Daisy Whitney's Blog, page 25

November 2010=The Mockingbirds!

I have a release month! And it's November! Yes, I can officially announce THE MOCKINGBIRDS will hit bookstore shelves and Amazon and other places where books are sold in November, 2010. I can't wait! It seems far away right now, but I'm sure the next eleven months will fly by!

So here's why I like November. It's the month of Thanksgiving, an awesome holiday! It's National Novel Writing month, so writing and reading is in the air. It's the start of the holiday shopping season! (Hint hint: I...

Word Lust

I literally cannot resist giving chapters titles.

I have named the chapters in all my books from the unpublished to the soon-to-be published.

Chapter titles are like this little untapped gem the structure of a novel offers to the author. They call out to me, sing to me, like a siren's song. "Name me, Daisy. Breathe life into me."

I don't hold back. I give in to their desire to be named. "Yes, chapter! Oh, yes, chapter. I will name you! How about 'First Time,' or 'The Other Girl' or 'Acting...

Win a Signed Copy of Sarah Quigley's TMI

I've got my hands on a signed copy of Sarah Quigley's fun novel "TMI." Want to win the copy for yourself or a friend? Then enter my contest here. Watch the video and enter in the comments! I'll pick a winner by Thursday December 10.

When Cats Attacks

So I've got a tag line for my novel THE MOCKINGBIRDS.

Here it is in my video blog, in which my evil cat attacks me!

Bookmarks! Get Yer MOCKINGBIRDS Bookmarks Here!

I have bookmarks for THE MOCKINGBIRDS!

OK, they don't include the cover art (the cover's not done). In fact, they're very simple and basic, sort of like a prototype or placeholder until I have the cover. But I have BOOKMARKS! Would you like one?

If you want one, please email me your mailing address and I'll put one in the mail to you! Free, you know.

Get yer free bookmarks!!

Save the cat? Save the hot guy!

Let's say your editor wants you to slice a scene from your young adult novel. How should you respond? Your response should be based on one factor. Does the scene contain the Hot Guy in the story? If it does not, you should consider her suggestion and probably make the change. Because, yes, editorial input by and large makes a story better.

But what if she wants you to cut a scene with a hot guy in it?

In this case, remember you always know better than your editor. You, after all, are only...

I date words. I don't marry them.

Words are wonderful things. They taste good, feel good, and in the right combo they can be intoxicating. You may want to kiss them, make out with them, even go to bed with them.

Just don't marry them!

Because you might have to leave them. In fact, at some point splitting up could be the best thing for the both of you. And look, a break-up doesn't mean there was anything wrong with the words. They were great words, they were fun to hang out with, and they had a great personality!

I just turned...

Calling all last names and first names!

As I was finishing revising THE MOCKINGBIRDS last month, I put a call out on Twitter for new last names for the antagonists. I got some good suggestions and used one or two of them in the book, such as "Ward" and "Dumas" (though Dumas turned out to be better for the French teacher's last name). I then put the word out that I was looking for first names for a few very minor characters and I used some of those names too, including "AnnaMarie" and "Emilee."

So now as I embark on preliminary work ...

John Green Will be a Guest on TWIM!

I love all my guests on my podcast This Week in Media, but I am especially excited to have the award-winning young adult author John Green as a guest on the Nov. 30 edition of our show. In addition to being the author of three fantastic books for teens, he also is a popular YouTuber. My good friend Kevin Nalty helped me secure him for the show. And in this episode we will likely focus on media stories related to publishing, books, YouTube and video. So what do you want me to ask him? What...

Three Girls, Two Hours and One Chocolate Shop

What do you get when you mix three writers, a chocolate shop and a Sunday afternoon?

You get two-plus hours of non-stop talking about books, fashion, boys (fictional ones, of course), social networking, agents, and words, words, words, oh that marvelous love of words.

Heidi Kling, Steph Perkins and Daisy Whitney

You see, writers by nature and by necessity are solitary creatures. We commune most closely with our laptops and laugh, cry and live inside imaginary worlds. We do this alone — alone at ...