Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 79

Children's & YA ebooks on sale, & one on writing technique. week of Feb 10, 2012

In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth is on sale for $2.99. I bought this and am really enjoying it so far.

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart.

When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different-dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy-her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan's life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.

Told in alternating viewpoints, In a Heartbeat tells the emotional and compelling story of two girls sharing one heart.

White Cat (Curse Workers) by Holly Black is on sale for $2.99. If you like YA fantasy and you haven't read Holly Black, you're missing out. I love Holly Black's books! (I yes, bought this one, too. )

Cassel comes from a shady, magical family of con artists and grifters. He doesn't fit in at home or at school, so he's used to feeling like an outsider. He's also used to feeling guilty—he killed his best friend, Lila, years ago.

But when Cassel begins to have strange dreams about a white cat, and people around him are losing their memories, he starts to wonder what really happened to Lila. In his search for answers, he discovers a wicked plot for power that seems certain to succeed. But Cassel has other ideas—and a plan to con the conmen.

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon is on sale for $2.99

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he's next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap is on sale for $2.99 (82% off)

For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia's last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the familys future and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death? Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap's new novel is a haunting vision of the life-and love story-of Russia's last princess.

OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy is on sale for $2.99

Ellie Taylor loves nothing better than a good argument. So when she gets accepted to the Christian Society Speech and Performing Arts summer camp, she's sure that if she wins the final tournament, it'll be her ticket to a scholarship to the best speech school in the country. Unfortunately, the competition at CSSPA is hot-literally. His name is Devon and, whether she likes it or not, being near him makes her sizzle. Luckily she's confident enough to take on the challenge-until she begins to suspect that the private scholarship's benefactor has negative feelings toward Jews. Will hiding her true identity and heritage be worth a shot at her dream?Debut author Amy Fellner Dominy mixes sweet romance, surprising secrets, and even some matzo ball soup to cook up a funny yet heartfelt story about an outspoken girl who must learn to speak out for herself.

The Borrowers by Mary Norton is a favorite of mine (though I have to admit I love the Littles more). It's on sale for $1.59 (77% off). I bought this one, too.

from Amazon:

Anyone who has ever entertained the notion of "little people" living furtively among us will adore this artfully spun classic. The Borrowers–a Carnegie Medal winner, a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award book, and an ALA Distinguished Book–has stolen the hearts of thousands of readers since its 1953 publication. Mary Norton (1903-1993) creates a make-believe world in which tiny people live hidden from humankind beneath the floorboards of a quiet country house in England.

Pod, Homily, and daughter Arrietty of the diminutive Clock family outfit their subterranean quarters with the tidbits and trinkets they've "borrowed" from "human beans," employing matchboxes for storage and postage stamps for paintings. Readers will delight in the resourceful way the Borrowers recycle household objects. For example, "Homily had made her a small pair of Turkish bloomers from two glove fingers for 'knocking about in the mornings.'"

The persistent pilfering goes undetected until a boy (with a ferret!) comes to live in the country house. Curiosity drives Arrietty to commit the worst mistake a Borrower can make: she allows herself to be seen. This engaging, sometimes hair-raisingly suspenseful adventure is recounted in the kind, eloquent voice of narrator Mrs. May, whose brother might–just might–have seen an actual Borrower in the country house many years ago.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams is on sale for $2.99

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much–if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle–who already has six wives–Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

Gotham Writers Workshop: Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide From New York's Acclaimed Writing School is on sale for $3.79 (75% off)

Gotham Writers' Workshop has mastered the art of teaching the craft of writing in a way that is practical, accessible, and entertaining. Now the techniques of this renowned school are available in this book.

Here you'll find: · The fundamental elements of fiction craft-character, plot, point of view, etc.-explained clearly and completely · Key concepts illustrated with passages from great works of fiction · The complete text of "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver-a masterpiece of contemporary short fiction that is analyzed throughout the book · Exercises that let you immediately apply what you learn to your own writing.

Written by Gotham Writers' Workshop expert instructors and edited by Dean of Faculty Alexander Steele, Writing Fiction offers the same methods and exercises that have earned the school international acclaim.

Once you've read-and written-your way through this book, you'll have a command of craft that will enable you to turn your ideas into effective short stories and novels. You will be a writer.

Toronto indie LGBTQ Bookstore Glad Day has been saved!

I love bookstores, period. But indie bookstores are especially important. They serve the needs of individuals that the big box stores don't, and they are usually staffed by people who know and love the books they sell, and can help you find a lot more that speaks to you. They will often order in books that big bookstores won't, and will try new authors who fit the particular niche they serve. We have a lot of fantastic indie bookstores in Toronto–I think we're rich in them–including a few children's bookstores (Ella Minnow and Mable's Fables); a feminist bookstore (the Toronto Women's bookstore); a parenting and therapy bookstore (Parent Books); a sci-fi and fantasy bookstore (Bakka-Phoenix bookstore); a mystery bookstore (Sleuth of Baker Street); and a queer bookstore, Glad Day Bookshop.

I love them all, but I think it's especially important to have a queer bookstore (as well as a feminist one that also stocks queer titles), where we can buy books that other bookstores don't carry, and be in a friendly atmosphere that encourages us to browse and find new books with queer content. Glad Day Bookshop was up for sale due to low sales, and it might have closed–but according to the Torontoist, a group of about 20 individuals came together to invest in the bookstore and keep it open. I am so glad and grateful to hear that, and you can bet that I'll be shopping there. Bravo to the wonderful people who stepped in to keep Glad Day Bookshop open!

The Toronto Women's Bookstore also went through a similar experience recently. I hope feminists and queer people in Toronto and the outer regions keep shopping at these bookstores; I think they're so important to our community.

Love the new Roald Dahl stamps

I love, love love these new Roald Dahl stamps that the Royal Mail released! Especially Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (one of my fave books)! I wish we had more stamps featuring children's & YA authors–but I do love Canada Post's Anne of Green Gables ones. Still…would be nice to have current children's & teen authors!

Interview with YA author Kathi Baron

Today Kathi Baron, author of Shattered, joins us to talk about her writing, books she loves, and more.

What do you love about writing?




I love writing to discover things about my characters–what they're thinking, feeling, why they're acting in a certain way. I often start writing because I hear a certain voice in my head, or a line from a character and then I follow that out and see where it leads. I enjoy the surprises that happen on the page. I also have fun putting words together, playing with them on the page, to see what combinations I can get. It sort of feels like painting to me or being musical. Sometimes it's a very beautiful place to be.





Where do you write most often?

I usually write at my special writing desk I bought for myself when I decided to "launch" my writing life back in 1996. It's a simple, sturdy, wide, wooden (pine) desk that reminds me of a table you'd find in an old farm house. It speaks to me, saying, "This is your sacred space to create." Off to the right of my laptop I have a bunch of candles that I light to connect me to the Divine. The room is painted a light wheat color and my desk faces a set of windows trimmed in purple. To my right and left, I have tall bookshelves, filled with my collection of young adult books, picture books, old journals, craft supplies and drafts and notes for the novel I'm currently working on.





It sounds like a lovely place to write.

What do you think is the most important thing (or things) that makes a good book work?


I'm usually drawn to honesty–characters who are honest in their emotions and real. Characters who show us how complex life is. I also think surprises give the work a boost; either when a character surprises us by their actions or something happens in a book that you didn't see coming. Good writing is also important so that the reader's brain can move freely through the words and not get tripped up in things that aren't clear.

I like those things in books, too.


What are some of your favorite YA books? How about picture books?


My very all-time favorite book is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It inspired me in many ways while I was writing Shattered. In January 2011, I read the YA book, The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson and haven't yet been able to stop thinking about it. Also, I was moved by Ned Vizzini's, It's Kind of a Funny Story. And I'm very fond of books my classmates from Vermont College have written: Taken by Storm, Unbroken Connection, CAYMAN SUMMER, & Sing Me to Sleep all by Angela Morrison, Shifty by Lynn E. Hazen, and Rubber Houses by Ellen Yoemens.

I also love picture books! Sometimes when I'm stuck while working on my YA novel, I stop and read a couple of them. The playfulness of the writing and the art usually jog my brain out of a rut. I have a big collection because I have my own and all of the ones I bought my son when he was little. My favorite is Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey. Again, books by my classmates have a special place in my heart: Dogs on the Bed and How Do You Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle, Buzz Bumble to the Rescue by Lynn E. Hazen, The Twelve Days of Christmas in Minnesota and Hello, Minnesota! by Constance Van Hoven and Jubilee by Ellen Yoemens.

I love SPEAK and Make Way For Ducklings, too, Kathi! I'll have to check out the other books you recommended.


What do you want to tell readers?


I want to invite readers to check out my YA novel, Shattered. It's about 14 year old Cassie, a violinist in the Chicago Youth Symphony, who discovers a painful secret about her family; and how she transforms her experience with trauma into an opportunity for healing her family and herself. I hope Cassie inspires you to do what you love, no matter what!

Where can readers find you online?


I'd be happy if readers came to visit me at: kathibaron.com and at my blog. Also, for a live interview with me and to hear some beautiful violin music, go to: wbez.org and search for "kathi baron shattered" and the link will come up for my 6/3/10 interview. Enjoy!

Kathi Baron is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA Program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. In addition to writing, she works part-time as an occupational therapist. In the past, she has worked with teens in crisis and has publications in a variety of occupational therapy journals and books. Currently, she lives with her husband, son and their cat in Oak Park, Illinois. SHATTERED is her debut novel.

Finding a Voice Through Writing

My interview "Finding A Voice Through Writing" is now up on YA Stands. I hope you'll check it out. I talk about writing about issues I deeply care about, writing with honesty and emotion, how I got an agent, and more.

A fantastic day at OLA

OLA today was wonderful! And tiring. And feel-good.

The first thing I saw when I got to the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth was my Canadian editor, Christie Harkin (it's always lovely to see a friendly face), and then the beautifully arranged stack of copies of HUNTED!

I posed with Christie–but I still find having my photo taken slightly triggering, so it's not the best smile. But Christie's is!

I had SUCH fun at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth, signing HUNTED! In 25 minutes, we'd run out of all 100 copies of HUNTED! I couldn't believe how fast they went, or that I'd had a long line! The people just kept coming! That was such a thrill, and I felt drunk on happiness for a while afterward. I think it was even happier for me because I'd had a fear that no one would come.

I also enjoyed speaking to each person, and I loved how when I'd offer a pen color, each person chose one and many enjoyed being offered the choice.

I wish I could see the whole line of people–they extended all the way on my right, and I was too focused on each person as they came up to me to look–but this lets me see some of them.

Then I walked around for a while with YA writer (and my friend) Lena Coakley. I also stopped by and got books signed by YA authors Marina Cohen, Sylvia McNicoll, and said hi to Mahtab Narsimhan at her signing (I'd already bought her book), and Teresa Toten (we were too late to get hers). It felt lovely to see writers and people who I like and care about with their books.

And then came the CANSCAIP book launch, where we each talked for three minutes about our books. Even though I've now done public speaking a number of times, I still get anxious beforehand each time, and sometimes scared. This time it was scared in the hour or so I had to wait to present HUNTED, my heart pounding and my hands sweating. I was glad to see I wasn't the only anxious one; other YA writers I like and admire were also anxious. I was actually shaking while I was up at the podium speaking–BUT apparently I presented really well. Fellow YA writers Karen Krossing and Lena Coakley told me afterwards that I spoke beautifully and with emotion and great expressiveness, that I didn't seem nervous at all, and that what I had to say was interesting and real. It helped to hear that; I still find public speaking stressful. And I speak my emotional truths and the things that are important to me; I mentioned that for me HUNTED is analogy to cults or cult-like groups that oppress, and that it also addresses homophobia and racism, though not in a slam-you-over-the-head way–I think it's SO important to write entertaining books that teens want to read–but in a tension filled, adrenalin-racing, gripping way. (Reviewers and teen readers have told me that once they pick HUNTED up, they can't put it down. I love hearing that!) The person on my right (I think another librarian) also told me I'd been fantastic; it was such a lovely thing to have that reassurance. I find it hard to tell how I'm doing when I'm anxious.

And then, after I went back to my seat, a librarian behind me asked if we had HUNTED for sale today at OLA. I told her that we'd run out of books, and YA writer Karen Krossing, beside me, suggested that I sell the copy I had to the librarian, and so I did. That felt so affirming and lovely and reassuring–my talk had interested librarians, had reached people.

There was a large audience for the CANSCAIP launch, which I felt good about. I also got to hug YA writer Paul Yee again and talk with him for a bit–he's such a lovely person. I also had people recognizing me as I walked through OLA, coming up to say hi to me, and telling me they'd read my books. It was a great day, full of good feeling!

Exciting news! STAINED to be published by Harcourt in 2013

I'm so excited!! Harcourt will publish my next edgy YA novel (tentatively titled STAINED) in 2013. In STAINED, Sarah, a teen with body image issues and a port wine stain, gets abducted and must find a way to rescue herself.

Like I did with SCARS and HUNTED, I drew on my abuse and trauma experience to write STAINED. I make all my main characters emotionally strong, and Sarah is no exception. She fights back.

I have the contract in my hands–it is SO cool to have that. And I've already been talking with Karen Grove, my wonderful editor at Harcourt. I love her insight, suggestions, and feedback; she's helped me make STAINED an even stronger, more powerful book. I'm so excited about it, and can't wait until STAINED is out and I can share it with you! (beaming and beaming)

Children's & YA ebooks on sale or cheap, week of Feb 1, 2012

Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief (Attolia) is on sale for $1.99. I've heard so many people rave about her books.

Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut," wrote Kirkus in a starred review of Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the theif's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach is on sale for $1.99.

Fifteen-year-old Felton Reinstein has always been on the smallish side, but in his sophomore year he starts growing…and growing.

During gym one day he smokes the football jocks in a 600-yard race. Felton has never been interested in sports, but there's no doubt-he is "stupid fast." As he juggles his newfound athletic prowess, his mom's sudden depression, an annoying little brother, and his first love, he discovers a shocking secret about his past which explains why he's turning out the way he is.

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey is on sale for $1.99

It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died.

Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants—what she must do—is to bring Danny back.

But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it.

Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her—and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right.

But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought—even if it means breaking her heart all over again.

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams is on sale for $2.99

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much—if you don't count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

A fan letter through snail mail

I just found out that my publisher received a fan letter for me, and is forwarding it. I LOVE that! I get reader letters through email and FB all the time, and I love them, they feel so good! I cherish them all. But getting an actual paper letter in a time when not many people write letters that way any more feels…pretty cool. They took time to write it.

Do you write letters (on paper) still? I do, occasionally, especially when packaged with something else like a copy of my book (though then it's usually a short note), or a gift.

Tons of HUNTED freebies, including free short story ebook and teacher's guide

Do you like freebies? I do. Especially when they're book related! I hope you'll dig into some of these freebies for my YA paranormal fantasy/dystopian HUNTED.

Have an ebook reader? Then you'll want to download the free PinPoint: A HUNTED Bonus short story. You can get it on Amazon for your Kindle, on B&N for your Nook, or on Smashwords for most ebook readers.

Are you a teacher, or do you have a book club? Then you'll probably want to download my free Teacher's Guide. It's rich and thoughtfully written by Deb Vanasse.

Want to read the first six pages of HUNTED? Read a mini bonus comic strip? Watch the book trailer? Easy, just click on the links. You can also choose which paranormal power you'd want in the questionnaire, see the playlist for HUNTED and listen to some of the songs, read and download the HUNTED "newspaper" article, and download more bonus materials. I hope you'll check them out.

You might notice, if you click on the cover of HUNTED or the title, that I've changed the links to my new RedRoom bookstore. I'm trying it out instead of Amazon. RedRoom gives 15% of all the sales of an author's own books to the author–something that sounds pretty phenomenal to me. RedRoom is author created, and so far it's looking pretty good to me.