Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 81

I will present HUNTED at OLA in Toronto on Feb 3rd between 12-2pm

I will present HUNTED at OLA in Toronto on Feb 3rd between 12-2pm with other YAlit & kidlit authors in the Expo Theatre. I'll have an autographed copy of HUNTED to give away, and the other authors will also have autographed books for the raffle. I hope to see you there! You need a ticket to attend.

YA ebook Breathless by Jessica Warman (3 starred reviews) on sale for $0.99 today only, & one free ebook

YA ebook Breathless by Jessica Warman is on sale today only for $0.99 (Amazon US). Breathless got starred reviews from Booklist, SLJ, and Center for Children's Books.

AND

The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger is free right now on Amazon. I love his books, and recommend them!

Oh–and HUNTEDd is on sale again on Amazon–this time for $12.37 (27% off). It's not an ebook–it's a hardcover–but it is on sale, and…I care about it a lot. (smiling)

SOPAstrike: Author Holly Lisle's sites, and many others, are closed or blacked out today to protest planned US government censorship of the Internet

Author Holly Lisle's sites are closed today to protest planned US government censorship of the Internet (censorship bills SOPA & PIPA). SopaStrike.

And today's Unshelved also had the SOPA logo.

Many major websites and companies are also joining in; Google.com has blacked out their logo; Wikipedia, Reddit, WordPress, Tumblr, Wired, Vimeo, MoveOn.org, Mozilla, and many, many others are also joining in today.

Government censorship of the Internet sounds pretty scary to me…almost like a dystopian world where the government can control what information we can access. (Kind of like the world I wrote about in HUNTED.) I don't want to be a part of that.

If you care about a free internet–access to all information–you can join in protest SOPA by blacking out your site, your logo, or part of your site, or by signing the petition. You can also post about this issue, or tweet about it using the hashtag #SOPAstrike

You can also sign the official SOPAstrike petition, and/or link to it. Even if you're not in the US (I'm in Canada), you can petition the state department about this issue. I did.

You may also want to check out End Piracy, Not Liberty, and you can also sign the petition there.

If you search "SOPA strike" or "stop SOPA" in any search engine, you'll get a lot more info about this issue. I'd love to black out my logo but (ahem) haven't yet figured out how to….

guest post: YA author C Lee McKenzie on the importance of great first lines in novels. And win a copy of YA novel Sliding on the Edge.

YA author C. Lee McKenzie joins us to talk about the importance of writing great first lines in our novels. C. Lee McKenzie takes on modern issues that today's teens face in their daily lives. Her first young adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, which dealt with cutting and suicide was published in 2009. Her second, titled The Princess of Las Pulgas, dealt with a family who loses everything and must rebuild their lives; it came out in 2010.

I think it's important, as writers, to make our work the best we can make it. I've always loved reading about writing technique, and I think C. Lee McKenzie has some wise things to say. I love all the writing technique books she quotes from, too. C. Lee McKenzie has also generously offered to send the first person who comments with two out of four correct answers to her questions (at the end of the post) a signed copy of Sliding On The Edge. Read on and enjoy!

The Importance of Great First Lines In Novels

by C Lee McKenzie

In Stein On Writing, Stein describes an informal study made in a mid-Manhattan bookstore. Here's what he saw. "In the fiction section, the most common pattern was for the browser to read the front flap of the book's jacket and then go to page one. No browser went beyond page three before either taking the book to the cashier or putting the book down and pickup up another to sample."

Here's what Noah Lukeman wrote in The First Five Pages. "Agents and editors don't read manuscripts to enjoy them; they read solely with the goal of getting through the pile, solely with an eye to dismiss a manuscript . . ." I never forgot his words.

It's because of these two writers that I spend a lot of time paying close attention to how books start, and I can't tell you how many times I write the openings to my books. I often just jump into the story somewhere in the middle and then work my way back to the opening lines. These lines aren't easy for me to get just right, but I since I know how important they are I don't mind the time and the effort they take.

One thing I did to improve my first lines was to read a lot of good books that everyone seems to agree start with a bang–different bangs, but clearly enticing words.

Here are some openings that I love. Some you'll recognize, and there's a reason for that.

"Where's Papa going with that axe?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. Charlotte's Web ( I hardly need cite the book, right?)

"The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long ear, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning." Tuck Everlasting

"Call me Ishmael" Moby Dick

Each one of these is so different, yet they pulled me and thousands of others into their stories. So what do these have in common that made want to read on?

They EXCITED me, INTERESTED me, CAPTURED my attention or PLUCKED A STRING deep inside me, and that's exactly what an author has to do if he wants to sell his manuscript. Take a look at this great post Absolute Write by Susan Sundwall. She says the same thing only better.

So how do you create these opening lines that catch the reader's attention? Maybe we can start with what not to do. Don't bury your verbs and nouns with adverbs and adjectives. Instead, choose strong verbs and precise nouns.

The horse went really fast across the hot, dry desert, carrying the very heavy man. (Close book. Pick up next one on shelf.)

The horse galloped across the searing sand. It bore the weight of two men, but only one straddled his back. (Hmm. More intriguing. The verbs are stronger; the adjectives minimal; I want to know where this story is taking place and why that horse is galloping under the burden of that man. I even feel sorry for the horse already.)

You should also hear those sentences that you write. They should have a rhythm and a melody. Anyone can write a shopping list, only some can write prose that becomes art.

The girls run quickly across the rocks, climb up from the beach until they get to the path and then run away from the man who follows them. (Clunky. Clunky. Clunky.)

The girls scramble over the sheer rock, searching for the path that leads away from the beach and away from the man who follows. (Better. Maybe a touch more panic.)

Scrambling–hand over hand, feet slipping on sheer rock–the girls search for the path to escape the beach, the path to escape the man closing the space behind them. (I might keep reading this one.)

Well, you get the idea. There's no one way to start a book, but when it starts it had better be with words that make the reader want to keep reading. Want to see the 100 best first lines from novels? Here they are, according to the American Book Review.

Happy First Lines.

CONTEST:

So tell me which of these opening lines does one or more of those things for you? Do you recognize any of them? Be the first to comment here with two out of four correct titles and you can win a signed copy of Sliding on the Edge. It would be great if you'd take a moment and give this post a Tweet mention too.

1) My stepfather, Charlie, explained it all to me a long time ago. He was at the kitchen table cracking pecans, and I was making a piece of cheese toast in the microwave. Mom was not home.

"Do you know why I'm mean to you, Ashley?" he gently asked.

2) " Please tell me that's not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening."

I'm staring into the hissing face of a cobra.

3) I should have known.

I should have known the minute I went to get my favorite White Stripes peppermint tee and found it not in the drawer, but temporarily forgotten in the back of my closet, curled up in a crusty ball. Caked with two-week-old nuked syrup that had shot out of the bottle, bounced off my waffle, and splattered me like a sweet paintball.

4) Jesse's dying.

The doctors are 96 percent sure of it.

C. Lee McKenzie's books:

Borrow Kindle & Nook ebooks for free

Did you know you can borrow (& lend) a huge number of Kindle AND Nook ebooks for free at eBookFling? I've lent a number of ebooks, and borrowed one or two. You get to borrow an ebook for about 2 weeks (at least on Amazon). You can only lend an ebook once, but you get a credit for each ebook someone borrows, and you can use those credits to borrow ebooks yourself. I think this is the way it should be–we should be allowed to borrow ebooks from others and lend ebooks that we've bought ourselves, just as we can with paper books we've bought. (Though I think we should be able to lend an ebook more than once….)

So, if you've got an ebook reader, what are you waiting for? Check out eBookFling. It's free to join and to borrow and lend ebooks.

SCARS, HUNTED, and me in Quill & Quire!

I just found out through my Canadian editor Christie Harkin at Fitzhenry & Whiteside–SCARS & HUNTED (and I) are highlighted in Quill & Quire, for their Spring Preview Highlights 2012! (beaming) What an honor! That felt so good to see.

HUNTED comes out in Canada this Jan or Feb from Fitzhenry & Whiteside in paperback.

HUNTED 32% off at Amazon!

WOW! I just saw that Amazon discounted HUNTED even more–it's now 32% off, or $11.53 for hardcover! I'm glad, because I know people like buying books on sale, especially if they like a book. And I hope this means it will reach even more people.

Scars at Walmart.com

Wow! I just saw that Walmart.com carries SCARS! To me, that means that it may reach even more people who haven't heard of it, or who perhaps wouldn't normally frequent a bookstore. I love that.

YA novel Frenemies turned into TV movie that debuts tonight on Disney

I love hearing when a YA book becomes a movie or show. It can be such a great way to get more of the books into people's hands. And it seems like such a dream to have your book be made into a movie that may reach even more people. So I was glad to hear that Frenemies by Alexa Young has been turned into a TV movie. It debuts tonight 8/7c on Disney Channel.

Buy Diane Duane's ebooks at 20% off and help support her–someone cleaned out her bank account!

YA author Diane Duane's bank account was cleared out by a thief! So right now she's broke. Have you read her Young Wizards books?? She's got a lot of great books. You can help support her until the bank reimburses her by buying one or many of her Wizard books as ebooks–and you even get a 20% discount code! I hope if you can you'll help Diane AND enjoy the bonus of getting great books.

Buy her ebooks here: http://ebooksdirect.dianeduane.com

Discount Code for 20% off: DDGOTSKIMMED

Link to her Google + post about this: https://plus.google.com/101086882349363163093/posts/Mvzkc3ubjac