Megan Bostic's Blog, page 67

Thought Provoking Thursday: I'm not going to talk about the AZ shooting

I was going to talk about the shooting in AZ, but honestly, I'm weary.  I don't normally get political here, because, well, I loathe politics, but guns bug me.  And the gun battle will never be resolved.  People will say ( and I agree) we shouldn't own them, others will say it's our 2nd amendment right.  Of course, the amendment was written during the homefront war days and there was the need for a militia.  Um, we don't really need a militia any more, just sayin'.  We have armies and National Guard and stuff for that now. 
Never mind that most guns in the home shoot more friends and family, whether by accident or not, than are used in self defense.
Every day 75 kids are shot.  15 of those die.  Every DAY, people!  And just kids!!  I don't even know how many adults are shot every day.
Did you know teens are two times more likely to kill themselves if there is a gun in the house?
I mean, it's kind of scary that just about anyone can go to a store or a gun show and buy a gun, isn't it?  Think about how many crazies there are in this country.  And. They. Can. Go. Right. In. And. Buy. A.  Gun. 


The guns used in violent crime are usually stolen.  And who are they stolen from?  Um, gun owners.


The amendment is archaic and is taken completely out of context for this day and age.  And  yes, I'm sure most gun owners are sane and responsible.  


But some are crazy.


And guns get stolen and then they kill people. 

I mean, if no one were allowed to own a gun, how would people die from a gunshot wound?


Is it really worth the amount of lives they take for you to own a gun?

Writing Wednesday: What Gets You In

I haven't touched this in ages, but I thought I'd post a bit.  Needs A LOT of work.  lol.  Maybe I'll edit it some day.  It's adult fiction about the afterlife. (and don't talk about my cliche characters, this is one of the first things I wrote :)


     "You know you're going to hell, don't you?" Jean asked of Julia just after Jesus had departed.     "Leave me alone," Julia said, sliding down the wall to the white, glossy floor.     "Is that true?" Ashley, the young girl clad in black drew in closer to Jean.     "Well of course my child.  Suicide is murder."  Jean felt it would be apropos to quote the bible yet again, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own.  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20." Jean smiled, pleased with herself.  "Don't you think that since your body is a temple and that temple belongs to God, that only he should decide when that temple should be destroyed?"     "I don't know," Ashley answered.     "There's nothing to know.  Suicide is a sin and is punishable by banishment into the fires of hell."     Ashley began to sob, "What if you had good reasons?  Wouldn't God understand?"     "I don't know.  Let's hash it out, shall we.  If you had created something beautiful that you loved dearly and someone came and smashed it to bits, would you understand?"     Ashley cried even harder, tears now streaking down her ashen face.  The small Asian man, Aiden, ran to her side and yelled at Jean, "Stop it!  Can't you see you're upsetting her?"     "Two peas in a pod, the suicide and the homosexual."     "I'm not gay!"     "You're not, huh?  How did you get here?" Jean interrogated.     "What are you talking about?" Aiden asked irritated.     "How did you die?" she answered slowly making sure to pronounce every word clearly and with purpose.     Aiden let out a great sigh and said, "AIDS."     "Hmph!  I knew it," Jean declared proudly.     "You don't know anything, lady.  Are you really that ignorant?" Aiden replied.     "I speak the truth.  Isn't that right father?" She now addressed a priest who until now sat quiet and contemplative."     "It's not for me to say," Father Phil answered softly.     "Not for you to say?" Jean said sardonically.  "You're a man of the cloth!  If anyone has the right to say, it's you."     "Jesus Christ, do you ever shut up?" The gangbanger howled from across the room.      Jean looked over to him, startled, just as Jesus reentered the room.  "Did someone call for me? And was I told to shut up?"

testing testing

added a couple elements, so just doing a test blog.

Tooting the Horn Tuesday: Awards and whatnots

The ALA (American Library Association) awards were announced this week.  Here are the winners.

Here are the Printz award honors:

Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by AS King
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Nothing by Janne Teller

and the winner is . . . Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Newberry Honorees are:

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L Holm

And the Newberry winner is:

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vannderpool


Amazing right?  Congrats to all these amazing authors.  Let's give them a shout out and rush to the book stores and give them a read (if we haven't already).

~Megan

The Monday Blahs

Is that what I renamed the Monday blog?  I can't even remember.

So, here we go.  I . . . wait for it . . . *insert drum roll sound effect here* . . . finished my copy edits!! *imagines crazed fans screaming in delight while swaying hands in the air and lighting lighters*

I know, I know, after all that complaining I got it done, and it wasn't all that bad.

I've embraced the fact that I'm no longer a 2011 release (I may have embraced it too hard, like strangled it to death), but I am joining the Class of 2k12, and have requested to join the Apocalypsies, like Elevensies, except debuting in 2012 (the year the world is supposed to end, thank god my book comes out in January).

After a chat with my agent, the amazing Irene Kraas (not sure I've ever told you guys that), I'm going to be working a bit on three projects, then deciding which one might work best as our option book.  As well as maybe working on another genre *gasp*  I've got some things up my sleeve (perhaps getting back to a MG series I was working on or dystopian adult work)

What else, what else . . .

Side note, nothing to do with writing, I've joined a Biggest Loser contest at work.  I'm DETERMINED to win.  So if I groan, complain about being tired, sore, or starving, you know why.

Come back tomorrow for whatever the hell Tuesday is now *reminds self to go look at last weeks blog to check*

Catch you on the flippity side.

Yours in peace love and literature,
~Megan

Friend or Foe Friday Is Cancelled

Many inspire me, but this week has been a real bitch.  I found out I was doing copy edits all wrong, I got pushed out the back of 2011 for my release so I have to drop the Class of 2k11 group I've been working with for half a year and start over with the Class of 2K12. (but I do have a fellow bumpee, Caroline Starr Rose to keep me company).  And all that aside from other life drama made this week nearly unbearable.  
That said, there are some bright lights at the end of the tunnel.  Now that I know HOW to do my copy edits, it's going much quicker, I've been having a great time working on video book trailers, my website launched, and I just got my passes to the Sundance Film Festival in the mail.  (Plus it's Friday, so there's that). 
I also don't hate the idea of following in the footsteps of Class of 2k11er Julia Karr's footsteps by being first out the gate in 2012 (maybe definitely probably).  Her novel XVI is doing excellent and she's getting crazy good reviews.  I can't wait to read it. 
So, that's that.  Time to finish edits, watch my Seahawks in the playoffs, and chill for the weekend.  Until Monday.
~Megan

Thought Provoking Thursday: Happy Endings

No I'm not talking about THAT kind of happy ending.

I've had this running discussion on an Amazon forum, as well as on Facebook after a woman was upset, as well as her son, that the book he had to read for his language arts ended with the main character committing suicide.  They both think the teacher should have warned about the tragic ending of the story and perhaps shouldn't have taught that book at all.

I disagree.

I write about tragedy.    A lot.  Real life tragedy.  Death, eating disorders, kidnapping, school shootings.  Not every story has a happy ending.  This is just a fact, so how can every story we write have a happy ending?  They can't.  In my research about YA literature, I've found that teens want a character they can relate to.  One that shares there own fears, problems, and issues.  These issues include violence, abuse, drugs, even death.


I also take issue with this because of the book in question.  I've not read it, but I ordered it yesterday because it sounds amazing.  It's based on the life of a real person.  A boy who lies about his age so he can join the army during the Civil War.  He's fifteen and he thinks it's going to be a good time.  He's very wrong.  He witnesses death, kills, and probably more.  He gets wounded and goes home, then suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.  This is a historically significant book.  It teaches that the war doesn't end on the battlefield.  Soldiers take it home with them, and some suffer as a result.  It is also relevant to today as our troops continue to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD.  I've seen it first hand.

Not to mention the author, Gary Paulsen, has written three Newberry Honors titles, so, you know, he's an award winning author.


A teacher hands out a syllabus at the beginning of each semester.  As a parent, you need to look at it, and here at our schools, you have to sign it and send it back.  Perhaps instead of criticizing the book choices your teachers make, (which I know are very carefully chosen) you look into them yourself first.


But to have the teacher warn you about an unhappy ending, you may as well just be one of those people who read the end of the book before they start.  Also, there has been discussion about hope.  Many novels with sad endings still leave us with a feeling of hope at the end.  I have no idea if the book in question (A Soldier's Heart) does or not, but I'm going to find out.


Okay, I think I ranted enough.  Weigh in.  Let me know what you think.

Writing Wednesday: Sad

Hey you're in for a treat today.  I'm posting something I forgot I even started trying to find a follow up book for Never Eighteen.  So far, it's simply titled Sad.  I warn you, this excerpt is rated "R" by my own standards.  Tell me what you think. (not edited at all btw)

  I've often wondered what it would be like to sink down into the tub, lay there for a moment or two, resurface, then take a razor blade to my wrists and bleed out.  How much would it hurt?  Would the blood trickle or spurt?  How quickly would I die?  And who would find me?  I'd hope it would be my sister, the heinous bitch, always prancing around like she's god's gift or something, when she's really just a cheerleading hobag that's had more wiener in her than the Oscar Meyer factory.     It's not that I want to die; the idea just fascinates me.  I'm not brave enough to kill myself even though I've grown accustomed to pain.  Sometimes I wish I just wasn't.  You know, didn't exist.  But the cold hard fact of life is this, I do exist, and that, I just have to deal with no matter how fucked up and crazy it may seem.      I don't remember having a particularly miserable childhood. I had it pretty good really. Doctor dad, stay at home mom, brother, sister, and a dog named Chewy for good reason. Sometimes that doesn't matter I guess, having it good, I mean. Sometimes our heads are
...just messed up or they get there along the way somehow.      The first time I remember feeling desolate and alone was in eighth grade.  I went into the cafeteria bathroom and cried for no reason.  People came in; I told them I wanted to kill myself.  I have no idea if I really wanted to or not.  I think sometimes it's just something we say when we feel lost, at least when we're young because we don't understand our emotions.  Those who entered the restroom consoled me, cheered me, and it was done with.  I'm sure I had my ups and downs after that, but don't remember any until high school when my best friend slept with my boyfriend.  Some friend, huh?     David and I met in English class.  Well, technically, that's where I became totally obsessed with him.  He sat right in front of me, tall, dark hair and eyes, a smile like something you'd see in a Da Vinci painting.  And he was quiet.  So quiet that it intrigued me.

Tooting the Horn Tuesday: Caron Guillo

Yeah, changed the name of Tuesdays blog as well.  It was too hard to find other people to blog with, so I thought I would start tooting the horn.  Not my horn, mind you.  The horn of others, other writers (doesn't have to be writers, but they seem like the majority of people I know) to promote their work.
Today I'm going to promulgate (isn't that a great word) my friend Caron Guillo.  Her novel, An Uncommon Crusade, hits stores today!!!
Here is the description from Amazon: 
Elisabeth, Simon, and Hugo join an ill-fated commoner's crusade to Jerusalem in search of wealth, glory, and redemption. But their dreams are destroyed when Elisabeth and Simon are sold into slavery and Hugo finds himself adrift at sea. From the dark forests of thirteenth century Germany, through treacherous alpine passes, to a sprawling estate in Egypt, three lives become linked in a desperate journey. 
If you are interested in the crusades, historical fiction, and the like, please check out her book.  She's not only a fantastic writer, she's a very funny, kind, wonderful person. She's also getting into her own editing business.  She editing my novel, Lockdown, for me, and let me say, the woman is thorough.  She gave me line edits and her overall feel of the novel in great detail.
So, give An Uncommon Crusade a shot.  NOW!! (okay, not now, but you really should.  I'm going to)

Thanks for reading,

~Megan

Monday Blahs

Yep changing the name from Manic Monday to Monday Blahs.  It felt more appropriate.  I am very tired this morning and I'm out of coffee creamer, so I'll have to spend $5 at Starbucks this morning to get my morning jolt.

I only got about halfway through my copy edits over the weekend with the holiday and such.  Seven days to finish.  Guess what I'll be doing every day after work this week?

Brighter side, I got my bills paid, my beautiful website is up and running, I finished two book trailer videos, and my Seahawks, although pathetically, won their division.  So there's that.

That's all I can muster without coffee.

Have a happy Monday,


Megan