Beth Revis's Blog, page 42

Show Gratitude for Books...and win 19 SIGNED YA BOOKS!

It's fall--and despite the candy from Halloween and the (early) Christmas decorations, the holiday I'm most looking forward to right now is Thanksgiving.



I've got a lot to be thankful for--this year, the dream I've held dear for most of my life came true with the publication of my first novel. And in all honesty--it's been even better than I dreamed.



So this month, in honor of Thanksgiving and all that I've got to be thankful for, I want to thank you, the wonderful people who've been with me on this insanely glorious journey. And to do that, I've turned to some of the fantastic friends I've made along the way.



I tracked down every author I thanked in my acknowledgements--the ones who blurbed me, the ones who critiqued me, the ones who became my friends, and I got a signed copy of each of their books. Add that to a copy of Across the Universe and an ARC of A Million Suns, and this giveaway is...HUGE. 19-signed-books-plus-swag-and-more HUGE.







See? HUGE. 

One winner. One giant prize.




First, let me tell you about the prizes. 

ONE winner is going to win ALL the following prizes:





SIGNED Advance Reader Copy of A Million Suns

SIGNED paperback of Across the Universe

Swag: bookmarks, bracelet, pin button, and poster

A box of Turkish Delight (to celebrate the book I am most grateful for)






Thankful for my blurbers!

SIGNED paperback of Paranormalcy  by Kiersten White

SIGNED hardback of Graveminder  by Melissa Marr

SIGNED paperback of The Forest of Hands and Teeth  by Carrie Ryan

Signed bookmark of Supernaturally  and swag from Carrie




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Thankful for the people who helped me crit!

SIGNED paperback of When Mike Kissed Emma  by Christine Marciniak

SIGNED paperback of Solstice  by PJ Hoover

PRE-ORDER of Incarnate  by Jodi Meadows, with SIGNED bookplate 

Stickers for Incarnate trading cards for Solstice






Thankful for the League!

SIGNED hardback of Memento Nora  by Angie Smibert

SIGNED hardback of The Eleventh Plague  by Jeff Hirsch

SIGNED hardback of Possession  by Elana Johnson

SIGNED paperback of XVI  by Julia Karr






Thankful for the touring buddies and advice-givers!

SIGNED hardback of Hourglass by Myra McEntire

SIGNED hardback of The Vespertine  by Saundra Mitchell

SIGNED hardback of The Near Witch  by Victoria Schwab

Bookmarks, swag, and a signed bookplate from Saundra

(which you could use for the sequel, The Springsweet )






Thankful for the friends who listen and share!

SIGNED hardback of Lola and the Boy Next Door  by Stephanie Perkins

SIGNED hardback of Wither  by Lauren de Stefano

That includes a hand-written sneak-peek of the sequel, Fever!

SIGNED hardback of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer  by Michelle Hodkin

SIGNED paperback of The Liar Society  by Lisa and Laura Roecker






Thankful for the Elevensies and the Bookanistas!

Swag from Matt Blackstone, Keri Mikulski, Stacia Kehoe, Helen Landalf, Caroline Starr, Carrie Harris, Sonia Gensler, Ruta Sepetys, Terry Johnson, Kristen Hubbard, Sara Bennet Wealer, and Kim Harrington--much of is signed!





That's right!

One person will win 19 signed books, a box of Turkish Delight, and a metric ton of swag and book goodies!




There's also going to be four runner-up prizes:







Sharing Book Joy Runner Up:

SIGNED paperback of Across the Universe

Bookmarks, poster, pin button, and bracelet swag

Box of Turkish Delight (to celebrate the book I'm most grateful for!)





Celebrate the Launch of the Paperback Runners-up

THREE WINNERS will each get:

SIGNED paperback of Across the Universe

Bookmarks, poster, pin button, and bracelet swag







So, how do you enter to win these prizes?

Create a post in which you tell everyone about the one book YOU are most grateful for

Include a link back to the contest in your post

Include a picture of the following graphic somewhere in your post

(Lost? I'll be doing an example of this tomorrow with my favorite book!)












<center><a href="http://dft.ba/-win19"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FvCsgduZ8as..." width="400"" height="400" /></a></center>










To earn an extra entry each day, you can also spread the word about the contest.




Tweet







Facebook







And finally:

Don't forget to fill out the form below to enter to win!

Remember: a post about your favorite book is mandatory for entry, and each time you spread the word is an extra entry.


&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&am... need javascript enabled to see this giveaway&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;.

Word Count Meter

There are a lot out there, but this is the one I've been using. I like the simplicity, and that I can edit it to only show the percentage.



http://languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html

On Goals, Failure, and Success

So, last week I set myself a pretty lofty goal.



I didn't make it.



I came close--and I like what I've got done so far, but in terms of the actual goal, all I got done was...










62% done!





So--in a way I failed. I didn't get the number of words that I wanted. But I did get the quality of words I wanted, and that's important, too. And that's a huge chunk that didn't exist a week before. 




But then again, I did make a bet. With y'all. I bet I'd get 100% done in my goal, and I only went a little over halfway. And so it's time to pay up.




At the beginning of the week, I said I'd give a signed copy of the paperback ACROSS THE UNIVERSE to someone who commented or tweeted this week. And the random winner is...




EMILY!

(who doesn't have an email address associated with her blog profile; 

Emily, please email me at bethrevis @ gmail.com with a mailing address)




And even though I wasn't 100% successful with my goal this week, I do think it helped to set a goal. And I also rather liked doing the meter thing--I don't like it much with a whole project (it intimidates me, I'll be honest!) but with a smaller goal, the meter goes up faster. 




Same bet: if I don't make my goal, a random commenter or twitter-er will get a signed paperback of AtU.



Now I just have to start the new goal!













0% done!

Bookanista Interview: Anna Staniszewski, author of MY VERY UNFAIRYTALE LIFE

I first had the pleasure of meeting Anna Staiszewski (aka Anna Stan) online through her blog and I still remember the excitement I felt for her when she announced her first book deal, for the funny and magical middle grade MY VERY UNFAIRYTALE LIFE.




The book officially launches in November--but drop by your local bookstore and see if there are copies available, because a lot of them are showing up early! And Anna's here to tell us all about her charming book!









YOU
We can read all about
your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a
completely random fact about you that most people don't know?


I once jumped out of a plane! In Australia! It was
by far the craziest—and most amazing—thing I've ever done. I totally blame
Keanu Reeves. Ever since I watched Point
Break when I was in middle school, I knew I had to go skydiving one day.





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As a kid, what was
your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up?  

There were so many books that I read over and
over when I was a kid: Anne of Green
Gables, The Secret Garden, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I was always drawn
to stories that transported me to a different time and place, and that's still
very much true today.







Your book, MY VERY
UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, the main character, Jenny, works in a magical kingdom. Would
you live in a magical kingdom if you could?

Jenny's job is to visit magical kingdoms and
solve the problems she encounters there. If I had the opportunity to live in
one of the magical kingdoms Jenny travels to, I think I'd pass! Magic is great
and all, but Jenny discovers that magical creatures can be pretty clueless and
a tiny bit…annoying.








YOUR BOOK

It's the inevitable
question: what inspired MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE? 


A few years ago, I was working on a very dark YA
novel that was starting to suck the life out of me. I knew I needed something
fun to work on to get me out of my funk. I sat down and started writing a scene
about a girl who comes home from school one day to find a talking frog on her
bed. What interested me about the scene was that the girl wasn't surprised or
excited to discover the frog in her room; instead, she was annoyed. It was such
an unexpected reaction that I knew I had to find out more about this girl.








One of the great
things about MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE is the way it turns ideas about fairy
tale creatures on its head: the unicorns are bloodthirsty and the magical
kingdom is falling apart. Can you tell us a little more about how you built the
world of your novel?

I've always loved stories about young people who
are swept off on magical adventures. But in this story, I wanted to play around
with what happens after you've been an adventurer for years and you're tired
and fed up. Once I knew I wanted to do that, it was fun to take elements we
expect in fairy tales (talking animals, mythical creatures, etc.) and make them
into obstacles that get in Jenny's way.







Can you tell us a
little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing MY VERY
UNFAIRY TALE LIFE?

The process was pretty sporadic. This was the
fun story I came back to when I was stuck on other projects, so I would write
it in spurts. Once I signed with my agent (with a different project that never
sold) she asked me if I had anything else in the works. I'd just finished a
huge revision of the story—which was then titled JENNY THE ADVENTURER—so I sent
it to her. She liked the concept but said the story needed more focus, so I
worked with her on several major revisions before it was ready for submission.
From the moment I first began writing the book to the day it actually sold, the
span of time was about four years.





If your reader could
only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, what
would you want it to be?



Oh this is a hard one! The story is about
adventure and magic, but most of all it's about discovering—and accepting—your
identity and your purpose in life.




YOUR WRITING

What's the most
surprising thing you've learned since becoming a writer?

How loooong everything takes. Patience is not
exactly one of my virtues, but I've been forced to become much more patient as
I've trudged along through the writing and publishing process. I'm still
tempted to have a little tantrum once in a while, but I'm getting much better
about it.






Beyond the
typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best
advice you'd like to give another writer?

Never stop writing. I had a few other projects
that I thought would get me published: they didn't. Luckily, I kept working on
new things and one of those projects was finally The One.







What do you think are
your strongest and weakest points in writing?

Because I have a theater background, dialogue is
something that seems to come fairly naturally to me. In fact, my first drafts
tend to be almost all dialogue. As for my weakest points? Where do I start! One
major thing I have to work on as I go through my later drafts is putting a
concrete sense of place into my stories. In early drafts, the characters are
just floating around in space. I have to work at grounding them in a specific
time and place so that readers can see what I'm imagining.




Thanks so much for having me, Beth!




Thanks for coming by, Anna!




Bio

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski
grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named the 2006-2007
Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the 2009 PEN
New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives outside of
Boston, Mass. with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma. When
she's not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging
unicorns to games of hopscotch. You can visit her at www.annastan.com.




 Check Out What the Other Bookanistas Are Reading by Clicking the Links Below!







Elana Johnson REVEALS something awesome!!!
LiLa Roecker  announces a winner - plus a Past Midnight series giveaway
Christine Fonseca  reveals books she cannot wait to read
Beth Revis interviews My Very UnFairytale Life authorAnna Staniszewski
Shannon Whitney Messenger interviews Skyship Academy-Pearl Wars author Nick James & agent Jennifer Rofe – with giveaway
Jessi Kirby twirls for Audition
Shana Silver burns for Circle of Fire
Carrie Harris devours Deadly
Stasia Ward Kehoe travels to The Day Before

Tuesday's Live-Blog

Read this First!



The lovely Gwenda Bond did an interview with me at Lightspeed Magazine (which you might recall I talked about last week here). You can now read the full interview online, for free. This is one of the most specific, detailed interviews I've ever done, so if you've ever had any questions about Across the Universe, my writing process, or my road to publication, I definitely suggest checking it out. And while you're there, you should also totally check out Lightspeed--it's a reasonably priced online magazine that is chock full of fantastic information on super cool authors and short stories by some faves--the story ahead of my interview is a steampunk by Cassie Clare and is brilliant.




Now on to the Live-Blog!

As usual, this will be updated throughout the day as I continue writing.



10:04: Wake up. No shame.



10:05-12:55: Things happened. I dunno. I guess I was there, but I don't remember most of it.



12:55: Ban myself from Twitter, open up Scrivener.










32% done!





12:56: I need to write 33% of my goal...today...and another 33% tomorrow to win my bet with Steph--and with you guys. *sigh* Procrastination can suck it. Now is GO TIME.

Winner!

The winner of the October contest is:










Kristin C!




Now, there were a couple of Kristin C.'s, but I don't want to put last names/email addresses online. But the winner is the Kristin C who got an email at 9pm tonight from me :)




Also: zomg, you guys are awesome. I'm working on adding a little more material to the Password Protected Page, but it's giving me a little of a hangup--I want to make sure it's not spoilery. And I'm also working on November's giveaway. I'm rather excited about it.

In Which I Send You Elsewhere

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It's almost Halloween! Yay! So I wrote you a scary story. Or...at least the first part of one. The girls over at the #YASpooktacular organized a choose-your-own-adventure style spooky story, and my story opens one of the three they are featuring! Go here to read--and enter contests for books--and start clicking on to read the continuation of the story from other authors.



PS: My story is called "The Pond in the Forest." Can you tell that, while writing that scene, I was I also working on another Across the Universe story dealing with Kayleigh and the pond and the goldfish?




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Also, Phoebe North was kind enough to do a guest post for me on the League today, so if you'd like to read all about the classic sci fi titles you should know as a lover of YA, go there and check it out!



And while you're at it, be sure to also check out Phoebe's YA sci fi review blog, a new venture called The Intergalactic Academy. Here I was, thinking I had a good handle on what YA sci fi is being released now, and I've already found two new titles to read through this awesome review site!



And speaking of review sites and finding good new books, I'd like to also point you in the direction of Destination Elsewhere. This is a ning that Penguin's made to feature all the fantasy and sci fi titles. Basically, if cool, strange stuff happens in the book, it's the perfect fit for Destination Elsewhere. The background is made of the cover art for Eona, one of the best fantasy novels on the market today, so check it out at least to see the beautiful cover art!





Visit Destination Elsewhere



(Also, for those of you who don't know--because I didn't!--a ning is basically an online community. This one is focused on fantasy and sci fi books in the YA market. There are forums, chats, photos, videos, and more. And if you'd like to friend me there, my page is located here.)



And finally....you might have noticed that Stephanie has already thrown down the gaultlet and started up a live blog today! Eeep! This means...I should probably get to work.



Current status?












24% done!





But--that's going to get cut down later today. So that number will have to go DOWN before up....

A Weekend of Words

Saturday. Oh, Saturday. I did housework instead of write. That's the level we're at.










12% done!





Sunday.




10:30: Overslept. Missed church. Oops.




12:30: Still in pajamas. But laptop is open. That's a good sign, right?




12:41: I should exchange this caffeine-free Sprite for a coffee. 




12:47: When I get the umption to move again, I'm putting three peppermints into the bottom of a cup and making hot cho-coffee. Am considering adding marshmallows. 




12:48: At this point in the morning, I've spent more time thinking about what to put in my coffee cup than what to put in my book.




1:30: Coffee acquired.




2:04: Spent more than an hour looking at the art of this artist. Love practically everything she's done. Also: ordered three t-shirts (one for me, two for Christmas presents). Also: still haven't written anything. 




2:54: Relocate to office. If I want to serious work, I need to get off the couch and do the serious work. PS, I am still in my pajamas.




4:33: Some words written:










15% done!





Personal goal: 20% by the end of the day. That leaves. Er. About 25% to do each on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday...




5:03: Added another 1%, then talked to the husband about current status. Realize that pretty much all the work I've done today...has to be scrapped. It doesn't fit logically within the story. So, back to...









12% done!



5:53: Hrm. Not sure if I like this direction, either. Seems very talky-talky as I try to explain the point I'm trying to make...










24% done!





6:08: The problem is, I'm going to have to cut about 500-1000 words of that--I've essentially written the same scene two different ways, and can't decide which way is better...




6:25: Tweaking to combine the two scenes, but I'm still going to have to cut some. I think I'll wait and see which scene works better after supper...[image error]

Daily Percentages: Friday

Live-blogging really helps me stay focused. Mainly because when I record my times, I feel guilty when I look at how much time I just WASTE.



This won't strictly be a live-blog, because I'm not going to post at each stop...I'm just going to work all day and record my times.



So, right now:










1% done!





12:53pm: I've updated the blog, updated Twitter, updated Facebook, turned away from my overloaded email in shame, etc., etc....there is no reasonable excuse for me not to get to work.




12:54: OH LOOK OVER THERE SOMETHING SHINY ON THE INTERNET




12:55: I know. I know.   *sigh*   *opens up Scrivener*




1:03: Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut! *whining*




1:11: Maybe I should set a timer. Steph updated her liveblog hourly...perhaps I should shoot for that? I'll finish this chapter (and lunch) first.




1:29: Finished the chapter, but had to go into the next one to finish the scene.










11% done!






1:43: I think I earned lunch! 




2:30: I specifically ate at my computer rather than in front of the TV. But instead of feeling energized and ready to dive straight back into work...I kind of want a nap.




I ended at a natural end--the final bit of a scene. I know the next scene I want to write, but I'd have to start it. It feels a little...daunting. I've heard it's often easier to get back in the swing of things if you stop mid-scene...maybe that's what I should have done...




2:39: Dilemma. It's so cold, all I want to do is snuggle into something warm. If I snuggle into something warm (my bed) I will take a nap. If I turn the heat up....I will take a nap. I think nap = inevitable.




2:56: After staring at Tumblr the computer screen for much too long, the idea of a nap has triumphed. 




Words? What words? *stricks fingers in my ears* Tralalalalalalalalalala I can't hear you!




5:06: Unholy bleep! Look at the time!!! *mad scurrying around the house to try to make it at least some semblance of clean so I can cook supper and then hope to write more after that....*  Eeep! No more naps for me!!




5:34: Opened dishwasher to find that the soap hadn't dissolved all the way. Lovely. Stack dirty dishes in sink and re-wash "clean" ones. 




5:36: Stare at still-messy kitchen. Wonders if it's too late to order the hubs to pick up take-out on the way home from work.




5:37: It is.




5:38: Retreat. For now.




5:41: Realize entire house is just as messy (or moreso) than kitchen. Contemplate a "fall cleaning" on top of crazy word deadline thingy for the weekend...




6:20: I am so braindead. I am officially calling it a day today, and telling myself NOT to open Scrivener again. I need a break. 




Today's Final Goal Meter:









11% done!

Challenges & a Winner

So, this week was the week of Crazy Challenges. And while my challenge to myself WAS crazy (15k in a week!) I am so so so certain that I would never have written that many words if (a) Steph hadn't challenged me to it and (b) you guys hadn't cheered both of us on. After meeting with Steph yesterday, we decided to randomly select one person who had cheered us on--either in our blog comments, Twitter, or any other way--and send them a copy of both of our books. Sorry it took so long--there were a LOT of supporters out there!



And, for the record, I totally disqualified Kiersten White. She plays dirty.



(Please ignore the fact that I played dirty, too.)



(And that I started it.)



(And that she was playing dirty against us both, actually. An equal-opportunity-dirty-player.)



(Yeah. Ignore all that.)



So, without further ado...the winner of the random-selected cheerleader surprise contest is....




Charlee Vale 

(with this tweet)




*throws confetti* Congrats Charlee! Send me your address and we'll get the books out to you!




And now for the challenge...




See, I really want to finish Book 3 ASAP, in part because I have a shiny new idea I want to work on, in part because I want to finish it before it gets too close to the holidays, in part because I want to give my critique readers time to, you know, critique. And read. And in part because I really work well under deadlines and pressures. And because I'm insane.




ANYWAY.




I'd like to really push through with Book 3. I know pretty much how everything goes, and what's slowing me down isn't so much that I'm stuck, but that I'm being lazy.




So.




I am challenging myself to another crazy deadline. A lot of words. In one week. From Thursday to Thursday. I'm meeting Steph again, and she knows my crazy deadline, and if I fail it, then the result = I have to pay for all her coffee next week.




BUT THAT IS NOT MOTIVATION ENOUGH.




So...I am also making you guys a promise. If I do not make my crazy deadline (it's so crazy I'm not even going to tell you how many words--it's a lot)...anyway, if I don't make my crazy deadline, I am going to give away a signed copy of the ACROSS THE UNIVERSE paperback (plus all the swag that'll fit in the box) to one random person who comments on my blog at any point in time between last Thursday and next Thursday (deadline day). 




And everyday, I'm going to post a percentage meter of how much of the crazy deadline I've done for that day. 




I figure between buying coffee and sending out books, my pocketbook (and my husband) will MAKE me stick to this crazy deadline.




Also, the possibility of public humiliation when if  I have to admit that I failed to you guys.




SO! The CHALLENGE! It is afoot! 




And today's update so far....












1% done!





(PS: the winner of the October Password Contest will be revealed October 24th. If you're still struggled to figure out the password, you can get the answer on the Facebook Page, or, if you can't get there, you can consider this clue: What do you do with a leader?)[image error]