Daisy Whitney's Blog, page 23

Recommended Reading: Catching Fire

I'll keep this book recommendation short and sweet since I already placed "Catching Fire," the second book in the astounding, amazing, out-of-this-world, Hunger Games trilogy, as one of my top reads for 2009. But let's just go a tad bit more in depth here as to why this book rocked my world and will likely do the same to yours if you haven't read it yet. (And yes, you should read The Hunger Games FIRST!)

The story starts after Katniss and Peeta have returned to District 12 as unlikely...

Recommended Reading: "The Lightning Thief"

Fine, so it's a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller. So the movie comes out in one month. So tell me something I don't already know, you're thinking.

Maybe I'm late to the game, but better late than never. If you haven't read the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series by Rick Riordan, now would be a good time to start. The first book in the series is The Lightning Thief and it was recommended to me by an independent bookseller in Half Moon Bay as a great series to share with my son. The...

I'm Pleased to Host The Cinderella Society Book Tour!

My friend and fellow young adult author Kay Cassidy has written a lovely debut novel The Cinderella Society with a heartening message for teenagers about empowerment and being your best. I was fortunate enough to receive and read an ARC of the book before its April 13 debut and am now hosting a blog tour of this book with seven other book bloggers. Then we'll all run a series of contests related to the book in the month surrounding its release.

The contest is designed to celebrate the the...

What I learned about copy edits from Love, Actually

You know that scene in "Love, Actually" when Colin Firth is working on his novel by the lake? And when Aurelia brings him tea and oopsy daisy — all the pages from his manuscript fly into the lake!

And wouldn't you know – he forgot to make copies.

That scene is a VITAL LIFE LESSON for all writers. And that's why I went to Kinko's yesterday to make a copy of my copy-edited manuscript (copy editor's notes and now my notes on it). Because the last thing I want to hear is "Oh, it must have gotten l...

Daisy's Best Reads of 2009

I probably read a book a week in 2009 and as the year draws to a close, here are the ones that stood out the most. Though I read a handful of books this year that I adored, such as "Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" and "The Lovely Bones," I'm going to focus on books published in 2009 for this list. Here goes!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: A spectacular follow-up to the equally amazing Hunger Games. I am dying to know what happens nextTwenty-Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler: A...

MKNBRDS license plate

First I thought maybe I'd have my car covered with a flock of papier mache mockingbirds. Then I thought maybe I'd just "wrap it" with a gigantic decal like those people who drive cars advertising Jamba Juice or dog grooming. Then I opened a gift from my mother-in-law Christmas morning and said, "I get to be one of those vanity license plate people!"

Yep, in about three weeks I'll get my official "MKNBRDS" license plate from the California DMV, thanks to my mother in law, whose gift totally...

The abyss of my own incompetence

On Christmas Eve morning I received a package from my publisher Little, Brown. Inside that envelope was my manuscript in its stark copy-edited form.

What are copy edits, you ask? Oh, they are just the thing that forces you to stare into the abyss of your own incompetence. (Thanks to my friend, colleague and fellow writer David Bloom for that apt description.)

I'm not just talking grammar or typos here, people. Though my astoundingly thorough copy editor caught all of those and then some, it...

Read BEAUTIFUL CREATURES!

Take everything you think you know about supernatural romance and throw it out. Because BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl stands alone in the genre. Sure, supernatural romance is a red-hot category right now and readers seem to have an insatiable appetite for it. But BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is more than just the next contender. It is a wholly original story in its own right that is literary, gorgeous, inventive and turns convention on its head.The novel tells the story of...

Elaine Benes' Words of Wisdom — Be Interesting. (And then leave a trail of Google Crumbs behind you)

Note: Last week, fellow young adult authors Lisa and Laura White allowed me to write a guest post for their blog on branding for authors. I'm reposting it here.

Online branding and marketing for authors is a lot like that "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book. Here's why — each and every thing you do online leads to something, then another thing, then something else. And in the end, all your actions and activity online can lead back to you and to sales of your book.

That's why I believe authors c...

Don't Give Up!

At this time three years ago I finished my first novel and was preparing to query agents, a quest that began in earnest in January 2007. It was a true rollercoaster ride, marked by the highs of requests and the lows of many, many rejections. I found my first agent three months later in April 2007. She was (and is) passionate, dedicated and hard-working. However, that book (commercial women's fiction) was rejected by more than 19 editors.

The summer of 2007 I wrote my second novel. It went on s...