Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 64

Print version of Parallel Visions now available on CreateSpace; Amazon and B&N to come

Wheeee! The print version of my new YA fantasy Parallel Visions is now up on CreateSpace for $7.99! It should be up on Amazon in 5-6 days, B&N 5-6 weeks. Or, of course, there’s the $2.99 ebook.

There’s a short message and my signature inside each print and ebook copy. I hope you’ll enjoy that!

I got the proof today, and it looks gorgeous! Such a good feeling to hold your own book in your hands! AND to love the cover. (grinning)

For NaNoWriMo HarperCollins has 10 writing techinque ebooks up for $1.99 each

To celebrate NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), HarperCollins has 10 writing technique and writing-related ebooks up for $1.99 each (for a limited time). I love writing technique books; I think they help us with our craft, help us to write better. I still buy and read them. So I recommend that if you write or want to write, you pick up some (or all) of these books at this low price. Of course, read a review or two to see if the book fits you.

Reading Like a Writer (P.S.)

by Francine Prose

Long before there were creative-writing workshops and degrees, how did aspiring writers learn to write? By reading the work of their predecessors and contemporaries, says Francine Prose.

In Reading Like a Writer , Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters. She reads the work of the very best writers—Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Austen, Dickens, Woolf, Chekhov—and discovers why their work has endured. She takes pleasure in the long and magnificent sentences of Philip Roth and the breathtaking paragraphs of Isaac Babel; she is deeply moved by the brilliant characterization in George Eliot’s Middlemarch. She looks to John Le Carré for a lesson in how to advance plot through dialogue, to Flannery O’Connor for the cunning use of the telling detail, and to James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield for clever examples of how to employ gesture to create character. She cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which literature is crafted.

Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire readers to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart.

Write Away: One Writer’s Approach to the Novel

by Elizabeth George

Here’s a useful book for the novice writer battling the fears and insecurities that attend when she contemplates her first novel. Highly successful as the writer of a dozen novels of suspense (A Place of Hiding, etc.) and a teacher with significant experience, George reveals that those same fears and insecurities still bedevil her. She quickly moves beyond that to a consideration of the craft of writing-mastering the tools and techniques that a writer needs in order to create art. While George illustrates her points with passages from both her own works and those of numerous writers she admires (Martin Cruz Smith, Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris), this remains more of a how-I-do-it book than a how-to-do-it book. Thus George will typically discuss an aspect of writing, such as creating the landscape of a novel, illustrate it with examples from various writers and then show how she approaches it. The result is an informative, instructive and idiosyncratic examination of the structure of the novel and of one writer’s rigorously disciplined approach to creating one. George makes clear that writing is a job and that mastering the tools and techniques of the craft can go a long way toward making a writer successful. Finally, she advocates self-discipline, or what Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One) calls “bum glue.” As George puts it, “A lot of writing is simply showing up… day after day, same time and same place.” Both aspiring writers and fans of George’s novels should enjoy the author’s insights into the creative process.

How Not to Write a Novel

by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman

“What do you think of my fiction book writing?” the aspiring novelist extorted.

“Darn,” the editor hectored, in turn. “I can not publish your novel! It is full of what we in the business call ‘really awful writing.’”

“But how shall I absolve this dilemma? I have already read every tome available on how to write well and get published!” The writer tossed his head about, wildly.

“It might help,” opined the blonde editor, helpfully, “to ponder how NOT to write a novel, so you might avoid the very thing!”

Many writing books offer sound advice on how to write well. This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.

In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious “mis-examples” to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they’ll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

Unless It Moves the Human Heart: The Craft and Art of Writing

For more than forty years, distinguished author Roger Rosenblatt has also been a teacher of writing, guiding students with the same intelligence and generosity he brings to the page, answering the difficult questions about what makes a story good, an essay shapely, a novel successful, and the most profound and essential question of them all—why write?

Unless It Moves the Human Heart details one semester in Rosenblatt’s “Writing Everything” class. In a series of funny, intimate conversations, a diverse group of students—from Inur, a young woman whose family is from Pakistan, to Sven, an ex–fighter pilot—grapples with the questions and subjects most important to narrative craft. Delving into their varied lives, Rosenblatt brings readers closer to them, emotionally investing us in their failures and triumphs.

More than a how-to for writers and aspiring writers, more than a memoir of teaching, Unless It Moves the Human Heart is a deeply felt and impassioned plea for the necessity of writing in our lives. As Rosenblatt wisely reminds us, “Writing is the cure for the disease of living. Doing it may sometimes feel like an escape from the world, but at its best moments it is an act of rescue.”

Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True

by Elizabeth Berg




The writer’s guide of the year, Escaping into the Open combines Elizabeth Berg’s very personal story of her journey from working mother to successful writer, with encouraging words on how to write straight from the heart. Filled with inspirational advice and sprinkled with stories of her own experience, as well as that of other writers, the book also provides helpful hints about what one needs to get started, effective techniques to unleash creativity, and ways to deal with rejection — and success — in the writer’s world. Escaping into the Open is full of warmth and encouragement and illuminating truths about the writing life.

How to Write: Advice and Reflections

by Richard Chodes

Uniquely fusing practical advice on writing with his own insights into the craft, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes constructs beautiful prose about the issues would-be writers are most afraid to articulate: How do I dare write? Where do I begin? What do I do with this story I have to tell that fills and breaks my heart? Rich with personal vignettes about Rhode’s sources of inspiration, How to Write is also a memoir of one of the most original and celebrated writers of our day.

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing

by Elmore Leonard

“These are the rules I’ve picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I’m writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what’s taking place in the story.”—Elmore Leonard

For aspiring writers and lovers of the written word, this concise guide breaks down the writing process with simplicity and clarity. From adjectives and exclamation points to dialect and hoopetedoodle, Elmore Leonard explains what to avoid, what to aspire to, and what to do when it sounds like “writing” (rewrite).

Beautifully designed, filled with free-flowing, elegant illustrations and specially priced, Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing is the perfect writer’s—and reader’s—gift.

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction

by William Zinsser

On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.

The Writing Life

by Annie Dillard

With color, irony and sensitivity, Pulitzer prize-winner Annie Dillard illuminates the dedication absurdity, and daring that is the writer’s life. As it probes and exposes, examines and analyzes, The Writing Life offers deeper insight into one of the most mysterious of professions.

Write for Your Life

by Lawrence Block

Based on Lawrence Block’s extremely popular seminar for writers. Discover Block’s tips for overcoming writer’s block and unleashing your creativity.

My new YA fantasy Parallel Visions is now up on Amazon & Kobo for $2.99!

My new YA fantasy Parallel Visions is out! In Parallel Vision, Kate sees visions of the future and the past–but only when she has an asthma attack. To save her sister and a suicidal classmate, Kate must trigger more visions–but that could kill her!

Only $2.99 as an ebook on Amazon and Kobo and it should be up on B&N and for iPad, and in print in the next month or so.

It deals with domestic violence, attempted suicide, bullying, homophobia, and rape, all in a fantasy setting. And it also has hope, like all my novels. And the same editor who edited Scars and Hunted edited Parallel Visions.

Curious? You can glowing 4-star review of Parallel Visions. I am SO glad that Jane, who has asthma, felt the real-ness of Kate’s asthma in the book! I recently developed asthma, but have never had as bad an attack as I wrote into the book. But I have had my breathing stopped by my abusers. So I used my asthma experience, trauma experience, research, and imagination to write it. I’m delighted it felt true to her!

And, hey–what do you think of the cover? I really love it. (grinning)

In Toronto? I’m at Yorkdale Indigo tonight at 7pm with authors Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, and Leah Bobet!

Don’t forget–if you’re in the Toronto area, come out tonight to Indigo Yorkdale at 7pm to get signed books from me, Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, and Leah Bobet!

You can enter giveaways from each of the authors. I’ll be giving away an ebook copy of my newest YA fantasy novel Parallel Visions, about Kate who gets visions of the future–only when she has an asthma attack. To save her sister and a suicidal classmate, she must have more visions–but that could kill her.

I’ll also have free Hunted bookmarks, short story postcards, and a limited number of Hunted postcard comics.

We’ll also, this month, be dropping by Belleville, Barrie, and Brampton!

Hope to see you there.

Why We Need Diversity in YA Fiction

Imagine if, no matter how many books you read, you couldn’t find any main characters that you could see yourself in. Think of how alone you’d feel. Maybe you’d start to feel like something was wrong with you. Shameful. Or maybe you’d just feel not seen. Not having yourself represented in books is like being invisible. It’s like people are saying you don’t matter, you’re not good enough to appear in a book.

I think it’s important that we all have reflections of ourselves in books. And including many diverse characters, not just straight, white, able-bodied characters, is a more complete representation of our real world. I also think that if we have diversity in YA novels, if we normalize it (as i believe we should), it may eventually help some readers to be less homophobic, less racist, more accepting of many different people–all without preaching, just because they read books they love with characters who aren’t like them.

Right now, our real world of diverse human beings isn’t reflected much in YA fiction.

Malindo Lo looked at YA books published in 2012* and found only 44 YA books with LGBT main characters or even about characters with LBGT traits–out of close to 5,000 YA books! So approximately 1.6% of all YA books in 2012 had LGBT content–and likely many of them did not have LGBT main characters or secondary characters. That is a dismal figure! AND out of that 1.6% of all LGBT YA lit published in 2012, LGBT publishers published 37% of those LGBT books So right now, small presses are publishing a LOT of diverse voices that might not otherwise be heard. I hope that in the future, mainstream publishers will become more open and publish a lot more LGBT and characters of color books.

In 2009, Jacket Whys blog looked at 775 YA novels and found only 2% with people of color on the covers. Two percent?? That’s not representative of our society at all!

So what’s happening here?

I think that there are more white, straight, able-bodied authors being published than authors of color, LGBT, or differently abled. But I also think that many white, straight authors are afraid to write books with characters of races or sexual orientations that are different from their own–afraid of doing it wrong, of being attacked for trying and not coming up to exacting standards.

And then, too, there are the publishers themselves, the editors and marketing departments who may think that books that aren’t about straight white characters won’t sell. (Publishing is a business.) I also think it’s harder to get books with non-white, non-straight characters published if you’re a first-time author. It’s easier to start incorporating those elements if your books sell well, you have a readership, and publishers decide they can give you more leniency. But just because it’s harder doesn’t mean you can’t do it! My first book, Scars, has a lesbian main character in a happy relationship. My most recent book, Hunted, has a black love interest, and a lesbian friend.

The push-backs are real.

It took me ten years to get Scars published, and a heck of a lot of rejections–and during the last few years, I didn’t change the manuscript. I think it took finding the right editor and publishing house who was open to a queer main character (that also dealt with self-harm and sexual abuse). Megan Crewe was told by some agents that a manuscript she was working on–an urban fantasy set in Japan–would be very difficult to sell because of the location. Jessica Verday was told that the gay YA fairy story she submitted to an anthology was inappropriate for anthology and would have to change it to male-female (or straight). (I’m so glad so many authors pulled out of that anthology! But it’s still unacceptable to me–and yet a sign of how homophobic our society still is. And think, too, of the many whitewashed covers in YA fiction, such as Justine Larebalestier’s Liar (Micah is black, but they put a white girl on cover), and Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass (they used a pale skinned model for a dark skinned character). There have been many more whitewashed covers over the years. It helps when, as readers and as writers, we speak out and let publishers know we’re not okay with such injustices. But I wish we didn’t have to do that at all.

What Can We do To Help?

As readers, I think it’s important to buy and read books that have diverse characters. And it also really helps to talk about, review, and get the word out about those books you’ve enjoyed!

As writers, I think it’s important to start consciously bringing in diverse characters when they fit the fabric of your story. Think about your main character–does she or he have to be straight, white, or able? Or your secondary characters. Think too about your walk-on characters. Do they really all need to be white or straight?

If more writers submit more books that have diverse characters, then there will be more books published with diverse characters. But we also need to help get the word out about the books that are out there, need to buy those books, so publishers will start to see that that books resonate, that people will buy those books, and then they’ll also put effort into marketing and selling those books.

How to incorporate diversity in your manuscript when it’s not your own experience.

If you’re a writer and you want to bring some greater diversity into your novels, how do you do it? Well, first, I want to say thank you; I’m so glad you’re thinking about it. If you’re going to write a character who doesn’t have your own cultural or sexual orientation experience, it helps to research it. Read books and articles, especially from people who have those experiences. You can also talk to people who have that experience, even join elists on the subject, if that’s permitted. And, if possible, get someone else who has that experience to read your story and give you feedback. But go for it! As writers, we write both what we know, and what we imagine. We try to put ourselves into other people’s lives, and help our readers do that, too. Writing books is the perfect way to explore lives that aren’t our own, or to have a voice when we may not have had one before.

Some Book Recommendations

This is only a starting point. You’ll find many others if you search the subjects online, or ask a librarian.

LGBT YA Fantasy

LGBT main characters in YA fantasy:

Ash and Huntress by Malinda Lo

Tithe by Holly Black, and all her other books.

Hero by Perry Moore

City of Ruin by Mark Charon Newton,

Banshee by Hayden Thorne

Magic’s Pawn (The Last Herald-Mage Series, Book 1) by Mercedes Lackey

Radiant Days by Elizabeth Hand.

secondary LGBT chararacters in many books including:

Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima

Many of Alyxandra Harvey’s books have LGBT characters in them.

LGBT YA Realistic

Keeping You a Secret (lesbian), Luna (trans) by Julie Anne Peters, and many others by Julie Anne Peters.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (and many others by Nancy)

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan.

Shine and Kissing Kate and by Lauren Myracle.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Money Boy by Paul Yee

Absolutely Positively Not (Sid Fleischman Humor Award) by David LaRochelle

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, and many other books by David.

Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

Totally Joe by James Howe (and many other books by James)

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins and many others by Ellen have secondary LGBT characters.

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson, and many other books by Jacqueline.

For more suggestions, check out Lee Wind’s I’m Here, I’m Queer, What The Hell Do I Read? and BonjourCass’ LGBTQ Book Blogger Directory.

Multicultural YA Fantasy

Ash and Huntress by Malinda Lo

Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

Tithe by Holly Black and all her other books.

Fair Coin and Quantum Coin by E. C. Myers

The Secret Keepers by Paul Yee

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestir (Australian and half Aborigine),

The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima and all her other books.

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress (Japanese character)

Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce (major black character)

Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Intruments trilogy (Asian love interest)

Multicultural YA Realistic

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson, and many other boosk by Jacqueline.

Illegally Blonde by Nelsa Roberto (Portuguese main character)

Money Boy by Paul Yee

Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

For more suggestions, check out Malinda Lo and Cindy Pon’s Diversity In YA.

Differently-Abled YA Fantasy

Every Day by David Levithan

Annerton Pit by Peter Dickinson (blind character

The Angel Experiment: A Maximum Ride Novel (Book 1) by James Patterson (secondary character is blind)

Farsighted (blind)

Stravaganza: City of Secrets (dyslexia)

Differently Abled YA Realistic

Girl, Stolen by April Henry (blind character)

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (character lost both hands)

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (deaf character)

The White Darkness by Geraldine Mccaughrean (hearing impaired)

See Top Fiction for Children, Teens, and Adults With Disabilities for more recommendations.

There’s also disorders, chronic illnesses, and mental/psychological issues to consider.

Have recommendations of other books? Leave them in the comments.

Most of the information in this post I talked about at World Fantasy Convention 2012, on the YA Diversity Panel, and some I heard from my fellow panelists Megan Crewe, Cinda Williams Chima, EC Myers, and moderator Kathy Sullivan.

*Malinda Lo’s post was created during Pride Month, June, so she may not have known all the books for the year coming out, but probably had a pretty good idea.

YA ebooks on sale for $2.99 or less on Amazon

There are some interesting looking YA books on sale this month ($2.99 or less) on Amazon.

Insignia


by S.J. Kincaid (HarperCollins)


On sale for $2.99 (Reg $17.99)

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.

Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him?

Gripping and provocative, S. J. Kincaid’s futuristic thrill ride of a debut crackles with memorable characters, tremendous wit, and a vision of the future that asks startling, timely questions about the melding of humanity and technology.

Stork


by Wendy Delsol (Candlewick)


On sale for $2.99 (Reg $8.99)

Oh baby! A hip heroine discovers that she has the ability to decide who gets pregnant in this witty YA blend of romance and the supernatural. Sixteen-year-old Katla has just moved from Los Angeles to the sticks of Minnesota. As if it weren’t enough that her trendy fashion sense draws stares, she learns to her horror that she’s a member of an ancient order of women who decide to whom certain babies will be born. Add to that Wade, the arrogant football star whom Katla regrettably fooled around with, and Jack, a gorgeous farm boy who initially seems to hate her. Soon Katla is having freaky dreams about a crying infant and learns that, as children, she and Jack shared a near-fatal, possibly mystical experience. Can Katla survive this major life makeover and find a dress for the homecoming dance? Drawing from Norse mythology and inspired by The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, debut author Wendy Delsol conceives an irreverent, highly entertaining novel about embracing change and the (baby) bumps along the way.

So Close to You


By Rachel Carter (HarperCollins)


On sale for $2.99 (Reg $9.99)

Lydia Bentley has heard stories about the Montauk Project all her life: stories about the strange things that took place at the abandoned military base near her home and the people who’ve disappeared over the years. Stories about people like her own great-grandfather.

When Lydia stumbles into a portal that transports her to a dangerous and strange new reality, she discovers that all the stories she’s ever heard about the Montauk Project are true, and that she’s in the middle of one of the most dangerous experiments in history.

Alongside a darkly mysterious boy she is wary to trust, Lydia begins to unravel the secrets surrounding the Project. But the truths behind these secrets force her to question all her choices—and if Lydia chooses wrong, she might not save her family but destroy them . . . and herself.

Vertigo


By Kristina Dunker (Amazon Crossing)


On sale for $1.99 (Reg $7.99)

Eva is sixteen and experiencing all of the excitement of being in love for the first time. And this weekend promises to be special, as she and her boyfriend, Julian, will be spending time at his parents’ country house. Nothing could be more perfect. Except the journey to the country is anything but, and Eva’s dream weekend is turning into a total nightmare.

When Eva’s train is delayed, she is unable to pick up Julian. She soon finds herself alone on a forest road late at night—and the witness to a group of teenagers beating a young boy. As she somehow sneaks by unnoticed, she also loses her diary, an incredibly personal book that holds all of her secrets—including details of her visits to a psychotherapist. So when she meets a kindred spirit who shares her demons and seems to know so much, she has to wonder whether he has read her thoughts.

Exploring the hopes, fears, and dangers of adolescence Vertigo spins a riveting tale of extraordinary emotional range and intensity.

Smart Girls Get What They Want


By Sarah Strohmeyer (HarperCollins)


On sale for $2.99 (Reg $9.99)

Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren’t the most popular girls in school, they aren’t too worried. They know their real lives will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. There will be ivy, and there will be cute guys in the libraries (hopefully with English accents)! But when an unexpected event shows them they’re missing out on the full high school experience, it’s time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. They make a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge—and they will totally rock it.

Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she’ll have to get over her fear of public speaking—and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed. It could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes—until now.

These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want—but that could mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . . .

Join 3 best-selling fantasy authors in a video chat Nov 28

Join three best-selling fantasy authors in an online video chat on Shindig.com!

FANTASTICAL WORLDS:

In Conversation with Rachel Hartman, Stefan Bachmann, and Christopher Paolini

November 28, 2012, from 2PM – 3PM

Rachel Hartman, author of the critically acclaimed, instant New York Times bestseller SERAPHINA; Stefan Bachmann, author of THE PECULIAR (Harper Collins), and Christopher Paolini, author of the international bestselling series the Inheritance cycle and, most recently, the INHERITANCE deluxe edition, will discuss what inspires them & their characters and take viewer questions.

See Shindig for more information.

- Connect with Rachel Hartman:

@_rachelhartman

RachelHartmanBooks.com

SeraphinaBooks.com

- Connect with Stefan Bachmann

@Stefan_Bachmann

scathingjellyfish.blogspot.com/

- Connect with Christopher Paolini

@InheritanceCP

Alagaesia.com

YA lit Apocalypse & Dystopian tour in Ontario this Nov

In Ontario? Join me with HUNTED, Megan Crewe with THE WAY WE FALL, Lesley Livingston with STARLING, Maureen McGowan with DEVIANTS, Leah Bobet with ABOVE, and Courtney Summers with THIS IS NOT A TEST at 4 different Chapters/Indigo locations! Come get signed books, and enter to win a prizepack.

And in case you didn’t know–my dystopian HUNTED is up for the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy! (beaming) AND so is Lesley Livingston’s Tempestuous! So you’ve got two award finalists right there. All of the writers in the tour write gripping books that you’ll want to pick up.

Tuesday Nov 6, 7pm – Indigo Yorkdale, Yorkdale Mall (Toronto) – Leah Bobet, Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, Cheryl Rainfield. RSVP on Facebook!

Saturday Nov 10, 2pm – Chapters Belleville, Quinte Mall – Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, Cheryl Rainfield, Courtney Summers. RSVP on Facebook!

Saturday Nov 17, 2pm – Chapters Brampton, 52 Quarry Edge Drive – Leah Bobet, Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, Cheryl Rainfield. RSVP on Facebook!

Saturday Nov 24, 2pm – Chapters Barrie, 76 Barrie View Drive – Leah Bobet, Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan, Cheryl Rainfield. RSVP on Facebook!

At each event, you can enter to win prizes, including an advance copy of Megan Crewe’s The Lives We Lost, and an ebook or print copy of my new (not yet released) YA fantasy Parallel Vision.

If you’d like to help spread the word, you’re welcome to borrow that e-poster and any text from this post.

Hope to see you there!

Dear Teen Me: my letter and a giveaway

When I was a teen being sexually abused and cutting to cope, thinking about suicide, and just struggling to survive, I had no voice. I didn’t even know if I’d make it. Writing and art were the only way I could talk in a real way–they became my voice, though very few people ever heard it. But I have a strong voice now–through my books, and through my Dear Teen Me letter included in the new Dear Teen Me anthology. I’m honored and excited that my letter is included!

In my letter, I drew on the trauma I endured, the overwhelming pain, and the inner strength and courage I needed to survive. If you’ve read my books Scars or Hunted, you’ll know that I write with emotion and honesty, and I don’t shy away from painful things. That’s just the way I write in my Dear Teen Me letter. I think it’s so important that teens (and adults) know that they’re not alone in their pain or the awful things they’ve experienced; when you feel like you’re alone, the pain gets stronger. But when you find out others understand, the pain lessens a little, even sometimes a lot. You see that others survived, and maybe you can, too.

I was in so much pain and despair as a teen (and had been my entire life) that I thought that’s how my life would always be. It felt so unbearable I often didn’t want to be here. Now I’m glad I survived.

It felt good to be able to talk to my teen self, and to all the other teens (and adults) out there who’ve known pain, who’ve struggled, and who need to know there’s hope. There is. It does get better! If you don’t give up, if you keep on reaching for the things you need, you’ll get a lot of them.

Here’s a small glimpse into what my Dear Teen Me letter is about:

There are a ton of YA authors in this anthology who I love and admire, and who you probably have read and enjoyed, including Ellen Hopkins, Sara Zarr, Carrie Jones, Lauren Oliver, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Melissa Walker, Mike Jung, Stephanie Kuehnert, Riley Carney, Tera Lynn Childs, and many more. Want to know all the contributing authors? Check out the link.

I like knowing what other authors I love and admire have gone through in their lives–like knowing a bit more about them–so I bet you do, too. Dear Teen Me is a great way to get a glimpse into authors’ lives. Each letter is different–written in that author’s unique voice, and specific about their lives–and each letter is fascinating! So many things you might not know otherwise. Do you know which writer lived next door to Bob Hope, and had a father who was 72 when she was born, and was adopted? Or which writer had an alcoholic father who neglected her, and made her feel rejected? Or which writer had a bully who ended up being nice to her in the end?

Sound interesting? Then enter my giveaway to win an autographed copy of Dear Teen Me (signed by 3-4 contributors), and some bookmarks!

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Dear Teen Me prize pack

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All I Need To Know About Writing: Guest Post by YA author Jocelyn Shipley

Today YA author Jocelyn Shipley talks to us about writing–the heartaches and the joys. Jocelyn Shipley is the author of How to Tend a Grave,

Getting A Life, and Cross My Heart, and co-editor of Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls. Take it away, Jocelyn!





All I Really Need to Know About Writing

by Jocelyn Shipley




I’d like to thank Cheryl very much for inviting me to do a guest post about writing. What an honour! I met Cheryl some years ago through CANSCAIP and always admire and am inspired by her dedication to books and reading, her constant efforts to stand up to book banners, and her support of other writers. Plus she has the best smile!

It’s been twenty years since I took my first writing class, and ten since I published my first book. After all that time and five more books, you’d think I should know almost everything there is to know about writing. But I don’t. I have to tell you that most days, I still feel like a beginner. All I really know is how much I don’t know.

I used to be confident that if I worked hard enough, I’d figure everything out and be set for life. Didn’t happen. Writing didn’t get any easier. In fact it got harder, because my expectations got higher. I put so much pressure on myself to grow as a writer and achieve more. I’m no longer satisfied with simply completing a manuscript – I want it to be better, much better, than my last one.

But my attempts to improve my craft often fall short. On bad days, when my words won’t flow, my characters won’t come alive, my plots bore me and I’m out of ideas, the urge to shred every printout, delete every file, throw the laptop out the window and bang my head against my desk for the rest of my life is strong. Hey, it even sounds like fun. More fun than writing, anyway.

What keeps me going?

On good days, and there are also plenty of those, writing is a way to explore the world, to figure out why we’re here and what it all means. Not that I expect to find clear answers. I’m pretty sure there aren’t any. But writing is my attempt at making sense of things.

Somehow life is easier to understand through a story. There’s something so satisfying about creating a bit of order out of the randomness of daily experience. It uplifts and renews me to take raw emotions and conflict and try to put them into words, the words into sentences, the sentences into paragraphs, the paragraphs into chapters, and finally the chapters into a book that I hope will resonate with others.

Writing makes me feel whole and grounded and engaged with life and I’d probably go mad if I ever stopped. So I guess you could say that along with everything I don’t know about writing, there is one thing I do know for sure. It’s simply this: Even though writing sometimes makes me crazy, it always keeps me sane. And I think maybe that’s all I’m ever going to figure out. But it’s probably all I really need to know.

Thank you, Jocelyn! I so identify with writing helping you feel whole and grounded–I need to write, and it can help heal us, I believe. And I also really identify with the need to keep making a manuscript better–that it’s not enough to just complete a manuscript. Of course we want polished writing that is going to reach people (and get published). I think a lot of writers can relate to that.

About Jocelyn Shipley

Jocelyn Shipley’s YA novel, How to Tend a Grave, won the 2012 Gold Medal Moonbeam Award for YA Fiction – Mature Issues. She is co-editor of Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls, and her other books for teens include Seraphina’s Circle, Cross My Heart, and Getting A Life. Her work has been translated into many languages for Stabenfeldt’s tween book club GIRL:IT, and her award-winning stories have appeared in anthologies, newspapers and magazines. She lives in Toronto and on Vancouver Island, Canada.

Connect with Jocelyn online:

www.jocelynshipley.com

Twitter

FaceBook