Megan Bostic's Blog, page 59

Writing Wednesday: Never Eighteen

In honor of receiving my ARCs yesterday, I'm going to post a snippet from Never Eighteen.

The following scene is Austin trying to conquer his fear of heights by riding the Extreme Scream at the Puyallup Fair.


The countdown begins . . . ten, nine, eight . . . Kaylee lets go of my hand and grabs on to her harness. I give her my best "What the hell?" look and she giggles. Seven, six, five . . .I'm now aware of the need to hold on for dear life, so I too grab my harness with a death grip . . . four, three, two . . . I close my eyes, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in. One . . .we shoot up the tower at what feels like the speed of light. I feel helpless, dangling, with no control of my limbs. Just as I thought, I scream like a little girl, flailing, and praying to
God I don't piss my pants.

The ride stops as suddenly as it started, at the top of the tower. I open my eyes, take in the view of the fairgrounds below me, trying desperately not to freak out. When we plunge back down, my stomach drops to my knees and my mouth goes dry. Up and down again, up and down, slowing with each phase, until the ride finally ends and we are safely back on the earth. I'm finally able to let out my breath. I want to lie face- down and hug the ground, thank it for being so solid, and still. When my feet hit the earth, my knees buckle and I nearly collapse. Kaylee and one of the attendants grab me and hold me up.

"You okay, man?" the attendant asks. He looks just like a fair attendant should, big, bald, missing some teeth, a clichéd tattoo on his gigantic bicep— MOM in a red heart. I'm sure if he were to bend over, we'd get a view of his butt crack as well. He reeks of cigarettes and whiskey, disconcerting for someone who has just put his life in this man's hands. The stench makes me nauseous. I run to a nearby garbage can and puke, a horrible waste of cookies.

T Tuesday. T is for The Class of 2k11

I mention them today because 6 of the 17 members books release this week.  Alissa Grosso's, Popular released yesterday.  Today Gae Polisner's The Pull of Gravity, Amy Fellner Dominy's OyMG and Christina Mandelski's The Sweetest Thing release today.  K Ryer Breese's Future Imperfect and Sheila O'Connor's Sparrow Road also release this week.

The Class of 2k11 also consists of:

Carole Estby Dagg
Trinity Faegen
Kiki Hamilton
Carrie Harris
Geoff Herbach

Amy Holder
Tara Hudson
Julia Karr
Bettina Restrepo
Angie Smibert

You should check out their books.  The ones I've read so far have been fantastic and I plan to have every one of them on my bookshelf by the end of the year.  I congratulate all six who release this week, those that have already, and those that will later this year.

That is all,

Megan

Monday Morning Blahg: Will Write for Food

Someone asked me yesterday if writing was my job.  I responded that I wished it to be one day.  Don't get me wrong, as far as day jobs go, I have a great one.  The people I work with are wonderful, I basically get to surf the internet all day doing research or Facebooking, Tweeting, or blogging.  I get to design cool, attention getting ads.  It's very awesome.

But I think the goal of many writers is to live off of their craft some day. Of course, this is not easy unless you're King, Rowling, Meyer, etc.  Many of us will have to come  out of our shells and have live personal interaction with people outside of our computer monitors.  Skype visits, school visits, conferences, etc.  That's how we live off of it.  This is the stuff I have to learn.  I have to find my niche, so I can prepare a presentation.

I really admire the writers who travel around and give that part of themselves to their readers and other writers.  I'm terrified of it, but I know if I want to be only a writer, I have to get over it.  This may take therapy. :)

Happy Monday.

Megan

F³A: The Class of 2k12

First of all, I want to tell you my Apocalypty interview with Gae Polisner is up here.  You should go read it.

Also, no Friday Nibbles because seriously, Blogspot is freaking out today.

Now I want to talk about the Class of 2K12.  We're in our beginning stages, but we're steam rolling our way through.  We're working on our website, trailer, and other exciting things.

Last night we hosted a Twitterchat at #teenink.  I've never done a Twitterchat before and it was really fun.  We met a lot of teen writers, and adult writers as well, giving advice, talking about writing and books, and just having fun.  We'll probably be doing one in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.

Our official launch will be 12/12/11

Here is the Class of 2k12

Suzanne Lazear
AC Gaughen







Caroline Starr Rose







CorrineJackson







Daniel Marks







Debra Driza







Eve MarieMont







Gina Rosati







J.AndersonCoats







Jennifer Wolf







Joanne Levy







Kate Burak







Katy Longshore







Kimberly Sabatini







LyndaMullalyHunt







Lynne Kelly







Megan Bostic







Patrice Lyle







Robin Bridges







Sarah Tregay







SarvenazTash

Thought Provoking Thursday: Mothers

With Mother's Day being this weekend, I thought I would write about mothers.  (and yes, I'm avoiding the whole bin Laden thing)

My mom is a saint and she's worked hard for that coming from a childhood where she was forced to grow up too fast.  She rose above it and broke a cycle, which is not always easy to do.  Sure, she's had her not so pretty moments, but who hasn't.

But she was always there to bandage my wounds, worry when I wasn't home in time, and dry my tears.  It's not only me she's protected and nurtured.  She helped her own mother by buying her groceries, taking her on vacations because she didn't have the money to do those things, little or big, on her own.

She along with my dad help send more kids to college than I can even count.  Education is important do her.  She's a very smart woman.  She has business sense, common sense, and she can talk for hours about books and movies.

She works with the Hospitality Kitchen here in Tacoma, gathering donations of coats, socks, and toiletries, and delivering them a couple times a year, among her other philanthropical activities and donations.  I probably wouldn't be able to count how many organizations she donates to on both hands. 

And these last few years, she's protected me, guided me, listened to me, believed in me, and tried to understand me when perhaps I wasn't acting completely rational or reasonable or sane for that matter.

She's a beautiful person and has been a great example for me, and I can only hope that I'm even half the mom as she has been to me.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the moms out there.  It's one of the hardest jobs, if not the hardest, to raise kids, keep them healthy, and teach them how to become independent and confident adults.

Writing Wednesday: Poetry

This one is called Needs.

White hot heat
Shimmering brilliance
Humid and inviting.
Filling vacuous voids,
The sinister chasms that
cause eternal downpours
and bone chilling rime.
Perpetual motion
Not to think or cast shadows
No moss collected
merely flow like the current.
Vivid hues, downy clouds,
fluid and weightless
blissful and tranquil

I wait for the dark to subside.

T Tuesday. T is for Theme

Themes.  Do you have some that run through just about every one of your novels?  Here are a few things that I see me constantly writing about, whether they play a major part or a supporting role.

Soccer: I love soccer.  I love watching my kids play soccer.  I used soccer in the MG series I wrote (my very venture into novel writing), it also had it's supporting roll in Never Eighteen (NE).  It makes sense because every weekend for about nine months out of the year I am either watching one or two games a week.

Coffee, particularly Starbucks:  I'm addicted, so this just makes sense.  In the MG series, they have a favorite coffee shop, in NE Kaylee works at Starbucks.  In Lockdown there is a scene with the shooters mom and the police where they talk over coffee.

Death:  Yep.  I'm starting to think I may be obsessed with or at least fascinated by it.  People die.  I've killed or made someone gravely ill in every book I've written be it nemesis, best friend, or the entire cast.  I think in my WIP (work in progress) I won't kill anyone, though my protagonist is fascinated by death.

Teen social issues: Eating disorders, domestic abuse, drug abuse, alcoholism, depression, sexual assault, homosexuality, violence, I've written about all of them.  The sad thing is, teens face these problems every day whether it's their own issue, or someone close to them.

So, what reoccurring themes do you find running through your writing?

Do share.

Monday Morning Blahg: Obama Osama

I was out last night with friends when I got an alarming phone call.  It was my mother.  She said Obama had been shot and killed.

Obama?

Yes, Obama.

Married?  Yeah, married.  (oops, sorry, that just reminded me of a scene from Sixteen Candles)

Obama.  I sighed, shrugged, and I think I may have said. "Figures."  My mom must have thought I was crazy.

Did she say Obama?  I don't know.  That's what I heard.  Obviously when I went and sat down at my computer, I found that it was O-SA-ma, that had been killed. Not O-BA-ma.  Needless to say, I was relieved (and a little disturbed at the picture Yahoo decided was appropriate to post of Osama's dead head)

The whole exchange had me giggling this morning.

F³A: America is Crazy. For Realsies.

What am I referring to you ask?  Is it the fact that so many were glued to their sets to watch the royal wedding?  That people are actually paying to go see Charlie Sheen speak?  That Birthers STILL don't believe Obama is American even though he produced his birth certificate?


Bringing sexy backNo.  That is NOT what I'm referring to, though any of the above would make a fantastic blog post *makes notes for next week*  I'm referring the the travesty that took place on national television last night.  Casey Abrams was voted off of Idol last night.

Um, what?

Most of these people suckCasey was a judge favorite and probably the most talented person to ever set foot on the idol stage.  Disagree with me?  Fine.  He's a singer, songwriter, musician.  You cannot debate the fact that he has an awesome voice.  No matter what he sings (aside from maybe Smells Like Teen Spirit) he has made me swoon.  He brought sexy back to the upright bass.  He scats like mad.  Rough around the edges, sure, but expendable? Not even close.

My idol obsessionHe's got more style than Jacob, more versatility than Scotty, more experience than Lauren, and he growls better than Haley (I love Haley too, but not as much as Casey).  And he . . . uh . . . well, comparing him to James would be like comparing apples to oranges. Can't do it. (and now that Casey is gone, James is a shoo in to win.  If he doesn't I may just boycott Idol fooooorrrreeevvvvvverrrrrr)

However, there is no doubt in my mind Casey will get a recording contract.  And I'll be first in line at the iTunes store (figuratively) to buy his stuff.

meh.



 Friday Nibbles:

Random Pandora (iPod is dead) Shuffle Song: In the Waiting Line by Zero 7

Book of the Week: Hard choice, I hit the Borders sale yesterday.  I think I'm going to go with Kristina McBride's, The Tension of Opposites. Been wanting to read it for awhile.

Movie of the Week:  What is a movie? Kidding, let's go with another purchase from Borders, Blood and Chocolate.

Quote of the Week:   "Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us, come because we actually deserve them?  So now I take comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the Universe."  ~ Marcus Cole

Random Thought (this is new, I'll tell you some of the weird crap that comes from my head):  I dreamt about zombies last night and now I think I'm going to write a zombie book.

Thought Provoking Thursday: Marketing

[image error] I received the marketing letter from my publisher yesterday.  Talk about information overload.  That's good though.  It's very thorough.  Clearly states what I should be doing.  What they will be doing for me.  Even with the online stuff I'm already doing, there's more.  I believe I will have no life for the rest of the year, probably longer.

Although I'm on Facebook, Twitter, I blog, I have a website, it's not enough.  There are certain things I must do on those sites to maximize my online presence.  Update often, host stuff (I don't know what yet)

Is that so bad?There's swag, and since I have a little experience with graphic design, I'm going to design my own, bookmarks, buttons, postcards, and stickers. (and whatever else there is to create).

There are many events to attend.  Book signings, festivals, conferences.  I can also try and do school visits.

And of course I'm a member of the Class of 2k12, so I'm pretty much double marketing.

I need to find some balance, to do all this, keep up with my writing, give my kids some attention, and go to my day job.

It seems exhausting and impossible, but others have done it, so I think I can too.

Back to it.  Laters.

~Megan