Corrine Jackson's Blog, page 18

Teenquake and Figment.com to Honor Teen Writers

I'm volunteering at this event and another Teenquake event. Can't wait!!!

Teenquake & Figment.com are honored to

invite you to attend the

Teenquake Writing Awards Ceremony

on Friday, October 14, 8pm

at Z Space, 450 Florida Street, S.F.The evening will be a celebration of teen writing, with superstar authors and an open mic. First, second, and third place winners in each category will be announced live by the judges, and each first place winner will be invited to read their work to the audience.

Please bring your friends and family.

Z Space is a super cool re-purposed industrial space from the late 1920s with a huge auditorium, and we want to fill those seats. And did we mention the event is free? The guest judges—Jandy Nelson, Malinda Lo, Dana Reinhardt, and Charlie Price—will also be on hand to sign books after the event (thanks to Bookshop West Portal). So you can ask them questions about their writing craft. Or just hang out and listen to some fresh teen writing. The open mic sessions will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so we recommend that you get there early to watch Word for Word's amazing staged reading of Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere at 6:30pm and get your name on the list then!

RSVP on our Facebook page and tell your friends!https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157066431049655

Litquake is a project of the nonprofit Litquake Foundation, and seeks to foster interest in literature, perpetuate a sense of literary community, and provide a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing as a complement to the city's music, film, and cultural festivals. In addition to October's festival, Litquake produces unique monthly events for readers and writers, and brings children's authors to public classrooms throughout the school year. www.litquake.org

Bookanista Review: CRACKED

When I was in NYC earlier this month, my eyes spied the gorgeous cover of K.M. Walton's debut novel, CRACKED. I coveted it immediately, and my editor was kind enough to slip me a copy. This book will be out January 3, 2012. Full disclosure: K.M. Walton is a fellow Apocalypsie and we share an editor. Read below to see what I thought.

Here is the official blurb from the publisher:

CRACKED

Sometimes there's no easy way out. 

Victor hates his life. He has no friends, gets beaten up at school, and his parents are always criticizing him. Tired of feeling miserable, Victor takes a bottle of his mother's sleeping pills—only to wake up in the hospital.

Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. That makes him feel better, at least a little. But it doesn't stop Bull's grandfather from getting drunk and hitting him. So Bull tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.

When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, there's no way to escape each other or their problems. Which means things are going to get worse—much worse—before they get better….

****

CRACKED is about two guys who are polar opposites, one with less than nothing and one who seemingly has everything. Okay, I know what you're thinking. These guys are going to find out that life sucks for everyone, kumbayah, and let's all be friends. Lessons learned. WRONG. This book cannot be boiled down into a clichéd movie of the week.

Victor and Bull are so well drawn, so heartbreakingly described that the story gets under your skin. You'll be glad to know that each voice sounds different – not an easy thing to pull off in a dual narrative. Victor has a tenderness to him that Bull lacks. They've each found different ways of coping with their home life. One of Bull's survival mechanisms is to torture Victor.  I thought this would make it impossible for me to sympathize with Bull or want to root for him. Honestly, he's not that likeable for a lot of the book.

BUT..Walton makes it clear that Bull is a product of his environment. He is what can happen to kids who aren't protected, and survival isn't always pretty. On the other side, a reader might not feel too sorry for Victor. Compared to Bull, maybe his problems aren't as huge. Yet, I didn't find myself making those comparisons. Being hospitalized forces these two boys to confront their problems…and each other. It isn't nice when it happens, either, but it does feel real.

It would've been so easy for Walton to take the story to this melodramatic place where Bull realizes the error of his ways, changes his personality entirely, and comes out a better man for it. Or Victor forgives Bull for bulling him, and they're like brothers. I'm not going to tell you what happens, but know that the resolution to this novel isn't neatly tied up. It's messy and real because life for these two boys isn't a fairy tale.

Warning: I cried twice.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5. And yes, I am beaming with pride that this book is from my imprint and my editor.

 

Check out the links below to see what the other Bookanistas are talking about!

Elana Johnson interviews Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise

LiLa Roecker discusses S R Johannes' e-book experiment

Christine Fonseca  is wowed by The White Assassin – with giveaway

Shannon Whitney Messenger loves Lola & the Boy Next Door – with giveaway

Beth Revis delights in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – with giveaway

Shelli Johannes-Wells falls for Fracture

Carolina Valdez Miller adores Ashfall – with giveaway

Jessi Kirby marvels at The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Shana Silver steps up to Audition

Stasia Ward Kehoe swoons for Swan and To Dance

Bookanista Review: HEX HALL and DEMONGLASS

Yep, I'm late to the party. I've heard people talk about HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins. Lots of people recommended it to me, all of them saying, "Trust me, you'll like it." So I finally read it, and its sequel, DEMONGLASS. Read below to see what I thought.

Here are the official blurbs from the publisher:

HEX HALL

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father–an elusive European warlock–only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

DEMONGLASS

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. 

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth. 

Turns out, Sophie's a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What's worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers. 

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They're demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they're using Archer to do it. But it's not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

****

Soooo many people told me to read HEX HALL that I did that weird mule thing I do where I decide to do the exact opposite of what people suggest. Just because. And…I have to admit, the blurbs didn't grab me. I thought, "Witches, faeries, and shapeshifters rolled into one book. Not my thing." I added it to my Goodreads shelf, thinking I'll eventually get around to reading that. And then didn't. Until this month.

Some impulse (okay, I think I got it on sale) made me pick up HEX HALL. And I promptly read it in a single evening. After reading the last page, I immediately downloaded DEMONGLASS to my reader. I finished that book a few days later. Seriously, I ate these books up.

It's easy to pinpoint what Hawkins is best at. Sophie's voice is the perfect balance of attitude and vulnerability. Sometimes authors who write a character that sounds snarky can cross the line into bitchiness. I may not like the character as much because I feel like they are laughing at everyone, and to be in on the joke, I have to laugh at everyone, too. Hawkins avoids this trap. Sophie mocks herself more than anyone else – without really putting herself down. She is self-deprecating and ready to laugh with anyone who will get her joke. She just wants to be friends and to belong, instead of always being on the outside. That's such a universal theme that anyone can relate. It was so easy to be in her head and watch her opinions about the supernatural world she lives in change as she grows.

As for my concern that all the different types of creatures would seem like overkill, it didn't read that way. Instead, I would compare it to a couple of episodes of Buffy combined into a couple of books. We see different creatures and get to know their quirks. Since we are in Sophie's head, though, the observations about them are always entertaining. I often felt like Hawkins was being very tongue-in-cheek about the mythologies surrounding her creatures and I liked that.

Add to that a hot love interest, the element of danger in both books, and a dash of daddy issues, and you have a couple of books I would gladly recommend.

***SPOILER ALERT***

While I really liked both books, I preferred HEX HALL. Archer, the love interest, who was my second favorite character in the first book disappears for a lot of DEMONGLASS. And though I like love triangles (sue me), Cal – the other boy – seemed to fluctuate at times between a manly man and a doormat. I couldn't really decide if Sophie even liked him. And truly, my interest and hers doesn't ever veer from Archer. I didn't really feel the tension of the triangle in a way that I thought it was necessary. I wish she'd stuck with Archer. With that said, I still liked Cal, and it will be interesting to see what Hawkins has planned for the next book in the series.

I loved the introduction of the dad, and I enjoyed seeing he and Sophie begin to relate as he teaches her about her demon powers. I can't wait to see more of this and I hope the mom and dad find their way back to each other.

I did see some plot holes at the climax of each book, but I didn't really care because Sophie's voice kept me so engaged.

***END SPOILER***

To sum it up, I would highly recommend both books. Unless you're like me and that will stop you from reading them.

Check out the links below to see what the other Bookanistas are talking about!

Elana Johnson shivers over Shifting

Christine Fonseca  is definitely Falling for Hamlet

Shelli Johannes-Wells contemplates The Future of Us

Shana Silver finds Fateful Fabulous

Sarah Frances Hardy leads you into the Circle of Secrets

Stasia Ward Kehoe shares her passion for Possess

YA Rebels: Tuesday Loves a Monster and Visits NYC

Blogiversary Winner!

Today concludes my Blogiversary celebration! I want to give a special thank you to all my guests for making this such a memorable anniversary. I believe your posts resonated with a lot of people and will continue to be visited for a long time. I saw a lot of comments here and on Twitter where people said, "YES. This is exactly what I needed to hear right now." That can mean a lot on this journey to getting published.

And now, without further ado…the winner of the $20 Amazon gift card is Kelly Polark. She was lucky #42 chosen at random by Random.org. Email me to claim your gift!

 

Guest Post: Stephanie Kuehn on a Lesson Learned

I met Stephanie Kuehn last year when we drove to SCBWI together. She's alternately deep and quirky, which makes her the perfect friend and crit partner. Plus, she's a hugely talented writer that you will all read someday. She writes stories with plot twists that will simply blow your mind – trust me, you will be reading her books.  Read on to see what lesson Stephanie has learned in the last year, and don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
_____________________________
*

 

*

*

When Cory asked me to come up with a post about a writing lesson I've learned in the past year, I was stumped. I mean, I don't have a publishing success story to share. No book of mine can be found on a shelf anywhere. I'm just…me. I write. I go to school. I like to watch football and bad reality television. I've got kids.

So what, right?

Well, it turns out So What actually is my lesson.

It's a lesson I owe to my school advisor. See, he's kind of our campus wild card, both

intimidating and eccentric. He rarely smiles. He repeats things. He likes cat memes and black

licorice. He's also known for a particular question that he likes to ask during dissertation

defenses. According to school lore, after listening to a doctoral candidate present the research

they've toiled over for years, my advisor will sit back, clear his throat, and shout out:

"So what?"

Ack.

So What is a scary question! I'm okay with "how" and "when" and "where" and "who," but So

What means "why did you even bother?" In academic research, this translates into transcending

theory and finding real-world relevance, but I think there's a parallel process to be found in

writing. Stringing 75,000 pretty words together into something with a beginning, middle, and

end isn't enough. It just isn't. A story has to resonate. It has to matter. In some way, somehow, it

must be relevant.

Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but it wasn't for me. I have an analytical mind. I mean, I

have an undergraduate degree in theoretical linguistics, of all things. Clearly, I like to understand

things just for the sake of understanding them. And, in truth, I don't always care about relevance.

I have no problem becoming thoroughly absorbed in the fanciness of…just saying stuff. But

writing a novel isn't like finishing the New York Times crossword puzzle. It's not just that you

did it, it's what you did that counts.

Over the past twelve months, I've tried to embrace the So What spirit in my writing. I won't

lie. It hasn't been easy. I've had to push past my comfort zone. I've had to let go of fanciness

and allow my words become messy and painful and scary and uncontrolled. I've had to stop

worrying about how I'm going to clean up my own mess or who'll want to read it or whether

it will make me look clever or smart. But the process has been invaluable, because somewhere

along the way…I found my voice.

That's a good feeling.

So when I reflect back on the year, I see many things that haven't changed. I still go to school.

I'm still a mom. I still like to watch football and bad reality television. But I also see that I've

grown as a writer.

For that and for everything, I am humbled and grateful.

_____________________________________
*
Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here. To be eligible for the contest, comments must be in by MIDNIGHT.
And be sure to check back tomorrow to see who the contest winner is!

Guest Post: Matt Blackstone on a Lesson Learned

Matt Blackstone is one of our Bookanistos, one of two brave guys in a huge group of women. Matt is both funny and honest. If you get a chance, you should go read his blog. He's written some great posts about obsession and the I Love Your Guts three-part series in which he revealed a lot about himself, His debut novel A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE, about a teen with OCD, just came out in July. Read on to see what lesson Matt has learned in the last year, and be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
_____________________________
*

For years—three, maybe four, okay probably five—all I wanted was a book contract.

I would've have done anything to get it: put my soul on the open market, do cartwheels on flaming stones, eat a jar of mayo, denounce my love of the Phillies, accept bribes and teach my 10th graders that reading is for suckers, that Cheetos are healthier than carrots, that the principal is a rhinoceros, that true love is a bunch of hokey boloney unless it's on The Bachelorette, that the economy has never looked so sexy, that cooties are real, that college is the devil, and that I am really a very manly woman.

If only I had a manuscript to edit.  An acceptance letter, however corny the story, to open and read and frame, instead of a mountain of rejection letters piled so high on my desk that if I breath or cough or sigh with enough gusto the entire mountain will collapse on me like an avalanche and crush me and cover me in my own rejections and failures and nobody will hear me scream and I'll die a slow and painful death, which newspapers will find fascinating and therefore report, on the front page in big bold lettering, "MAN DIES OF FAILURE; NOT HEART FAILURE, JUST FAILURE"—but since nobody reads newspapers anymore, nobody will hear about it until Comedy Central gets its hands on the story and Steven Colbert proclaims, with a wag of the finger, "Nation, I thought Bill O'Reilly was a loser, a real Loserasaurus [audience cheers]. . . I did, I really did, but then, Nation, [Colbert chuckles], but then I heard of Matt Blackstone," as the audience, howling like hyenas, chants his name instead of mine: "Ste-ven. Ste-ven, Ste-ven . . ."

And then an agent finally said yes—at first I thought the email said, "jes," as in Jessica, which isn't my name—a few editors also said yes not jes, and I was spared the headline and the Steven Smackdown.  Still, it was hard to talk about.  It made me irritable, itchy, like red ants were crawling up my thigh.  I didn't recognize my voice; no matter what I said, I sounded fancy—no, foncy—like I had a British accent, played a smashing game of Polo, and ate only "mixed greens," and only with a salad fork.  I told myself, "Self, yeah you, you're not British; tell them the truth: your favorite food is hot dogs, you own one pair of jeans, suffer (sometimes for weeks) from writer's block, and like to the sing "Poker Face" while washing your face in the shower.

But, I've learned, you have to talk about it.  You have to sell yourself, even if the self you're selling isn't Mr. Foncy Ponts.  This I realized early on in the process—and again a few months before my book came out and my book reading/signing schedule was . . . well, it wasn't really a schedule, per say . . . it did say, "Matt's Reading Schedule" at the top, but . . .

Cue the headline.  Cue Steven Colbert, adjusting his glasses, trying hard not laugh: "Nation, in the history of civilization, there are many men who rose above their circumstances and truly lived the American Dream—Abraham Lincoln; Jackie Robinson; John Boehner, saddled with an unfortunate last name, became the Speaker of the House [audience chuckles]—and then, Nation, there are those who saw the promised land, enjoyed the view, got this close [pinches the air] . . .  and failed miserably.  Like this guy.  Matt Blackstone.  [Cue my author photo].  Now, Nation, I may look like a cold-hearted newscaster, but underneath I am an emotional, vulnerable creature who weeps at sunsets and injured puppies and authors with 'Matt's Reading Schedule' at the top of the paper [covers his smile with his arm] and nothing but naked paper underneath.  In the words of an ancient philosopher . . . 'Whomp, Whomp.'  Nation, say it with me: 'Whomp, Whomp.'  Everybody now: 'Whomp, Whomp . . .'"

I wasn't okay with that.  I had to get my book out there.  I believed in its message (I wrote A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE for the outcast teens I teach).  I believed that teenagers would enjoy and benefit from the story.  I believed in my ability to present it.  And I was tired of Colbert mocking me.  I wasn't going to be a Loserasaurus.

So I sat my butt in a white chair at the end of June and I emailed.  I called.  I visited stores.  I stopped by libraries.  I wrote letters.  I contacted schools (and all their English teachers).  I emailed the state of California.  And half of New Jersey.  I skipped breakfast, and then lunch.  I called principals, superintendants.  I mailed letters and books and flyers (Linda, at the local post office, thanked me for keeping her in business).  I reached out to my friends, and their friends, and friends of their friends and their Facebook friends, and spent entire days on Gmail.  I slept when I could no longer see.  I ate dinner at my desk.  I don't know for sure how much time elapsed, as days blended quickly but passed slowly, but I was told it was more than six weeks.

My wife staged an intervention.  Threw me in the shower.  Reacquainted me with washing machines and deodorant.  Escorted me outdoors. Showed me the sunshine.  Introduced me to the sound of birds.  The taste of strawberries.  The satisfaction of sleep.

Now, as I write this article, I am two weeks from the start of school.  My precious teacher summer is almost over.  But I learned an important lesson about self-promotion and hard work.  And what it takes.

My Fall schedule now includes visits to 15 stores, 11 schools, 6 libraries, and 3 festivals.

A total of 35 events.  Can't even keep a poker face.  The number makes me smile.

Links:

http://www.MattBlackstoneBooks.com

Twitter:@MattBlackstone

List of appearances: http://www.mattblackstonebooks.com/appearances/

Seventeen Magazine

Book Info:

Rene, an obsessive-compulsive fourteen year old, smells his hands and wears a Batman cape when he's nervous. If he picks up a face-down coin, moves a muscle when the time adds up to thirteen (7:42 is bad luck because 7 + 4 + 2 = 13), or washes his body parts in the wrong order, Rene or someone close to him will break a bone, contract a deadly virus, and/or die a slow and painful death like someone in a scary scene in scary movie. Rene's new and only friend tutors him in the art of playing it cool, but that's not as easy as Gio makes it sound.

_____________________________________
*
Go buy your copy of A SCARY SCENE IN A SCARY MOVIE now!
*
Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
*
And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Stephanie Kuehn has learned!

Guest Post: Kate Hart on a Lesson Learned

Kate Hart was my first beta reader, and the first friend I found on Absolute Write. I'm betting a lot of you already know her from her Field Trip Fridays over at YAHighway.com, plus there's the Twitter companion version at her site. Or maybe you know her from Help Write Now, the auction she organized that raised $21,047 for Southern communities hit hard by storms. Kate has an ability to scour the internet and somehow cull the nonsensical and hilarious. And one day soon you are going to all be as lucky as I've been, and have the chance to read one of her books. Read on to see what lesson Kate has learned in the last year, and don't forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
_____________________________
*

 

*

I did a lot of creative writing in high school. I did much less in college, and after graduation I stopped completely. But lots of people knew I'd aspired to be an author, and periodically the question would pop up: "So are you still writing?"

No.

"Why not?"

I don't have anything to say.

*

My senior year of college, I got a B in a seminar taught by multiple professors. I flipped out– not only was it literally costing me scholarship money, it meant I wouldn't graduate summa cum laude. The reason? One of the teachers gave me a C for pulling in outside resources for a paper. Not for plagiarism, not for failing to cite my sources, but for using sources at all.

I had cited outside sources on every other paper that trimester. I was a history major. Citing sources is kind of our thing. So I contested the grade, and won. But I also had an alarming realization.

Without outside sources to inspire and back my argument, I had very little to say.

*

When I got back into writing, I relied heavily on other bloggers for my prompts, or compiled links on various topics, or gathered funny stuff from around the internet. Then I joined YA Highway, and Field Trip Friday was born. A few months later, the Twitter companion started on my blog.

I was learning a lot and reading a lot and it made me bold, so I took a risk. I wrote a book that was like smashing my heart between the pages, a book that said some things about girls and boys and sexism and sex. It got me an agent. But after multiple close calls, it didn't sell. I couldn't talk about that on my blog, and I sure didn't feel qualified to give advice, so I started making graphs based on publishing data.

Because I had nothing to say.

*

But a curious thing happened. I compiled links about a few controversies, and realized I couldn't lay the information out there without some elaboration. I started getting overwhelmed with links, and realized culling the extraneous is inherently a statement of importance. I started a few graphs that were supposed to be silly, but turned into rather damning statements on various parts of the industry.

I was saying things. And I didn't mean to.

*

Suddenly I realized not only had I been giving a speech unawares– I'd been doing so naked.

It was yet another alarming realization.

But it was also freeing, as getting naked tends to be. Everyone's already seen my opinions, so what does it matter if I put a bathing suit over them? Maybe I'll give them a tie or some killer boots. This blog post here needs some tassels. You! Work-in-progress! You get a cowboy hat!

Sure, people will comment on the color and cut and style, and some will like them, and some will hate them, but the body underneath is solid. It has muscles made stronger by exercises in rejection and bones made of research and teeth sharpened with facts.

It's already out there. It's too late to hide. Especially when it was never really hidden in the first place.

*

A fact finding mission with no goal is pointless. Historians don't research just for the hell of it– they're trying to support a thesis. But sometimes, sources disprove your theories. Sometimes what you find isn't what you expected.

And sometimes, you find you had plenty to say all along.

*

"Are you still writing?"

Yes. Let me tell you all about it.

_____________________________________
Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Matt Blackstone has learned!

Guest Post: Myra McEntire on a Lesson Learned

Myra McEntire is freaking hilarious. I followed her on Twitter long before I had my book deals, and she was one of those kind authors who would tweet back at me when I made some inane comment. She was one of the masterminds behind last year's "Do the Write Thing for Nashville" auction that raised a whopping $53,000 to support flood victims in Tennessee. And I don't think anyone was surprised by her generosity. She's just that kind of person, and I'm glad I've had the chance to get to know her better these last months. Her book HOURGLASS came out this year and it's filled with hot boys, a strong heroine, and lots of plot twists. Read on to see what lesson Myra has learned in the last year, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
_____________________________

 

b

I never thought the biggest lesson I'd learn this past year would be about kindness.

And I really never thought the lesson would be driven home by Alex Pettyfer's mole.

The situation:

My debut novel, HOURGLASS, came out this summer. Even though I was warned not

to, I set Google alerts with my name and the book's name, scanned Goodreads for

reviews, and checked blogs of reviewers who I knew were reading.

I prepared myself for the outcomes of these searches. I was actively looking, so I

was asking for trouble, right? Not every book is for every person. Taste is subjective.

Reviews are full of opinions. I knew being hurt at some point was inevitable.

What I wasn't prepared for was what I came across by accident. Do you know you

can search Twitter?

I wish I didn't.

I stumbled my way into a conversation about my book, my plot choices, and my

complete lack of writing talent. I believe the words "ZZZZZZ" and "snooze fest" were

used. One participant asked, "I mean really, how many times can the heroine throw

the hero over her shoulder?" (In HOURGLASS, only once, and he totally deserved it.)

As I watched the conversation in real time, my stomach turned, my face got hot, and

I did that weird thing where you shape your lips into a smile, but they don't really

stay. They shake, and get rubbery, and then the point comes where you can't tell the

drool from your tears. That's when I screen capped the whole thing and sent it to my

closest friends to garner support. I also showed it to my husband.

He was shocked. "How can they say those things about you? And some of the stuff

they're saying about your story, they aren't right, are they?" They weren't right. And

the very best part was that only one of the three had actually read the book.

That's when I removed the search for my name and my book from my Twitter feed. I

also turned off my Google alerts. I deleted the screen caps and tried to put the whole

thing behind me.

The object lesson:

A few days later, I was discussing Alex Pettyfer with someone I'd just met. I was

pissed off at Alex's complete lack of enthusiasm about the opportunity to play Jace

Wayland in The Mortal Instruments movies. The Internet and most fandoms were

behind him 100%, but he remained non-committal and acted kind of bored/insulted

by the whole thing.

So I poked fun at his mole. The one between his nose and his lip.

It was an offhand comment, and was intended only for the ears of the person I was

talking to. No one was around to hear it. Saying it was "safe."

Except, two weeks later, I was driving down the road, and the comment came back

to me. It bounced off the walls of my brain, became a lump in my throat, and settled

somewhere in my heart region.

How was what I said about Alex Pettyfer any different from what the girls on

Twitter said about me? I don't know him – he could be perfectly lovely. I might not

care for his mole, but there are likely thousands of women out there who would

probably lick it off his face.

It doesn't matter if I said it about Alex P. or someone I saw in the grocery store

parking lot. What I said was ugly. It didn't lift anyone up, or bring anyone joy. It

made me look petty and mean, and what's most important, it made me feel petty and

mean. Because it was petty and mean.

Anything that touches me like that and sticks around deserves consideration,

so I took a big step back and reevaluated some things. Asked myself some hard

questions.

1) What kind of person did I want to be on the inside, where it counts?

2) When I went to bed at night, did I want to feel shame about being funny or

amusing at the expense of someone else, or did I want to feel happy because

I'd loved someone well that day?

3) In the grand scheme of life, what matters more – what people think of my

book, or what people think of me? What others think of me, or what I think of

me?

Ultimately, I'm glad I came across that Twitter conversation that night. I'm glad I

made an ignorant comment about Alex Pettyfer's mole a few days later. And I'm

really glad, for whatever reason, that those two things connected themselves in my

wee brain.

The lesson:

Kindness matters. And if that's all I learned in the past year, then every single

second of sadness and shame was worth it.

____________________________________

b
Remember, HOURGLASS is available now. Go get your copy now!
b
Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
b
And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Kate Hart has learned!

Guest Post: Elana Johnson on a Lesson Learned

Elana Johnson is a fellow Bookanista. She's thoughtful and funny and one helluva dancer. And when I got my first book deal earlier this year, she generously offered me a lot of advice. She did this at a time when I didn't even know what questions to ask, and I'm so in her debt. All I can do is pay it forward to the next clueless author getting a deal – and I know Elana would appreciate that. That's the kind of person she is.  Her debut novel POSSESSION is out in stores now so go get it! Read on to see what lesson Elana has learned in the last year, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
_____________________________

The Greatest Lesson I Learned:

Okay, so Cory asked me to talk about the biggest lesson I've learned over this past year. I wish I could say it was patience. See, there are so many things to be patient about in the publishing industry. You wait on query letters you have out. You wait to hear back. You wait for your cover. Your edits. Everything.

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting, and it's still one of the hardest things ever. So I haven't learned all the patience I need. Hopefully, you have, but if not, don't worry. There's always something to wait for in publishing. You'll have your shot to learn this lesson.

Here's what I learned that I wish everyone would hear and know and tell themselves over and over while they wait: There is no "last" in the publishing industry, because it's not a race.

I used to suffer through every book release, wondering if June 7 would ever really come. *insert whiny voice* I was last. And it was awful.

Once I realized it wasn't a race, I stopped dreading every Tuesday. I've learned that "last" doesn't exist. There will always be an industry for good storytelling and stellar stories, either this fall or in December or next summer, or beyond.

So take off those running shorts, and toss the cross-trainers in the trash. Publishing is not a race. Just because someone else "crosses the finish line" before you, doesn't mean you won't get there. Just focus on writing the best story you can, and you'll eventually see your book on the shelves.

_____________________________________
b
Go buy your copy of POSSESSION now!
b
Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
b
And be sure to check back on Monday to see what lesson Myra McEntire has learned!