing her brand new Mercedes convertible into a convenience store on Sunset Blvd). And even though it’s true Lexi has never worked a day in her life and she has the world at her finger tips, she’s never had the one thing she really wants—her father’s love. But on her eighteenth birthday, Lexi’s world is turned upside down when her ever absent father decides to take a more proactive approach to her life. If she wants to receive her beloved trust fund, she will have to take on a different low-wage job every week for a year. It’s bad enough that she has to work as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food employee, but now her father has assigned Luke, the annoying, albeit moderately attractive college intern, to keep tabs on her. And now that Lexi has fifty-two reasons to hate her father, will this heiress learn she really only needs one reason to love him?

Now in development as a major motion picture!

 

WATCH THE AWARD-WINNING BOOK TRAILER!

Related Posts:52 Reasons to Hate My Father – The…52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER – CASTING!!!Don’t Stop Believing – The Journey to Stronger…Guest Star: Sara HantzA WEEK OF MONDAYS – Cover Reveal, Excerpt, and ARC…

The post Download 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER for only $2.99! appeared first on Jessica Brody.

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Making of A WEEK OF MONDAYS

A WEEK OF MONDAYS, my new young adult novel is out in the world! Hoorah!

The book is about sixteen-year-old Ellie Sparks who finds herself reliving the same horrible Monday over and over again, in which her boyfriend breaks up with her. And although yes, that does sound horrific, it’s actually a comedy!

Click here to read more about it and download the first 9 chapters for FREE !

After every book release, I always get a ton of questions about the writing process of the book, so I decided to put together a little “Making of” post, with links to lots of behind-the-scenes looks at the making of this book.

Behind the Book – My live blog experiment when writing the first draft

When I wrote this book back in 2014, I decided to try something a little different. Every week, I live blogged (with charts!) my experience of writing the first draft. It was a lot of fun and an interesting view point to actually see my ups and downs throughout the drafting process. You can find all the “Behind the Book” posts by clicking here.
An Introduction to Ellie Sparks (the main character of A WEEK OF MONDAYS)

Find out how Ellie came to life in my mind and on the page.
Podcast interview about the writing of A WEEK OF MONDAYS

Click here to hear my “Author Talk” episode of the Swoony Boys podcast in which I talk about the process of writing A Week of Mondays and the reasons I actually LOVE Mondays!
Interview about the origin of the idea, deleted scenes, my favorite Monday and more!

Click here to read more about the creating, writing, and revising of the book!
Podcast Interview about my writing process in general

Click here to listen to my 88 Cups to Tea interview about how I write 4 books a year!

More behind the scenes stuff will be posted soon so be sure to check back!

 

 

Related Posts:An Introduction to Ellie Sparks (A Week of Mondays)A Week of Mondays, A Week of Looks!A Week of Mondays – Week 9 #BehindTheBookA Week of Mondays – Day 5 #BehindtheBookA Week of Mondays – Week 12 (LAST WEEK!)…

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