Sydney Salter's Blog, page 27

Breaking Up With Janet Fox

Today I'm excited to welcome Janet Fox, author of the debut novel, Faithful. I just started reading it--and I'm hooked! If you want a chance to win your own copy, please leave a comment below.
Janet's Breakup Story:

My worst breakup was my own dumb fault. I had a steady guy in high school that I really connected with – he was tall, dark, handsome, and smart. When he was a senior and I was a junior I broke up with him, just because I wanted to date other guys for a while. I regretted it so...

Hanging Out At Teens Read Too.

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I'm hanging out at the Teens Read Too Book Club blog.
Please stop by and enter the contest! http://trtbookclub.blogspot.com/2010/05/visit-with-sydney-salter.html

Revision Is A Bear! Or Is It?

As I new writer, I approached revision like this:


The mere thought of all the potential mistakes in my novel made me feel as if I were, well, being eaten alive by a bear. Where do you start when there are SO many problems with a story? I chose to ignore the big, structural problems, choosing instead to focus on small, safe things like word choice, punctuation...

And it wasn't too effective. My manuscripts gathered a stacks of rejection form letters from publishers. Eventually, I learned the imp...

Miss Swoon (3)

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Dear Miss Swoon,
My friend told me that another friend has been talking behind my back. She said that SHE would look better in my clothes than I do! And that I don't know how to do my hair very well. What should I do? I'm not sure I want to stay friends with someone who would do that. --Mad Fashion
Dear Mad,
I'm going to state the obvious: there is no way to stop people from talking about us when we're not there. We are just too interesting! And most of us give in to the temptation at least now ...

Books ARE Judged By Their Covers

You know that old saying about not judging a book by its cover? Well, my shelves are full of books I bought simply because I loved the cover. And I've heard from many people who have bought my book, My Big Nose And Other Natural Disasters, simply because they loved the cover.
Today I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that the great design team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has won the Novel Cover award at the Bookbuilders of Boston 53rd Annual New England Book Show for My Big Nose And Other...

Hanging On Versus Letting Go

For the last three weeks, my family has been debating "hanging on" versus "letting go." Here's the situation:
During our spring vacation, I flipped out of a river raft in a Class IV rapid. I held on to the thin safety cord attached to the raft with a grasp so intense that my pinkie finger was numb for the next ten days. And I injured my shoulder. It all happened so fast; I didn't know whether I'd smashed my shoulder against a rock, or tore it up by hanging on. Thus, our family debate.
I held...

Clever or Cruel?

I got really excited--and my heart rate picked up a bit--when I spotted this abandoned near the airport luggage carousel on my spring vacation (I love finding pennies, so this was a real coup!):

Looking around to see if anyone had accidentally dropped it--nope--I eagerly picked it up. And discovered that it was, well, not exactly what I imagined:


Yup. It was a business card. Soon we spotted those $100 teasers everywhere: sitting atop suitcases chugging around the luggage carousel, underneath me...

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!


Sierra is the winner of Stacey Jay's hilarious zombie trio!

Advice From Miss Swoon (2)

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Dear Miss Swoon:
I've always had short hair because I do a lot of sports--and it's just easier, you know? But now I'm dating this guy who really wants me to grow my hair long. He thinks long hair is sexy and he's always pointing out cute girls with long hair when we go out together. Should I change my hair for my boyfriend? It's only hair, right? –Wondering

Dear Wondering:

How do you feel when your boyfriend points out how sexy other girls are with their long, beautiful hair?...

Stacey Jay is back with another hilarious zombie tale, My...

Stacey Jay is back with another hilarious zombie tale, My So Called Death. Leave a comment and win the entire series! Here's her relationship advice:
1. What is the dumbest or smartest thing you've done after a breakup?
The dumbest thing I ever did was start dating my ex's best friend in a deranged attempt to "get back at my ex" for dumping me. It led to a bunch of horrid drama that was not worth the trouble. But my Scorpio heart is easily tempted by the idea of "revenge". It took me many...