Elizabeth Scott's Blog, page 11

Guest Blog by Kate Brian/Kieran Scott!

When I first checked out Elizabeth's blog, I noticed that she has a handy little link on the side bar called "frequently asked questions" and I thought, "Huh. That is DEFINITELY something I should have." Because people are always asking me the same question:

What's the difference between writing a Kieran Scott book and a Kate Brian book?

It's a tough question to answer. Because no matter what name the book is going to be published under, it's still me, sitting here in my office, toiling away a...

Guest Blog by Melissa de la Cruz: What Does She Mean, The Book Has NO PLOT?

The wonderful Elizabeth Scott (edit from me: blushing here, Melissa!) said I could write about anything on her blog today, so I thought I'd talk about the most critical moment in my writing career, when everything was on the line.

Growing up, I've always been a facile writer. English was my favorite subject and I always got top marks in it. I won a seventh-grade essay writing contest, and several high school poetry contests. Ever since I can remember, I have been praised and patted as a 'write...

quick set of links and a secret

I've got some great links today:

Diana Peterfreund on how it really doesn't matter what audience you think your book is for--it matter what audience your agent--and the acquiring editor--thinks it will fit best

Genreality has a great post about writing conferences -- there's some great tips here!

Author Jennifer Hubbard has a great post up about why writers need thick skin --"Rejection and negative feedback are part of the process and they can even be helpful, and we need to handle them with...

it's a link fest!

Quick update: Congrats to ellesera, who won the vacation book suggestion contest!

Also, I haven't forgotten the video blog about writing and etc.--I have a ton of questions from you, and as soon as I get a good chunk of time to answer them, I will. Because, well--you are YOU, after all!!!

I've also got a load of links to share...:

From agent Jessica Faust, a spot-on post about what you shouldn't do when you write a query letter, as well as the things that make agents think NO!!! when they read ...

24 hr contest--help me find a book (okay, books) to read--and win three for yourself!

I'm looking for some books to take with me on vacation (yes, I'm finally taking a real one! For longer than two days!) and I need YOUR help!

What books--because let's face it, I'm not going to take one (right now, my current limit is ten, but well...my husband laughed when I told him that. He said if we left without one suitcase full of books he'd be shocked. He's probably (okay, totally) right!)

Anyway--what books would YOU take on vacation? I'll read just about anything except I'm not a big f...

me, put off cleaning? never! okay, change never to always and it's right.

I'm getting ready to clean the house before guests arrive (I figure being greeted by dust bunnies the size of small clouds probably isn't the best way to say "Welcome!"),but before I do that, I want to say *Congrats!* to Sarah, who won last week's contest.

Also don't forget, YOU still have today and tomorrow to enter the latest contest, which is for a copy of Ally Carter's latest best-selling novel, Only The Good Spy Young, AND an ARC of The Replacement, which was blurbed by another best-sell...

so, what about you?

I'm still waiting for last week's contest winner to get in touch with me, but if they don't by midnight tonight, I'll go back and pick another winner.

And that leads me to this week's contest. I was trying to decide what I wanted people to comment on, and couldn't think of anything I was "oooh!" over--and then I saw Simon Pulse had posted this little video I did for them when I was shooting promo stuff for The Unwritten Rule:



(For feeds that strip out embedded links, you can see the video here...

so, me and July...

First, congrats to yesterday's free book winner, Gabrielle, and now...what I love most about July?

There were a lot of great guesses--did you know that July is National Horseradish Month? (Me either) but here's what makes my July awesome:

The Tour de France!!!

I don't talk about it nearly as much as I used to on here, but long-time readers will know there was a time when my July entries were pretty much all about the Tour. (For instance, back in 2006, all I would have talked about was yesterda...

busy, busy!

I love holidays, but is it just me, or does work seem to somehow double if you take a day off? Crazy!

However, all if not lost--if there is one thing I love about this last holiday in particular it's---well, you know what?

Do YOU know what my favorite thing about July 4th--and actually, most of July--is?? The first person to email me at elizabeth AT elizabethwrites dot com with the correct answer gets a free hardcover YA novel! (You must have a US mailing address, but otherwise, that's it!)

An...

mmmm...

After you're done telling me about your favorite moment from this summer (which makes you eligible to be one of the FIVE winners of SIX books each!), check out these recipes I'm currently obsessed with...

Popcorn ice cream with salted butter caramel sauce--why hasn't anyone thought of this until now???

S'more whoopie pies--again, why hasn't this one ever been made before? Because um, YUM!

And if that's not enough, well then, how about a lovely salted dulce de leche cheesecake bar?

Yeah, I'm drool...