Daisy Whitney's Blog, page 20

What do you want to see more of and less of on my blog?

My final microblogging post of the week!

And this is going to be an easy one! What do you guys like and dislike about my blog? What do you want to see more of and less of? How can I use this forum to be most helpful to my readers? Leave a comment or email me.

What food would you seek out in the Zombie Apocalypse?

In the hilarious movie "Zombieland" Woody Harrelson's character's focus is on tracking down a Twinkie. It's no easy task given that most grocery stores resemble ghost towns, filled only with the living dead. What one food item would you hunt down in the Zombie Apocalypse? While I doubt I'd be as focused as Woody, I'm willing to bet "Hello Panda" cookies would hold up well in such an environment.

Have you trained your family members to be honorary YA booksellers?

Another microblogging post!

During the holiday break my husband was at our local bookstore picking up a book for me in the teen section. While there he chatted up a mom there who was looking to buy a book but didn't know which one to pick up. He asked her if she needed a gift recommendation for someone. She said she was looking for a good YA novel. He recommended John Green's "Paper Towns." I gave him a big kiss and an honorary YA bookseller badge when he told me this story!

So have you all...

What are your writing rituals?

The microblogging continues!

Most writers have rituals to get in the mood to write. A comfy chair, a cup of tea, a certain song.

For me, I almost always have a full thingmajig — I think it's a big-ass coffee press and that actually is the technical name — of green tea next to me when I am writing at home. The time of day doesn't matter. It can be six in the morning or midnight but I always need tea to write!

What do you have next to you when you write? What are you writing rituals?

The Mockingbirds in Publishers Weekly Fall 2010 List!

Just saw that "The Mockingbirds" was mentioned in Publishers Weekly in the rundown of Little, Brown books releasing this fall! So exciting and still completely surreal! Here's the article.

A week of microblogging starting with your favorite books of all time

I've been enjoying the esteemed and amazing Laurie Halse Anderson's microblogging project for the month of February, in which she grants herself one minute of Internet time for very 20 minutes spent writing. That, to me, is the admirable ratio. So in honor of her microblogging efforts, I am going to microblog all week long starting today!

What are your five favorite books of all time? Here are mine.

A River Runs Through It by Norman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
The Harry Potter...

Young adult authors who rock online video

Online video and teen lit go hand in hand, it would seem. But not every author makes online videos. However, a handful of writers are rocking the Web video world and I want to give them props. In fact, the lovely teen lit author Shelli Johannes Wells asked me this very question for her marketing blog a few weeks ago, so I'm going to cross-post my answer here.

There are a number of ways authors can produce and make online videos. Some, like John Green, do so on an ongoing basis. Jon, along...

Is fake dating the new sparkly vampire?

I "get" that fiction doesn't always follow the rules of the real world. I know that sparkly vampires don't exist, international crime rings busted by super-spies are not commonplace, and Greek Gods aren't busy mating with your mamas.

So I'm on board with the whole suspension of disbelief thing. (And while we're at it, I'm sure there are nowhere near as many secret societies operating in real life as novels and movies would have us believe, but I created one for my book!)

But I have to wonder —...

One more gorgeous French necklace!

Remember when I showed you all my fabulous necklaces from Paris last week? Well, there was one that didn't make it into the video, but is my absolute favorite! Here it is! This necklace was actually damaged on the flight my mother in law took home from Paris, she she brought it to a local jeweler and had it repaired. "J'adore ce collier!" (That's what the French translation site spat back at me when I entered "I adore this necklace.")

How many Naughty List shirts can you take on and off in under one minute?

How many "The Naughty List" tee-shirts can you take on and off in under one minute? Come and see because I attempt this feat in my latest writing vlog. This one is in support of my good friend Suzanne Young's debut young adult novel "The Naughty List," which hit stores yesterday!!!