Beth Revis's Blog, page 51

Bookanista Feature: Tessa Gratton's BLOOD MAGIC

BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton is a hard book to describe. It's beautiful--but also disturbing. It's like goblin fruit, if that makes sense. There's magic and blood and kissing and a dark history and doubtful future. So, basically, you should read it.



I actually really love the way the book's described in GoodReads: "Tessa Gratton's intoxicating first novel will keep pulses racing, minds reeling, and pages turning right up to the very last drop of blood."



Of course, I had to ask Tessa for an interview. I was lucky enough to meet Tessa earlier this year at the Branson retreat and, well, she's effing awesome and way cooler than me.



Need proof? Read her interview:





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?



My dentist told me I am genetically superior to most humans because I have no wisdom teeth. This fact did nothing to help my ego remain modest.





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



BEAUTY by Robin McKinley, definitely, with JURASSIC PARK as a close runner-up. And… Beauty is still one of my favorites of all time, and I adore most fairy tale retellings, especially when they're done do delicately and simply. I don't reread Jurassic Park, but I am still somewhat obsessed with dinosaurs.





You're one-third of the awesome that is The Merry Sisters of Fate. Can you tell us a little bit about how the group formed? 



Maggie and I met online, and about 6 months later we were critiquing each other's work. One day she said "Tessa, this is Brenna, and the two of you will be friends!" TA DA! We started Merry Fates in May of 2008, in an effort to quickly improve our writing with the challenge of writing a short story every week.









YOUR BOOK



It's the inevitable question: what inspired BLOOD MAGIC?

Originally, a vision of a brother and sister who could switch bodies, and the body-snatching witch who stalked them… but Maggie and Brenna told me it needed to be more monstrous… more "Tessa." Then came the copious amounts of blood.





One of the great things about BLOOD MAGIC is that magic has a very real and present cost: blood. Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose to use blood in your magic?



I wanted the magic to have an immediate, physical consequence, something to represent the energetic sacrifice necessary for power. AND blood is such a strong piece of so many religions and mythology. It has power in just about every culture – magical power to grant everlasting life. Plus, I like red.





Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing BLOOD MAGIC?



I wrote the first (boring, bloodless) draft in 6 weeks, then spent 4 months rewriting it into something I actually thought was awesome. Signed with my agent, rewrote again, and then a second time after editorial feedback… and almost a year exactly after beginning that very first draft, it sold to Random House. I had 6 drafts total, because when I rewrite, I tend to TOTALLY rewrite.



If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from BLOOD MAGIC, what would you want it to be?



Killing bunnies is good for the soul. (Ok, seriously, I guess the most important theme is that we have to choose who we want to be.)





YOUR WRITING

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

How long you have to wait for everything.



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



HAVE ADVENTURES!



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



Strongest: world-building and kissing scenes (yeah, I went there.) Weakest: occasionally I forget to pay attention and write on auto-pilot.











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Check out what the other Bookanistas are Reading this week:





Elana Johnson and  Stasia Ward Kehoe savor Bad Taste in Boys
LiLa Roecker celebrates The Summer of the Bear
Christine Fonseca has got a surprise for a Bookanista buddy (ooh—curious?)
Beth Revis  interviews Blood Magic author Teresa Gratton
Carolina Valdez Miller enjoys a special celebration
Jessi Kirby and Megan Miranda gush about Imaginary Girls
Bethany Wiggins is crazy about Delirium
Shana Silver sings praises for Starcrossed
Jen Hayley applauds Possession
Veronica Rossi hails Hereafter
Carrie Harris glories in Texas Gothic

My Next Contest: Squee!

OK, so if you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know that I've been hinting at a new contest coming up.



Well, this is NOT an announcement of the contest. Because, well...the prize hasn't been made yet.



BUT. You can watch it being made! YAY!



Let me backtrack. So, not too long ago, I saw a picture of a charm bracelet that was full of charms dealing with Doctor Who. I'd show you a picture of it but Rachel Hawkins totally snagged it before me. But it was full of awesome charms--an angel wing for the scariest of monsters (the stone angels from "Blink"), a double heart charm because the Doctor has two hearts--and some more obscure ones, like a banana from that time the Doctor accidentally invented banana daiquiris two centuries too early.



And I thought: that is brilliant. I loved the level of detail, and the way that each charm meant something so specific to the story.



And so I did some rooting around, discovered the Etsy site where the bracelet originally came from--and saw that the seller also made charm bracelets for Harry Potter and Twilight, and promptly contacted the seller in the hopes that I might be able to convince her to make a charm bracelet for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.



And she was all game. In talking with Jennie, I discovered that not only does she have excellent taste (she's working on some FIREFLY bracelets right now, squee!) but she's totally cool.



And she's going to be blogging about the whole bracelet-making experience! So, if you'd like, check out her blog (or her Etsy store). In the meantime, you now know what one part of my next contest is going to be! (The other part will include an ARC of A MILLION SUNS and some other things I'm working on while waiting for ARCs--when I get finally some, this contest is going to be huge!)



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Don't forget, this is day three of the Elana Johnson POSSESSION Launch Festival of Awesome! Today, go to Shannon Messenger's site and comment to enter to win a signed copy of POSSESSION and learn the secret time that you need to use the Twitter hashtag #taggedPOSSESSION to win another signed copy of POSSESSION!

Meanwhile, don't forget: if you spread the word about POSSESSION, you can win one of FIVE signed copies of the book! 

We're giving away 15 signed copies of POSSESSION throughout this week's blog tour--be sure to visit and enter to win! Tomorrow's giveaway will be hosted at Jamie Harrington's blog!

Winner of POSSESSION!

Yesterday, we gave away one copy of POSSESSION on Twitter, and now it's time to announce the winner of another copy here on the blog:



Heather Moore!

Don't forget: Go to Lisa and Laura's blog for another chance to win two more copies of the book. We're giving away 17 books throughout this week, including giving away 5 here!

Dark, Dark Stuff: That WSJ Thing

It feels like every blogger and YA writer online has already comments on the Wall Street Journal article that sparked a Twitter upheaval (#YAsaves). If you need a run-down of it, Bookshelves of Doom (in a post appropriately titled "Another Day, Another Ill-informed Article About YA"). My favorite part was this:

...the article's author is the regular WSJ children's reviewer. So one would assume that she'd be aware that suggesting the YA industry is all about "bulldoz[ing] coarseness or misery into children's lives" might be going overboard. Especially in a piece that isn't in the opinion section.



But hey: Apparently not.

So the article's premise is this: YA books these days are too dark, full of evil, and those darn kids need to get off my lawn. According to the quoted "source," when she walked into the bookstore, all she could find in the YA department was "...all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff."



Hmm.



Well, while my novel has nothing to do with vampires, I can assume, judging from a few specific scenes, that it is in the "dark, dark stuff" category. Pushing aside those specific scenes (because I don't want to spoil the novel for anyone), the genre itself would imply dark stuff: it's dystopian, a science fiction that takes place in a world that isn't ideal.



But--and I've said this before, but it bears repeating--the point of my novel specifically and dystopian novels in general--is not about the dark, dark stuff. They are all, at their heart, hopeful. Create a dark setting, but populate it with characters that are willing--are fighting--to rise above it. You could read my book and focus on Eldest, and the mindlessness of the people on the ship, and the drugs and the murder and the dark.



Or you could look at it and see Amy, who won't give up her faith in either herself or the goodness of people. Or Elder, who--despite being raised in a dark society--learns to rise above it.



You can see the dark world, or you can see the people who rise above it.

Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than the stories and people we're quoting.  ---John Green 

Okay then, let's look at some quotes from the infamous WSJ article:

If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of fun-house mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is. There are of course exceptions, but a careless young reader—or one who seeks out depravity—will find himself surrounded by images not of joy or beauty but of damage, brutality and losses of the most horrendous kinds.

Here's the thing. You may think you're seeing a depravity, but I see hope. Give me Speak, and you may see rape, but I see a survivor. Give me The Hunger Games, and you may see children fighting each other, but I see people fighting oppression.



The article's narrow viewpoint indicates not what's wrong with YA literature--but what's wrong with the reader who wrote the article. She dismisses YA in one wide swath--but doesn't bother to apply the same sort of critical reading level that, I suspect, she'd apply to an adult novel.



I'm making assumptions here, but it's an attitude I've faced a lot with those prejudiced against YA. The attitude is merely this: YA novels are written for teens and therefore have no depth to them beyond the surface (because, of course, teens are kids and kids don't think analytically). This type of assumption drives me mad. YA isn't lesser in intellect, and deserves a thoughtful reader.



Here's another quote from the article:

The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless. If a teen has been abused, the logic follows, reading about another teen in the same straits will be comforting. If a girl cuts her flesh with a razor to relieve surging feelings of self-loathing, she will find succor in reading about another girl who cuts, mops up the blood with towels and eventually learns to manage her emotional turbulence without a knife.

I would say that the argument in favor of such novels is two-fold: not just to aid the teens who experience such hardships, but also to aid others into accepting or understanding teens in those situations.   The article cites a Lauren Myracle novel dealing with a homosexual character who is abused. The article focuses on the graphic nature of the abuse--but (without having read the novel in question) I'd be willing to bet that the novel isn't about the abuse, but the characters.



Sure, some YA novels are graphic. But there's a place for it. Let me give you an example from my teaching days--a novel that my students read was Elie Wiesel's Night. This is a common high school text for world literature students, and it is graphic. But the level of detail given in this novel really hit home with a lot of my students. There's a difference between saying you're hungry and describing hunger. Between saying you're tortured and describing the whipping. Between saying a character died to describing the light that leaves his eyes.



I'm sure that the author of the WSJ article would argue that Night isn't a YA contemporary novel. But it is a novel read by teens, and it is graphic. And it proves my point: sometimes graphic scenes are needed in a story.



The WSJ article concludes with a note about gatekeepers, the parents and guardians and schools that decide what books is easily available to their teens.

Yet let a gatekeeper object to a book and the industry pulls up its petticoats and shrieks "censorship!"

Um. No. NO. It is not censorship for a parent or guardian to decide what book his or her child reads. It's parenting. I don't know of a single author who would ever object to a parent dictating what book his or her child should read. What crosses the line into censorship is when you try to parent not just your child, but all the other children, too.



And, as much as I suspect this article would like to actually censor some titles, it is not censorship to state your opinion. You have every right to do so. I encourage you to do so.



But please don't ignore the way #YAsaves, and please try to speak authoritatively on the subject by giving it more credence than just a cursory glance.





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Don't forget, this is day one of the Elana Johnson POSSESSION Launch Festival of Awesome! Today, go to Lisa and Laura Roecker's site and comment to enter to win a signed copy of POSSESSION and learn the secret time that you need to use the Twitter hashtag #taggedPOSSESSION to win another signed copy of POSSESSION!

Meanwhile, don't forget: if you spread the word about POSSESSION, you can win one of FIVE signed copies of the book! 

We're giving away 15 signed copies of POSSESSION throughout this week's blog tour--be sure to visit and enter to win! Tomorrow's giveaway will be hosted at Shannon Messenger's blog!

POSSESSION Launch Week: Day One!

In case you missed it on Friday, this is Elana Johnson's launch week! And to celebrate, of course we're giving stuff away!



Leave a comment on this blog post, and you're entered to win a signed copy of POSSESSION. If you aren't sure what to say, you could answer this question: Who or what would you protect most fiercely if the government tagged it to be taken away?



BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE: We're giving away ANOTHER signed copy of POSSESSION on Twitter! Sometime today (probably, say, between 9:00 and 10:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time) I'm going to traipse on over to Twitter, and I'm going to be looking for people who are using the hashtag: #taggedPOSSESSION. If I happen to see YOU using the hashtag, you might win! And it can't hurt to use the hashtag all day, yanno ;)



Meanwhile...if you're still not sure if you want to check out this book, here's a little video I did on it...









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Don't forget, this is day one of the Elana Johnson POSSESSION Launch Festival of Awesome! Today, go to Beth Revis's site and comment to enter to win a signed copy of POSSESSION and learn the secret time that you need to use the Twitter hashtag #taggedPOSSESSION to win another signed copy of POSSESSION!

Meanwhile, don't forget: if you spread the word about POSSESSION, you can win one of FIVE signed copies of the book! 

We're giving away 15 signed copies of POSSESSION throughout this week's blog tour--be sure to visit and enter to win! Tomorrow's giveaway will be hosted at Lisa and Laura Roecker's blog!

Celebrate POSSESSION! Win SIGNED Books!

I am so excited about next week. You know what happens next week?



POSSESSION by my good friend Elana Johnson comes out!!



I'm so happy for her--it's awesome to see your friend's dream come true. And you guys know me--when I'm happy, I like to give things away!



So: help me show Elana some love and celebrate her book's release! All next week, we're hosting a mini-love-tour for Elana and POSSESSION--with prizes every single day. We're pulling out all the stops: there's vlogs and blogs and Twitter and more!



We have tons of copies of POSSESSION to give away--all signed by our amazing Elana (and since Shannon contacted her publicist, this is all one big huge surprise for Elana!)



Meanwhile, we really want to get the word out to people about Elana, her book, and this launch extravaganza! So, to entice you to share the love, we have FIVE SIGNED COPIES OF POSSESSION to give to people who spread the word about POSSESSION. There are LOTS of ways to win--and everything you do garners you more entries!



To enter, just fill out the form below. Contest details are below as well.



Also: Right click on the image at the right and use it as your avatar in Twitter or Facebook for more entries! :D



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*~*~*~*~*~*~*Tour Schedule Friday: Spread the word about POSSESSION!
Monday-Saturday: Begin daily contests! For 24 hours only, you have 2 chances to win on each day, hosted at different people's blogs!
Monday: Visit Beth Revis's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Tuesday: Visit Lisa & Laura Roecker's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Wednesday: Visit Shannon Messenger's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Thursday: Visit Jamie Harrington's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Friday: Visit Christine Fonseca's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Saturday: Visit Ali Cross's blog for 2 more chances to win POSSESSION
Sunday: Stop by any of our blogs to find out the winners of the 5 signed copies for the Spread the Word contest!


Go forth! Spread the word! Collect entries and win a signed copy of POSSESSION!

My Best Advice for Teen Writers

So not too long ago, I had a Tumblr person ask me to give advice on what to tell a teen who is a writer and who wants to seek publication. I posted it originally in Tumblr, but I thought you guys wouldn't mind if I posted it here, too.



(OK, OK, I didn't have a topic to post about today.)





My Advice for Teens who want to be Published

Whenever given the choice between staying home and writing versus doing something new and experiencing new things, always go for the adventure. You're already at a disadvantage because you're young: you need to soak up as much life as possible. Living life is the best training for telling stories.
Have someone OTHER THAN a close friend, family member and/or teacher read your work. 
A friend or family member is probably not going to be objective about your work. I don't show my work to my family members or friends even now, not unless it's close to be done. Even if you have a family member or friend who is IN publishing in some way, they're not objective because they love YOU. 
Likewise, a teacher can't be objective. I know. I've been a teacher. And even if the person's work is great, a teacher has as a moral imperative & desire to encourage the student. The teacher doesn't want to crush your creativity or discourage you. 
But if you're seeking publication, you need to have readers who don't care about you as a person—because publication is a business, it's not personal. So you need to find other writers who are willing to read your work and help you see what needs to be improved (and I guarantee something needs to be improved).
Know that once you finish the book, you still have a crap load of work to do. I finished my first book when I was 18. I thought I could drop it in the mail to NY, and it would be published. I thought "editing" meant "changing the grammar and adding new scenes." It was inconceivable to me that "editing" might mean "rewrite the whole &^*%$ book in a month, please."
Be prepared to keep writing through rejection. YOU WILL BE REJECTED. YOU WILL BE REJECTED. You need to be at an emotional state and confident enough in yourself to know that even if WHEN you are rejected, you will continue to write.
Don't ever ever ever ever think that just because you're young, you deserve extra credit. The concept that "this is good enough for a XX year old" is anathema. Would you rather be published because you're young, or because you wrote a good book? Don't think you can rely on your age as a crutch. (Likewise, please don't think that your lack of education, if you lack education, will be excused. The idea that "the grammar's bad because I haven't been to college yet, but that's ok, right?" is a bad idea.)
If at all possible, leave your age out of it. Be SUPER-professional, SUPER-polite, and SUPER-gracious, and don't bring up your age—let people meet, judge, and work with you on your own merit, not your age.
Don't self publish. Don't put your work online. I know it seems tempting and you're impatient and it's easy to publish online and it seems like it's a good idea. It isn't. You will regret it. You will be setting yourself up for failure. SOME people do make it by self publishing (see: Amanda Hocking). Even those people admit that it is HARD WORK. Beside, more than likely, right now what you most need to do is:
Learn your craft. Writing seems easy for some people. It was easy for me. I cranked out stories and poems and even novels as a teen. And I thought they were all brilliant. But when I look back at them now, I think "what a pile of crap." Just because you're writing doesn't mean you're writing well, and you still have a lot of learning to do. Everyone does.
Once you've written tons, edited more, and sent your complete novel through a few critique partners, THEN you need to start focusing on finding an agent. In 99.99% of all situations, finding an agent is the best possible thing for a fiction writer to do. Approach finding an agent as anyone—teen or not—would do.
And I didn't include this with my original post, but I think it should be said:Don't take anyone's advice--even this--too seriously. If you want to be a published writer, you're going to make it happen some way or another.

I Love Indies Blog Tour!

The fabulous Lisa and Laura have declared May 31 I <3 Indies Day, and I have to say: I really love indies! In particular, I *adore* my local indie bookstore, Fireside Books & Gifts.



There are a lot of reasons to love Fireside. First: the people. I know I can walk into the store and be greeted personally--often with a suggestion of a book that I will love. If Valerie hands me a title, I know I'm going to gobble the book up.



But Fireside has a special place in my heart because it's where I had my first author event--my launch party for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. I was gobsmacked by the response, and every time I walk into the store, I remember how wonderful it was to see everyone and launch my book at Fireside.





So, of course, I love Fireside most of all--but I love all indie bookstores, and today's about celebrating indies!



And one of my very very favorite things about indie bookstores is that they are most likely to have...signed books! I love signed books--in fact, that's about the only thing I collect--and I love that often, authors will partner with indie bookstores in order to provide signed books!



Fireside is my partner indie store--if you'd ever like to get a signed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, just click here. I can personalize it any way you like, too--the store calls me up, I come down and sign the book for you, and they ship it as soon as the ink dries.



Lots of authors do this (which means my collection of signed books continues to grow...). Here's a sampling of some local indies that can hook you up with signed books! (And please feel free to steal this list and post elsewhere--the more books sold, the better!)



Indies that Feature Signed Books

Fireside Books & Gifts--signed copies of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by me (Beth Revis)
Fountain Bookstore--signed copies of SHIVER trilogy and other books by Maggie Stiefvater
Iowa Books--signed copies of THE MAGIC THIEF trilogy by Sarah Prineas
Evermore Nevermore--signed copies of WAKE trilogy and other books by Lisa McMann
Constellation Books--signed copies of SHADE and other books by Jeri Smith-Ready
Norwich Bookstore--signed copies of THE ENG OF THE WORLD CLUB by J&P Voelkel
The Learned Owl--signed copies of THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa and Laura Roecker
Ram's Head Books--signed copies of MEMENTO NORA by Angie Smibert




And a few bookstores will be hosting launch parties soon--so call them now for signed copies!



The King's English Bookshop--POSSESSION by Elana Johnson
Rainy Day Books--BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton


Do you know of any other authors who partner with bookstores to sell signed books? Let me know in the comments, and I'll add it to my list! 



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Thank you to Lisa and Laura for coming up with the brilliant idea to feature indie bookstores today. Please visit the blogs below--each one another stop on the We Love Indies Blog Tour! And be sure to stop by Lisa & Laura's blog in particular--they're hosting a giveaway to celebrate indies!



Sarah Frances Hardy
Shana Silver
Elana Johnson
Stasia Kehoe
Shannon Messenger
Carolina Valdez Miller
Mundie Moms
Myra McEntire
Sara Bennett Wealer
Janet Gurtler
Joy Preble
Ty Drago
Kate Walton
Julia Karr
Randy Russell
Adele Griffin
Helen Landalf
Andrea Higgins
Beth Revis
Tess Hilmo
Sheela Chari
Gail Handler
Christine Fonseca
Lisa and Laura Roecker
Crystal Allen


And don't forget: the best way to show your support for a local indie bookstore is to shop in one. Why not go out today and pick up a book? Support reading and your local economy!

Blog Tour: Elana Johnson's POSSESSION!

I first met Elana online soon after I started blogging--I mean, everyone knew the Query Ninja, amirite? Over the years I got to know Elana better--and even got to meet her in person!--and can honestly say she's one of my favoritest people.



Which is why I'm thrilled that her book's about to come out! Elana is the author of the dystopian POSSESSION, and today I've cornered her with some questions about her book, her writing, and more!



YOU



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





I am scared of all animals that have more legs than I do, all ducks and geese, every species of snake, and some hummingbirds.



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





My favorite reads were The Babysitter's Club series. I'd like to think I've matured since then, though I still don't read grown-up novels.



POSSESSION is a dystopian novel—could you tell us a little bit about why the genre appealed to you?





Dystopia blows my mind, because it's possibilities are endless! If you can dream it, you can make it into a futuristic society. And I love that there's a place for my twisted imagination to run wild.





YOUR BOOK



It's the inevitable question: could you tell us a little about POSSESSION and what inspired it?





POSSESSION is an angry-girl novel set in the future, with some sweet tech gadgets and a sprinkling of paranormal abilities.



The novel was inspired by the question: "What would life look like without free will?" And, of course, the emotional angst I poured into it. There's always that, too.



POSSESSION starts in medias res, throwing us right in the action. Can you give us a little more detail about what Vi's world is like and how it got that way?





Okay, I might have had to Google that. I actually think POSSESSION starts "slow." Vi and her match, Zenn, are walking in the park. No explosions, no horse stampedes, no alien abductions. I wanted to give the reader a sense of her first, and her opinion on her society—because she's not a fan from page one. (That's something that's a little different than most other dystopian novels.)



The reason Vi doesn't like her world is because it's not a very nice place to live. All citizens are required to clip-in to transmissions each night. They're told who to marry, what jobs to have, what foods to eat, what clothes to wear. They're brainwashed, devoid of personality and unable to make their own choices.



Thinkers do all the thinking, so regular people won't have to. Our world evolved into the world in POSSESSION through paranormal means. I know, I know. I just can't decide what I'm writing. Paranormal? Yes. Science fiction? Yes. Dystopian? Yes.



Hey, it's a trifecta of awesome!



I'm going to be extraordinarily selfish and ask this question for me: did you always plan to end the novel in the way that you did?





Don't feel bad! They people from MTV.com and Publisher's Weekly asked me this in New York City, too.



The answer is yes, this is exactly how the novel has always ended. When I drafted it, and it came out this way, I sat back and thought, "Wow. That's perfect." And it's been that way ever since. I'm just glad I found an agent and an editor who loved the ending as much as I did (because, believe me, I queried many an agent who didn't).



Can you tell us a little bit about the process—particularly the timeline—of writing POSSESSION?





I'm a discovery writer, so I drafted POSSESSION in only 17 days in April of 2008. After that, I left it alone while I continued to draft my fingers off. See, at the time I didn't particularly know how to get a book ready for publication. But I knew how to type.



So I wrote a lot of other books. Seven more, to be exact. It was now December 2008, and my first novel had failed mightily in the query trenches. So I was looking back over my other projects, trying to decide which one to fix up enough to query.



I chose POSSESSION. I revised and rewrote, and revised and rewrote. I sent it to betas. They seemed excited, and I got excited. I perfected my query and put on my bullet-proof vest. I started querying in late April 2009.



I got a lot of requests. But no one leapt out of their slippers to offer. I queried through the summer of 2009. I talked to three agents on the phone—they all wanted revisions. I did revisions two separate times, each time making the book stronger and stronger.



Finally, in November 2009, Michelle Andelman offered, and I accepted. After a couple more rounds of revision, we went out to editors in February 2010. The book sold very quickly, and I've been on the roller coaster of lifetime since then.



If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from POSSESSION, what would you want it to be?





Oooh, brain bender. Whenever I read POSSESSION, I contemplate my own beliefs and why I believe the way I do. Am I making my own decisions? Or is someone else influencing me? If so, who?





YOUR WRITING

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

I think the most surprising thing I've learned deals with the huge wide world of social media. I often think to myself that I would never be on twitter, or Facebook, or operate a blog if I wasn't a writer. I wouldn't even know those things exist. So it's surprising that I like them as much as I do.



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





Allow yourself to write badly, so you can figure out how you write best.



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



I think I'm pretty good at voice. My characters seem to have a mind of their own, and I just make sure it sounds right on the page.



I'm horrific at setting. It's something I'm working on, and that my crit partners are always harping on me about.



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Thanks for stopping by today, Elana!

Winners of iClue!

We hope you enjoyed playing iClue with us! I know I enjoyed it--I loved teaming up with other authors to write mysteries and to do the #askiClue chats--and to get to know more readers! So, without further ado...



The winner of the 6 autographed books is....



Melissa Wheelock!

Congratulations Melissa! We'll be sending you an email shortly to get your address.



And.....now for the grand prize. The winner of an iPod Touch donated by The Reading Room, loaded with six AMAZING mysteries is...



Jasmine Miller!