Jennifer R. Hubbard's Blog, page 128

Library-Loving Challenge: update

A brief note about the Library-Loving blog challenge: I've been holding off doing a final report until I have more data.  At this point, there are 14 challengers whose totals I don't have, either because they're still collecting comments (the last challenge ends April 9) or because they haven't added up their final numbers and reported out yet.  So you can still comment for library dollars (the bloggers' dollars, not yours!) on this post (go for the blogs that don't have "Challenge completed"...

According to a reliable source ...

While talking with some young readers about my book, I found myself discussing point of view. In particular, we were discussing a character* who serves as the narrator's rival.  As you can imagine, a character viewed through a rival's lens tends to come across negatively.  I'll be the first to admit that the character in question does some ugly things, but I urged the students to remember that we see that character through his antagonist's lens.

With any book, I love to step back and ask, "Who...

Are we there yet?

On her blog, annastan  asked how writers know they're done revising.

I'll take a crack at answering this:

I can read the manuscript without snagging anywhere; it flows.
The revisions have progressed to the point where I'm tinkering with commas, or deleting a single word only to put it back in.
The mere sight of the manuscript induces vertigo and nausea.  I just can't stand looking at it anymore.
I have read it so many times that I've almost memorized it.

Some writers have been known to mark up their...

Library-Loving Challenge: Totals Report, Part 1

I hope you all enjoyed the Library-Loving Blog Challenge as much as I did.  It's hard to know what to love most:  your cupcake over at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup, the library jokes and quirky facts at Mary Calhoun Brown's blog, the virtual tour of Fishkill's Blodgett Memorial Library at Kimberly Sabatini's blog, or any of the other library-loving stories throughout the blogosphere. 

A few of the challenges continue into early April!

We had more than 50 challengers, and I've heard back from ...

What libraries mean to us

I met my blog challenge goal for my local libraries, and I thank the hundreds of you who helped make that happen.  I'm overwhelmed by how many of you took this little idea of mine and ran with it.  I can only credit your generosity and the awesomeness of our libraries for fueling this challenge.  Many of the challenges are still going on, so please consult the list and comment on the participating blogs if you haven't done so already.  And please consider these other low-cost and no-cost...

How else to help libraries

Thank you for the outpouring of love you've shown libraries so far.  Our library-loving blog challenges continue; please comment if you haven't already, and spread the word.  You comment; we donate!  Most challenges run through March 27, but a few go through March 31.

Even if you can't donate money, there are other ways to help libraries as well.  Here are a few:

Donate your time.  Many libraries and friends-of-the-library organizations welcome volunteers.

Donate materials (books, videos, music,...

You comment, I donate: Help a library today

This is a library-loving blog challenge!

For every commenter on this post between now and Saturday, March 27, at noon EDT, I will donate 50 cents to Cheltenham Township Libraries (PA) and 50 cents to the Free Library of Philadelphia, for the first 100 comments. (But if you see that I’ve hit a hundred, keep commenting, because I could be persuaded to do something crazy, like set a new goal.)

How easy could it be? You comment, I cough up the money, the library gets a gift! If you don’t know wh...

Challenge index

This is the post for those who are participating in the library challenge to leave your links.  I will post my own challenge tomorrow, and will include in my post all the links I have by then, nicely formatted.

Please leave the link to your exact post, not just your general blog, if you can. Thanks! :-)

Enthusiasm

First, a couple of newsy items:

If you write for the middle-grade audience, check out Elissa Cruz's effort to "make middle-grade books the new vampires." That is, to develop an online hub for all things middle-grade. And she's been looking for people to join the effort!

How do I love Jacqueline J. Houtman's Periodic Table of Cupcakes? Let me count the ways.  (92+ of them ... atomic number joke, anyone?)  Jacqueline prepared it to celebrate the release of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas, her ...

Exposition in dialogue

Note 1:
I've sent out all the information to the participants in the Library-Loving Blog Challenge. If you volunteered but didn't get the email, check your spam filter, and if you still don't see it, email me at jennifer[at:]jenniferhubbard[dot:]com.  Blog readers, look for the challenge to start early next week!  Limber up your fingers to go comment on all the participating blogs!

Note 2:
This Saturday, March 20, at 4 PM, I'll be participating in a  Panel Discussion on YA/Teen Fiction at...