Sydney Salter's Blog, page 30

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!!


Valynne wins The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet!


Watch for two great contests this week!

Making Connections

Last month a group of my writer friends declared that February would be Write Your Butt Off Month (WYBOM). Each of us set personal goals and touched based several times a week, offering support when someone hit a rough patch or celebration when someone had a great day.
I worked hard on a revision for my agent, even squeezing in a couple of post-skiing hours on the weekends. After one last read-through on Friday, I sent the manuscript off (wahoo!!!). And then I noticed my desk--scary--and...

Winter Olympics

I love the Winter Olympics. I enjoy seeing the variety of activities that comprise winter sports. No one ever goes bobsledding in PE. Most parents discourage their kids from leaping into the air and twirling around and around like arial ski jumpers. And then there's two-man luge...well, it just looks so silly that it makes me laugh. I love how different body types suit different sports. Women with thick-muscled thighs win gold medals speed racing, but itty bitty teenagers excel at figure skati...

Contest Winner!

Congratulations!!!!!



Kate at Read This Book is the winner.

Watch for more giveaways in the coming weeks.

Relationship Advice from Erin Dionne

Since I don't have tons of breaking up experience, I've asked some of my favorite authors to help me celebrate the release of Swoon At Your Own Risk by sharing their relationship advice. Today Erin Dionne, author of The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet, shares her wisdom. To thank her, I'm giving you a chance to win her new book. Just leave a comment!

1. What is the dumbest or smartest thing you've done after a breakup?

Smartest thing I've done...never call the guy again. Dumbest thing...

Pop Singers Need Editors. Right, Kesha?

I love a catchy pop song (Owl City's "Fireflies" just makes me feel happy, you know?). But lately I've been thinking that pop singers really need editors. Take Kesha's "Tick Tock" song. Okay, aside from the fact that Jack Daniels will likely never make the American Dental Association's list of approved toothpastes, it's this lyric that drives me crazy:

"Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got
swagger
But we kick 'em to the curb unless they look like Mick
Jaggar."

What?!?!?!


These clubbi...

Guest Nose Kristen Walker

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Kristen Walker, author of the funny debut novel Match Made In High School. You won't forget your sunscreen after reading her story. Oh, and I'm giving away a copy of her book too!

I was unfortunate enough to grow up just before scientists linked sunburns to skin cancer. It was also a time devoid of anything resembling good fashion. It was the 80s, and that meant tan skin, a pastel Polo shirt, and a pair of Hawaiian-print Jams. Plus, a bad perm, blue...

So Vampires Don't Leave the Seat Up?

Yesterday while leaving the supermarket with four jumbo packs of Cottonelle, I confessed to my teen that I always feel kind of embarrassed when I buy tons of toilet paper, even though everyone uses it, goes to the bathroom...

"Everyone except vampires," she said.

"Really? Vampires NEVER go to the bathroom?"

"It's never mentioned," she said. "Besides what do they have to digest? They use the blood to make up for not having any blood of their own."

"Okay. I guess it makes sense that those perfect v...

Writing Books, Reading Books

Yesterday I attended a panel discussion at the Salt Lake City Library with YA authors Bobbie Pyron (The Ring), Paul Genesse (The Iron Dragon series), and Sara Zarr (Story Of A Girl, Sweethearts, Once Was Lost).
Sara Zarr talked about how her first published novel, Story Of A Girl, was her fourth manuscript (that's what happened to me too). She said she kept going despite "failing, failing, and failing because I wanted it so much." Every year she'd think that this would be the year and that k...

SCBWI New York Part Three: A Taping of ABCs The View

Since the main character in my work-in-progress ends up on a couple of TV shows, I couldn't resist a fellow SCBWI Regional Advisor's invitation to join her for a taping of The View. Research, right? Okay, so I do watch Hot Topics during my lunch break--how else would I keep up on celebrity divorces?

We had to arrive two hours before the taping where we waited in line with about two hundred others. I've never seen so many people with great hair and makeup crammed into one place. Plus, we were a...