Denise Jaden's Blog, page 29

Widget, Widget, Widget!

My awesome friends at Literary Logistics have designed a countdown widget for Never Enough! I hope you'll help me spread the word by adding it to your blog or website or... wherever!

Just click on "Get Widget" either below or over on the one on the sidebar. Thanks SO MUCH!!!


Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/i/b2762c9e-6... Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/"&g... free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com"&gt...! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/"&a... info</a>)

Friday Four

1. NEVER ENOUGH is out in like just over six weeks!!!! How did this sneak up on me so fast?!

2. I spoke with my Canadian publicist and marketing person from Simon & Schuster Canada this week. It was a great conversation, and they're planning all sorts of wonderful things to coincide with the release of NEVER ENOUGH, including a blog tour and a Twitter chat! I also have some beautiful new bookmarks. If anyone wants one (or a few to pass around) just email me at d (at) denisejaden (dot) com



3. I had an epiphany this week for my latest work in progress (currently titled FOREIGN EXCHANGE). I went back to the drawing board and was able to rewrite the first section to make it much stronger. I'm so excited about this book! I can't wait to be able to share it.

4. The sun is shining here and just in time for the weekend! I'll be stuck inside at a judo tournament tomorrow, but today I plan to get outside into my garden. I'm not much of a gardener, to be honest, but I find the process of gardening to be very peaceful. Plus, like I said, there's the sun...

Happy weekend, everybody!!

From My Mailbox

During the last week, I've woken up to some wonderful things in my inbox (a bonus of living on the West Coast - or a drawback when it's bad news). There are a few things that I can't share quite yet, but this morning I received a note and some fan art for Losing Faith that I'd love to share today. This totally made my whole week...

Dear Ms. Jaden,

            Hi my name is Kaylie I am one of the many students of (blocking out the school name). We are constantly reading assigned book that are lame and lurpy, so when we got a chance to pick a book I immediately picked a book I knew I would enjoy.  I have recently read you book Losing Faith, and I absolutely loved it! Your book was interesting, funny and exciting and I would, and am reading it again.  Others my age and I have connected in this book in different levels.  This book will forever remain in my mind as one of the best books I have ever read. Thank you for writing it and also taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Kaylie :) 

And here is the WONDERFUL picture that came with it:





Thanks so much, Kaylie!

Random Act of Kindness BLITZ!

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community. 

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.


Kindness ROCKS!
To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

Today I am blitzing... Deb Marshall! I am choosing her because I'm am so thankful and find it so admirable what she does for promoting Canadian authors.

If you have a minute, stop by Deb's blog and tell her how much you think Canadian authors rock...and tell her how much she rocks for promoting them!!!

As my gift to Deb, I'm offering her a first chapter or query critique, or a phone call to discuss any of her writing/plotting/characters that she needs help with.

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge? Don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)

Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  Let me know in the comments!

NEVER ENOUGH Secrets...Introducing Loann!

Yesterday marked the two months until publication date for NEVER ENOUGH! Yay!!! It feels suddenly SO CLOSE! But I'm very excited (I don't know, could you tell?)

Anyway, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I'd introduce you to my main character, Loann Rochester. I love Loann, she has been a part of my life for about eight years now, and in a way feels like a sister or a child to me. I'm thrilled that she will finally have her place in this world.

I'm sure most of you have seen my cover for NEVER ENOUGH by now. If not, here it is:


One thing I'd like to be clear about. This girl on the cover is not Loann, at least not in my head. Loann and I share the same frizzy/curly hair, which is often the bane of our existence. We're also both short, and as teens neither of us thought we were much to look at. So I wanted to share with you today the picture that I think captures Loann (and it captures her at a very specific point in the book - after swimming with her friend Marcus).

So here she is.... Please meet....Loann....



And I can't wait for you to meet her for real (or as real as fiction can be), in just two more months!!!


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GCC Presents IN HONOR by Jessi Kirby

I'm excited to spotlight another of my girlfriends from the Girlfriend's Cyber Circuit today! Jessi Kirby's first YA novel, MOONGLASS was wonderful, and her second, IN HONOR, is out today. I can't wait to read it! Congratulations, Jessi!

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About the Book:
Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn's celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.
Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn's last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn's best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn't seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn. . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn--but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

As well, Jessi stopped by for a short interview:

Welcome, Jessi! Can you tell me about your book in seven words or less. 
 A letter, mistaken last request, road trip.
 Other than your main character, who's a favorite character of yours in your novel and why?  
My most favorite character in this novel is Rusty, because he comes off a little rough but is actually a really good guy.  And then, well…I like to think of him as pretty hot.
 What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?   
Read, read, read.  It’s the best possible way to study what you want to do, directly from those who do it successfully.
 What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry? Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?   
Wow, it’s like you knew me or something!  Yes, I did write as a teen, and it was mostly poetry—overly literary and emotional, terrible poetry.
 What's the last book you read that you really loved?THE STORY OF US, by Deb Caletti.  Oh, I loved that book!  Caletti is one of the best I know at writing characters so real you feel like you know them personally, and telling a story with heart.  

Early Reviews:
“A beautiful, engaging journey with heart, humor, and just a pinch of Texas sass. Hands down my favorite contemporary of the year.”
--Sarah Ockler, bestselling author of Twenty Boy Summer, Fixing Delilah, and Bittersweet

“An amazing novel about first kisses, last goodbyes, and what it means to finally let go. I absolutely loved it.”
--Lauren Barnholdt, author of Two Way Street

About Jessi Kirby:
Jessi Kirby is the author of Moonglass, published in May 2011 by Simon and Schuster. She is also a wife, mom, English teacher and former librarian, beach bum, runner, and lover of Contemporary YA, strong coffee, and dark chocolate.
Jessi’s second novel, In Honor, will be released in May of 2012.


 For more information, find her on Simon and Schuster’s Official Author Page: http://authors.simonandschuster.ca/Jessi-Kirby/75617663
Her webpage: www.jessikirby.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kirbyjessi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/jessikirby  (@jessikirby)

Friday Four

1. I'm off to Kamloops, B.C. this weekend to teach at a youth authors conference. I'm very excited for a few reasons. 1. Because there's a good chance it'll be less rainy than it is here at home. 2. Because I get to hang out with teens. 3. Because these are teens who love to read and write!

2. Life has been a whirlwind of activity lately. I've been to Seattle twice in the last month, but had a ton of fun hanging with authors at a conference, writing away in a hotel room, and I even got to the zoo!

3. Some GREAT books have come out recently. I've been fairly busy beta reading for writer friends lately, but when I get caught up, I hope to get my hands on BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS by Terra Elan McVoy and WHEN YOU WERE MINE by Rebecca Serle. There are really so many great new books releasing every day, though. What books are you most looking forward to?


 
4. I've been writing up a storm! I completed a draft of a new manuscript, tentatively titled FINDING HOPE during March Madness. Since I was in drafting mode, and had this idea that just wouldn't leave me alone, I decided to just wing it without an outline during April. I won't look back at either of those projects for a while, but I'm feeling particularly good about the second one. I'm back to revising my NaNo book for my agent at the moment, just one quick final revision and then I'm really excited to be able to show it to my editor! It's gone through several titles...MILANO, DANGEROUS TRANSLATION, COVER ME...but lately I'm calling it FOREIGN EXCHANGE, which I kinda like.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I look forward to coming back to report about my time in Kamloops!

Wandering Wednesday

Today I'm blogging over at The Contemps site, spotlighting one of my favorite books from this year so far....ZERO by Tom Leveen. I hope you'll stop by and check it out!

Spotlight on CLOCKWISER by @Elle_Strauss

My very good author-friend, Elle Strauss, has a new book out! You may remember recently when I spotlighted her debut novel Clockwise--a totally warm and witty YA time travel novel. Clockwiser, the exciting follow-up sequel to Clockwise, is here!

The last year has been smooth sailing for Casey Donovan. She and her boyfriend Nate are doing better than ever, and things at home are good, too. Everything’s been so calm, she hasn’t “tripped” back to the nineteenth century in ages.
Then the unthinkable happens and she accidentally takes her rebellious brother Tim back in time. It’s 1862 with the Civil War brewing, and for Tim this spells adventure and excitement. Finding himself stuck in the past, he enlists in the Union army, but it doesn’t take long before he discovers real life war is no fun and games.
Casey and Nate race against the clock to find Tim, but the strain wears on their relationship. It doesn’t help that the intriguing new boy next door has his sights on Casey, and isn’t shy to let her know it.
Can Nate and Casey find Tim in time to save him? And is it too late to save their love?

Sales links:Amazon Smashwords

Sample Chapter Chapter OneCASEYBeginning of Summer Holidays
Sometimes I wished I were an only child. But then I’d be walking or taking transit instead of getting a lift from my brother Tim in his Cavalier beater. He didn’t have air conditioning either, and the wind blowing in from our open windows was hot and moist. The humidity made me feel like I was wearing a warm, wet washcloth for a shirt.“Can’t you drop me off first?” I said, fanning myself with my hand. I was meeting my best friend Lucinda at the mall, and she only had a thirty minute break from her job at Forever21. Plus, the mall was air conditioned. Bonus. “I gotta get some cash first. Besides, I’m not your personal taxi service, Casey.” Tim snarled, turning the volume up on his stereo. The bass beat was so loud it rattled the trunk. “Get off your lazy butt and get your license already.”I gave him a dirty look and reached over to turn the music down. I had a very good reason for not getting my license, but I could never tell Tim or any member of my family what it was. There were only three people currently living who knew the reason. One of them was my boyfriend Nate Mackenzie. My heart still fluttered a bit when I thought of him in those terms. My boyfriend. Not just some out-of-reach guy I crushed hard on my whole sophomore year, but my boyfriend.We’d already been an official couple for an entire year, totally blowing all the doomsday predictions that we’d never make it. No one thought a college boy would stick it out with a junior in high school--especially Nate’s evil former girlfriend!But he did, and we were still going strong. I’d be starting my senior year in a few weeks and then I’d join him at Boston University, too.“If you dropped me off first, you wouldn’t have to deal with me,” I tried to reason.“If I didn’t shuttle you around at all I wouldn’t have to deal with you.”The only reason he did was because my parents were putting the screws in. Tim’s bad attitude, questionable choice of friends and poor grades put him in their bad books. Driving me around was penance. He pulled into the parking lot of the bank and hopped out, leaving the car running. I reached over and turned it off. Idling the car was bad for the environment for one, and a waste of Tim’s hard-earned minimum-wage job gas money for another. You’d think he’d know better.I checked the time on my phone and grew anxious as Lucinda’s break time grew nearer. Tim had his back to me as he stood in line at the ATM window. I looked at my reflection in the visor mirror. Since I’d grown out of my skinny awkwardness last year (and snagged a hot boyfriend), I was more mindful of my looks. Instead of trying to hide behind a bush of dark, curly hair, I used better hair products and found a great stylist, and I liked the way my curls framed my face now. I took a tube of lip gloss out of my purse and rolled it onto my lips.I tugged on my shorts and rubbed my bare legs. They were so long, my knees almost touched the glove compartment. Height had its advantages, but getting comfortable in a small car wasn’t one of them.I turned the radio on and hummed along. I daydreamed about me and Nate and how we could relax for the rest of the summer, hopefully stretching the lazy days out as long as possible. I checked the time on my phone again and immediately started stressing about being late to meet Lucinda. C’mon, Tim! He was second in line now. I texted Lucinda to let her know I might be a little late.I heard sirens and I perked up. This wasn’t the best neighborhood. The bank wasn’t huge, just tucked into a strip mall along with a nail place, a dollar store, and a thrift shop. Litter overflowed from the bin and a good amount had been blown up against the cement foundation.I checked on Tim. He’d finally made it to the front, the last one in line. If I’d known it was going to take him this long, I would’ve run into the dollar store and picked up cheap nail polish.The siren noise grew increasingly louder and suddenly three cop cars pulled into the parking lot beside me. My heart jumped, and I thought fleetingly that maybe Tim was in trouble with the law again. Only, he was getting money out of the ATM, not robbing the bank.But someone was. Everything happened so fast. A guy with a ski mask pushed past Tim as he ran out the bank doors. A cop shouted, “Stop or I’ll shoot,” and another masked man followed. Guns went off. Tim stood there, stunned and frozen. I heard myself shout, “Tim!” He was right in the middle of the cross-fire!A police officer ran to him, pushing him to the ground just as the second armed man shot in their direction. The officer fell to the ground, taking the bullet instead of Tim.The robbers ran around the corner and out of sight, chased by police officers on foot and a cruiser down the back ally.I sprinted to Tim where he was on the ground by the fallen cop.“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice tight.His face was white, and he motioned to the woman beside him. “Yeah, but I don’t think she is.”The officer moaned, holding her hand on her chest.“Oh, ma’am, are you okay?” I searched for blood but couldn’t see any.“I will be,” she said gasping for breath. “I have a vest on.”Another officer kneeled beside her. “Ambulance is on its way.”The woman had dark hair pulled back in a low bun. Her eyes stayed pinched together and her pale face glistened with sweat. The impact of the bullet was enough to do some damage. I picked up her police hat that had fallen off her head and handed it to her.“Thank you,” I said. “Just doing my duty.”The ambulance arrived. The paramedics pushed us aside and lifted the woman onto a gurney.The cop who’d checked her pulse stepped forward from his open door cruiser. Radio dispatch noises leaked out.I watched the ambulance pull away, siren blasting, and realized I didn’t know her name. I asked the officer standing beside me.“That’s Officer Clarice Porter,” he said. “Now, would you two mind coming with me to the station to file a report?”We agreed, and I took my first ride in a police car. It was Tim’s second, but his first was not for noble reasons. He still claimed it was his friend Alex, and not him, who’d stolen the cigarettes from the convenience store. A thought like a loud banner ran through my mind as the doors of the police cruiser slammed shut and we drove away.Clarice Porter saved my brother’s life.

--
Elle Strauss
Author of MG and YA novels including CLOCKWISE - A teen time traveler accidentally takes her secret crush back in time. Awkward.

"Readers who 'trip' back in time with Casey will wish they could stay longer in her strangely relatable place." - Kirkus Review

"I loved Clockwise! A great read. Congratulations."
- Wendy Orr, author of Nim's Island



Available at Amazon
www.ellestraussbooks.com
@elle_strauss

How to Streamline Your Social Media - For Busy, Busy People

I've been crazy busy lately, no time to blog, but my busyness got me thinking about a presentation I gave last year about Streamlining. My apologies if this is a bit outdated in any way (I know it does not include Pinterest, for one), but I thought I'd put my notes up in case they're of interest to you...

When we talk about an Online Presence, we’re talking about not only a website, but your blogging presence, your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, LibraryThing, GoodReads, and now Google +.

Not only do the experts tell you that you should have a presence on all of these platforms, but also that you need to add content regularly to keep them dynamic. How is that even possible, you might ask. I know I did.

There are a couple of choices:
1. Cut back and only involve yourself in your favorite social media platforms.
2. Learn to streamline. And by streamlining, I mean automate.

Keep in mind, automating and flogging are not the same thing. Chances are your audience will either only follow you in one social media outlet, or, if they follow you in more than one, they won’t get annoyed if they see the same blog post, for example, tweeted as well as posted on Facebook, MySpace, GoodReads, and LinkedIn.

Here's a bit of a rundown on how you can link up and automate your different platforms for social media:

1.    Your website – Make sure your website includes links (little icons are nicer than just text) to all of your other social media platforms. Ideally, on your home page of your website, with one click, followers should be able to follow you anywhere else that you are set up online.

2.    Your blog – For many of you, maybe your blog is your website, and that’s great. Same thing goes with having easy links to all your other presences on the web. Blogs also have handy widgets that can help you add dynamic content from other sites. For example, in the sidebar of my blog, I have a widget that displays what I’m reading (linked from GoodReads), another that displays my recent tweets from Twitter, one that invites people to “Like” my Facebook author page, and another that showcases my latest YouTube videos.

3.    Your Twitter – It’s easy to set it up so all your tweets go automatically to Facebook, but do you really want that? I used to have mine set up that way until I realized many of my Facebook friends were getting frustrated because they couldn’t follow much of what came up as my statuses on Facebook. Many-a-Twitter-virgin would ask me why I always had these @ signs at the beginning of statuses, or why the heck I used the pound sign so much. Now I used Tweetdeck, and with a simple click of a tab I can decide if I want to send a tweet just to Twitter or to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

4.    Your Facebook – You can feed your blog into the notes section of Facebook using Feedburner, but I use Networked Blogs, an application within Facebook to automatically feed by blog both into my personal Facebook page and also into my new Facebook author page. I don’t even think about it anymore. If I make it onto Facebook once a week to update my status, that’s great, but my account stays active just because my blog posts there automatically. There’s always something new there for my Facebook followers to see.

5.    NetVibes – this is a great site that allows you to update your statuses (and keep an eye on everything from the local weather and news to your favorite blogs) all in one place. It’s dashboard-style, and easy to navigate and drag widget boxes to wherever they’re most useful for you. If you don’t have extra time to keep up with social media, take a few minutes to set this up with all of your accounts, and then just open it up once a day to update everything in one place. It’s enough to keep you active everywhere.

The idea is to set things up once so your content filters through to all your outlets. If you think you have a high-interest post that needs multiple mentions, a nice way to do this is to start your posting with something like: “For the afternoon crowd,” so your followers know that you are purposely posting something more than once to try to hit a different crowd. That’s much less annoying than just seeing the same message over and over again. Nobody likes to be hit over the head with something.

Which brings me to another point: Don’t automate everything. Don’t hit people over the head with your product, whether it’s reviews or your latest book. I love to follow people back on Twitter, especially if it’s someone who loves books, but I admit, if as soon as I follow someone, I get a direct message telling me to check out their book or their blog, I usually unfollow them right away. That, in the world of social media, reeks of desperation, not professionalism.
There are many more social media outlets than what I’ve mentioned, of course, but most of them are making it truly easy to link up with all the others. While editing your GoodReads profile, you’ll see it’s self-explanatory how to add your blog, or to copy a GoodReads button or widget to add to your blog or website. There are plenty of badges or icons or galleries that you can add to your website and/or blog with almost every social media platform.

MySpace still links up with most of the biggies, but I personally don’t know anyone who spends time there anymore. Google + can be really useful for grouping your contacts into separate circles.

The thing is, there’s always something new, and there will always be something new. Take charge of what you’re involved in now, streamline it to the best of your ability, and when The Next New Thing comes along, you’ll have the time and energy to give it a try.


Helpful Links to Streamline Your Social Media:

Social media is an important part of the cutting edge book industry today, but you don’t have to spend a lot of time at it to keep active. Here are some links and brief descriptions that will help you along in streamlining your online presence:

feedburner.com– This is a free service to burn your blog feed and feed it into other social media outlets.
Netvibes.com (or iGoogle.com) – This is a dashboard that makes it easy to monitor all of your social media platforms in one place. You can also send your blog there, or watch other blogs that interest you. It’s easy to update statuses all in one place if you don’t want them to all be exactly the same. This is great for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space, and probably many others.
Ping.FM – This can be used to update all of your social networks at once. Fast and easy if you want to post the same message everywhere.
Tweetdeck.com (or HootSuite.com) – Some also prefer to use Hootsuite, but I’ve found Tweetdeck more user-friendly. Update multiple Twitter accounts from one place. With the click of one button, decide whether or not to forward your tweet to Facebook or to tweet it from more than one Twitter account. Watch what specific people are tweeting about and easily retweet their interesting messages.
Tweetlater.com – Set up automatic tweets for later in the day if you won’t be around. (Again, please don’t flog the same message again and again…desperation, not professionalism!)
Twitterfeed.com – Add your blog on this site and it will automatically feed your blog posts onto Twitter for you. Here’s a hint: You can add hashtags either at the source on Twitterfeed or in your blog title to help drive traffic on a particular subject.
Upcoming.org – Are you involved in a lot of physical appearances? Make sure you list the information here (and sign up to find out about upcoming events in your area).

I hope this information is helpful! It's reminding me that I need to do a check-up to make sure all my links and automatons are still running smoothly. And I'm always open to new and helpful advice. Is there anything I haven't covered here that would make my life easier? Oh my stars, please share!!!

Happy Streamlining![image error]