Sydney Salter's Blog, page 15

On The Go With Jeri Smith-Ready + Giveaway

Today I'm giving away another anthology--paranormal stories! Here's what contributer Jeri Smith-Ready has to say:


You have been given your Dream Vacation. Where are you going & what are you doing?

Scotland!  I would spend a week in Glasgow, then travel the highlands and islands.

What if you could travel to a different time period?

Ooh, I'd go to the 1940s, when men wore fedoras.  They looked so cool.

Are you a planner or a seat-of-the pants traveler?

I'm a planner, but I like to leave a certain amount of wiggle room for spontaneity.  Also, I forget to do things, so often the spontaneity is forced on me.

What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you on vacation?

Well, it didn't happen to me directly, but my husband got the flu on our honeymoon.  The only fortunate part was that our honeymoon was three months after our wedding.  He missed the first couple of days while I went out on bus tours and stuff.  He still gives me guilt trips, in a joking way, for leaving him behind in the hotel room.



ABOUT THE BOOK
ENTHRALLED: PARANORMAL DIVERSION, edited by Melissa Marr andKelley Armstrong
This collection of original paranormal YA short stories grewout of the 2010 Smart Chicks Kick It Tour, a multiauthor, multicity,author-organized tour of the US and Canada.  With it, these 16 authors hoped to bring a little taste ofthe Smart Chicks experience to readers everywhere.
Contributors to ENTHRALLED:
Claudia GrayCarrie RyanMargaret StohlKami GarciaJackson PearceRachel VincentMelissa MarrKelley ArmstrongSarah Rees BrennanJeri Smith-ReadyKimberly DertingAlly CondieJessica VerdayMary E. PearsonJennifer Lynn BarnesRachel Caine

ABOUT THE STORY "BRIDGE"
In the world of the SHADE novels, everyone seventeen andunder can see and hear ghosts, but no one else can.  So when Logan Keeley dies and his eighteen-year-old brotherMickey blames himself, they can't ease each other's pain or reconcile theirrage.  Over the course of SHADE andSHIFT, Mickey sinks into a near-suicidal depression over Logan's death. 
"Bridge" is the story, told in free verse, of how twobrothers, with the help of a stranger, forge the chasm between them to find alasting peace.
REVIEWS
"A solid collection of stories...Sarah Rees Brennan's 'Let'sGet This Undead Show on the Road' follows a vampire in a boy-band and standsout with its perfect blend of snark and sincerity. It's followed in a one-twopunch by Jeri Smith-Ready's intense and earnest 'Bridge.'...This collection isideal as a sampler tray for paranormal readers looking to pick up new authorsto follow or to further explore the fictional worlds they already know. —Kirkus Reviews
A standout among the many paranormal-themed anthologies. -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books(Recommended review)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeri Smith-Ready has been writing fiction since the nightshe had her first double espresso. Her nine published books include two seriesfor adults and the SHADE trilogy for teens, about a world of ghosts only theyoung can see, which concludes May 2012 with SHINE.  Like many of her characters, Jeri enjoys music, movies, andstaying up very, very late.  Visither at www.jerismithready.com, or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/JeriSmithready)or Twitter (http://twitter.com/jsmithready), where she spends way too much time.  Logan himself can be found on Twitter@keeley_logan, as can his rival/"brother-in-pulp," Zachary Moore(@moore_zachary).  The boys love tochat with each other and with their real-life fans.
To win a copy of Enthralled , please leave a comment by Tuesday, September 27th

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!!




Maryanne is the winner of the Dear Bully anthology.

Dear Bully Book Giveaway

In 4th grade my daughter watched a fellow classmate endure constant bullying--and it traumatized her. She didn't want to tell anyone because she worried the group of girls would turn against her too. When I stepped in to help, the school handled the problem in the worst way possible. The teacher never responded to me, but asked the principal to call both my daughter and the victim into her office. My daughter had no idea why she was in the principal's office. And the victim, a boy, had to tell the principal what had happened in front of my daughter. Talk about humiliating! 
Despite efforts to end bullying, it's still a huge problem for so many kids. That's why I'm pleased there's a new anthology addressing this issue: Dear Bully. 
Please leave a comment to win a copy.
THOUGHTS ON DEAR BULLY
WHY THEY DID IT
Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones formed the group YAAAB (Young Adult AuthorsAgainst Bullying) in April 2010 when they both coincidentally blogged about thePhoebe Prince case on the same day. Megan reached out to Carrie expressing herfrustration with this case and the fact that bullying that seemed to be growingat a ridiculously fast rate. As a Massachusetts resident and having alreadyspoken about bullying in schools, Megan was horrified after hearing about the bullyingthat took place in the Phoebe Prince case. While writing her books, SISTERS OFMISERY and THE LOST SISTER, she had to dig deep to make "mean girls as evil asshe possibly could. When she heard about all the bullying and bullycide storiesin the news, she felt like the bullies had jumped off the pages of her book andinto real life. She was also disheartened by the numerous times she'd done booksignings and would say to readers, "I hope you never meet girls as mean as theones in my book." Shockingly, they almost always said, "We already have."Carrie Jones was also moved to do something, as she was the target of bullyingas a young child due to a speech impediment. Together, they felt that they owedit to teen readers to discourage bullying -- to make it "uncool." MeganKelley Hall started by creating a Facebook page that kicked off an entire"movement" to end bullying.  This was the day that Megan, Carrieand other authors decided to use their platform as Young Adult authors toactually facilitate change and to be a voice for those kids who cannot speakout or are too afraid to be heard.
HOW IT HAPPENEDRight away, a large number of authors jumped on board ofthis cause -- wanting to be involved in any way possible. The Facebook groupjumped from 5 to 1500 members in one weekend and is now closing in on nearly5,000 members. Carrie and Megan were thrilled when HarperTeen offered to putall of the stories into an anthology. The thought of having 70 authors –well-known, highly successful writers – sharing their personal bullying storieswith their fans was something beyond what they had ever hoped for.
The stories in DEAR BULLY come from all angles: from thepoint of view of the victim, the mother, the friend, the sibling, the classmate– even a few from the actual bully. Some of the stories are light-hearted,while others are raw and emotional.  All of them drive home the point thatbullying is something that almost everyone has experienced. And while that is asad fact, they want to prove that it's not a rite of passage. It doesn't makeyou stronger, wiser, or better. But it is something that can be overcome,something that can be changed, something that is relatable, and something thatone should never be ashamed of. Through these stories, the authors want to showthat they understand what teens are going through today. It is important toencourage bystanders to speak up and make bullying unacceptable. Parents andadults must get involved. Bullying is something that people no longer have toendure--at least, not by themselves. 
Though quite a lofty mission, the goal of DEAR BULLY is tohelp just one person get through a difficult time, and hopefully make bullyinga thing of the past.Don't forget to join the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dearbully, visit the websiteat www.dearbully.com, or follow DEAR BULLY on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dearbully. 
IN THE NEWS:"FIGHT BACK WITH WORDS. Better Homes & Gardensrecommends DEAR BULLY: Remind youngsters heading back to school that gettingpicked on is tough—but that words can also heal as much as they can hurt, asone anthology proves."  – Better Homes & Gardens
"This anthology of personal essays provides empathetic andheartfelt stories from each corner of the schoolyard: the bullied, thebystander and the bully himself are all represented. Their words will be awelcome palliative or a wise pre-emptive defense against the trials of adolescentsocial dynamics."           --New York Times
"Two of them, both authors of novels for young adults (MeganKelley Hall and Carrie Jones), have drawn on the power of the written word tofocus attention on the problem and offer solace to the bullied." – --The Boston Globe
"You'll love it if… You know someone (or are someone)who's ever been involved in any type of bullying incident. There's something init for everyone, on all sides of the spectrum. You'll love it even more if youcan find a story that inspires you to help someone else." – Seventeen.com
"With authority often turning a blind eye and cyber-bullyingrampant, this timely collection is an excellent resource, especially for groupdiscussion, and the appended, annotated list of websites and further readingextends its usefulness." – Booklist
"Powerful…All of these stories feel authentic and honest,and readers will find a story or a person to identify with, to look to forcomfort or guidance." School LibraryJournal
"Bottom line is this anthology is a terrific tool for thecounselor who can customize the entries to the needs of the victimized student." -- Harriet Klausner 
Leave a comment to win your own copy of Dear BullyGiveaway ends on Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The Outline Advantage

My task this week: plan and plot my new WIP. I know, I know, outlining is not cool, not artistic, it hampers inspiration... Tony Hillerman says, "Usually the book is finished long before the outline is. Go with the flow. Sometimes plots don't make sense, but it avoids that awful problem of outlining." Anne Lamott (Bird By Bird) is against outlining. So is Stephen King (On Writing).

But I still love it. I'm not talking about one of those big I, little i nightmares from school research papers, but rather creating a plan for the work I plan to write, or as Strunk and White say, "a suitable design." Having an outline gives me an advantage as I draft a new novel.
Advantage #1: Plot. Outlining allows me to work out the structure of the novel. I like to see everything visually and puzzle out questions. If this happens, then what will happen next? I can see the pacing, story arc, etc. 
Advantage #2: Avoid Meandering, Wandering, Getting Lost. An outline helps me keep to the story I intended to tell. I won't write hundreds of unnecessary words, or pages, that don't actually contribute to my main character's journey. Sometimes it's hard to cut clever or pretty sentences that sound good--even if they don't belong. 
A good outline also gives me a map through the middle. Knowing where I'm going prevents those panicky moments, "Eek! I've written 100 pages, but I don't know what happens next, and, maybe the whole thing is bad, bad, bad."
But--it is important to be flexible. I'm always adding and deleting things from my outline.
Advantage #3: Tracking Subplots, Minor Characters, Themes. To make outlining even more fun, I'll use color for each aspect of the story. At a glance I can see if I'm ignoring a subplot for too long, or leaving out a minor character who will confuse my readers if she all of a sudden pops back into the story 75 pages later. 
Advantage #4: Remembering The Good Stuff. I do a lot of research before I write, and I'd probably forget about some of my most interesting tidbits if I simply dove into the story and started wandering about. Outlining forces me to really think about my story and figure out how to fit all of my ideas into my plot in an exciting, relevant manner.
Advantage #5: Fast, Smooth, Writing. I rarely sit and stare at my blank computer screen wondering what the &#*!@  happens next. I've been letting my subconscious mind go to work. I always look at which scene I'm going to work on the next day, and think about it while I'm cooking dinner, driving carpool, walking the dogs, etc. I'm not worried about what will happen next, I'm focused on how to make it happen. 
Advantage #6: Cleaner First Draft. My outline serves as a first draft of sorts. And that makes revision easier. Oh, I still have things to fix, but I usually don't need a bulldozer during revision.
So what if Stephen King thinks I'm a dork?

Writing A Pitch

Today my goal is to create a pitch for my next YA novel idea--something so intriguing that people will say, "I've got to read that. Write fast!"

I've been researching my idea for months, reading like crazy, thinking like crazy, watching YouTube videos, picking up random bits on NPR, steering dinner party conversations in unusual directions... My brain is STUFFED with information. But now I have to explain it to people. Um...

I'm a rambling mess!

Lucky for me, I discovered Save The Cat by Blake Snyder. It's a book about screenwriting, but who better to teach me how to pitch than a Hollywood movie guy?

According to Snyder, a pitch answers this basic question: what is it?

(And it's not Snakes On A Plane meets Three Men And A Baby--although who wouldn't want to see that?!?!?)

A good pitch gives a clear sense of what the story promises to deliver (action, love, mystery). You want your audience to immediately form a compelling mental picture of your story. Better yet--you want to elicit an emotional response. A good pitch also includes a good title. Hunger Games? Yeah, I want to know what that's about!

People also want to know who the story is about. Short and sweet, a good pitch characterizes both the main character and the antagonist. Is your character's goal enthralling? The best way to hook someone with your pitch is to make sure that your character's mission involves primal needs: survival, love, protection. Snyder asks: would a caveman understand your character's needs?

Reducing all my research into a pitch only a few sentences long will probably be the hardest part to write. But I know that figuring out these basic elements will make the next 250 pages flow.

I'm excited and I want to write this story fast!

New Dictionary Words!

For my writing exercise today, I challenged myself to write a paragraph using Merriam-Webster's new dictionary entries:

Mom says she's hoping my life will turn into a walk-off homer in the 9th inning of my twenties, otherwise I'll have to revive her broken heart with CPAP.

"You can't treat life like a duathlon," she says, "if you're not even bothering to enter the race."
"I'm gonna apply for that robocall job, I swear."
"Not if you don't get off the couch." Mom picks up her smart phone and whips up some crowdsourcing for her m-commerce vitamin business. She's always attached to some sort of electronic device, so I don't get why she bugs me about wasting time on social media. She tweets more than I do, hoping to sell supplements to parkour participants. Talk about a boring job!

I mean, it's not like I'm fist-bumping my buddies about being a boomerang child. And Mom's wrong about me going after the cougars in her book club, but could she blame me? My only relationship is a bromance with an old high school classmate based on our shared fondness for Americana banjo music.

Maybe I'm not doing the most I could with my life. But it's totally Mom's fault for being such a helicopter parent!


So what's your favorite official new word?

Still Collecting Characters...

One of my favorite neighborhood "characters" is a man who walks three little dogs every morning. With his dark shoulder-length hair, bushy beard, and old-fashioned coat, he looks like someone from another era. He should be wandering cobblestone streets in the mist, not dodging early morning sprinklers watering manicured lawns in a dry climate.

Seeing him, I sometimes wonder if there's a time travel portal hidden among the white vinyl fences in my neighborhood...

But today I saw him walking his three little dogs, wearing shorts--Richard Simmons shorts. Oh, no! It turns out he's a man from another era alright, but that time is 1980!

Well, at least he can still be a time-traveling nomad in my imagination.

Back To School (And Writing)

Yesterday I dropped my daughter off for her first day of 10th grade. Usually I drive away cheering the return of long uninterrupted writing days, but yesterday I found myself growing tearful, a bit nostalgic.

In 10th grade I started becoming myself. That year I began keeping the daily journal that would eventually give me the courage and voice to write fiction. I also started fighting against my failures. After a truly embarrassing drill team tryout at the end of freshman year, I decided to take ballet lessons and try again. I dragged my curvy post-pubescent body to a class of slim 5th and 6th graders. But I did make the dance team the following spring. And I've been working to overcome my failures ever since!

So while I happily dig into long days of writing, I'm wondering who is my daughter about to become?

Winners Galore!

Congratulations!!! 


Trudy won a copy of Love Story by Jennifer Echols.


Tiah won a copy of Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker (Tiah please leave your email address in the comments)


Yan won a copy of A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young.

On The Go With Jennifer Echols + Giveaway

Please welcome Jennifer Echols, author of Love Story. Leave a comment and you could win your own copy! 
You have been given your Dream Vacation. Where are you going and what are you doing?
I am going to Hawaii and learning to surf. I've been to Hawaii before, so I know how beautiful it is, and learning to surf is the only thing on my bucket list.

What if you could travel to a different time period?
I think I would stay here. So many people nowadays lament the loss of "the old days" and "old-fashioned values," but I look around and see how much better off we all are than before. My husband and I are not of the same race, so we couldn't have gotten married and had a child too long ago.

Are you a planner or a seat-of-the pants traveler?
In theory, I'm a planner, but my vacations never work out that way. I plan to plan, but then I get busy and wait until the last minute. And even on the rare occasions when I do have time to plan, I like to build in time for unplanned wandering. I don't feel like I've been to a place until I get away from the tourist attractions and see where the people actually work and live.

What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you on vacation?
I convinced my friend Amy that we should go on a ski slope that was too difficult for us, and she ran into a tree, which tore her earring out of her ear. I documented this in my novel THE EX-GAMES and dedicated the book to her.


About The Book


For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions – it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a local coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter… so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?
Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter… except this story could come true. 
About The Author
Jennifer Echols is the author of teen romantic dramas for MTV Books and teen romantic comedies for Simon Pulse. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her family. Please visit her online at www.jennifer-echols.com. 


Leave a comment and you could win a copy of Love Story !