Corrine Jackson's Blog, page 19

Guest Post: Jodi Meadows on a Lesson Learned

Last year for my blogiversary, Jodi Meadows wrote this amazing guest blog about why you shouldn't quit. It was a lesson she learned through a lot of trials, and Jodi's post inspired a lot of people. In fact, a lot of people linked to that post to offer their writer friends support – they bookmarked it even – because it reminded them that the road may be long, but it will be worth it. If you've talked to her, you know Jodi is exactly like that post – inspiring and supportive.  Her book INCARNATE comes out in 2012. Lucky us, we get to pre-order it now. Read on to see what lesson Jodi has learned in the last year, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.
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What I've learned this last year . . . Hm. You mean besides the fact that my editor is allergic to cats, which Kippy instinctively seems to know, so she sits extra on NYC-bound items?

Besides that? I've learned the value of doing something else.

I've been fortunate enough to be able to write full time for the last several years, long before my agent and editor said yes. For many of those years, I've had another hobby — one I decided early on I never even wanted to try to go professional with. The yarn habit is for me.

As with any job — whether you write full time or on your lunch break — there's always something that needs to be done. A manuscript needs to be finished. Or rewritten. Or edited. Or reread one last time. There are queries to send, emails to answer, or numbers to obsess over. Interview questions to answer, guest posts to write, subtle but effective promotion to figure out. Contest results to tally, industry gossip to stalk, and blogs to read. Did I mention writing? Because you still have to do that.

When you work from home, your office is right there. It's so easy to turn on the computer (or wake it up if you're like me and find the idea of turning off the computer a completely abhorrent idea) and check for an email from your agent, even though it's 1am and you know from thorough stalking that she goes to bed at 11pm every night.

Step. Away. From. The. Computer.

I love my job — it's the only job I ever wanted — but sometimes a break is necessary. (Even if I think I don't want it.)

One of the things about writing real, living characters is that you have to live, too. I'm as guilty of workaholicness just as much as the next girl. Sometimes it's hard to pry myself away from the computer. But my yarn hobby is portable. I can knit a fingerless mitt or sock anywhere. My spinning wheel lives in the living room — away from my computer — and most years I go to my local fiber festival where other yarnies gather to sell all manner of yarn things.

I've been crocheting/knitting/spinning (yarning) almost as long as I've been writing, and I've been treating writing like a full-time job for going on eight years now. But for a long time, yarning was just another thing I did. It made me happy. It wasn't writing, though often inspired my writing. But now that writing is not just work, but Work That Pays Me, I find my hobby even more important. (If you have a day job and writing is your hobby, that is what yarn is to me. Except, again, I don't want to go professional with it.)

It keeps me from getting lost in my work, and gives me another thing to create when I'm stuck on a story. And while it can be hard to avoid getting stressed over a yarn thing I want to accomplish (have I mentioned my work ethic, which is as strong as the sun's gravitational pull?), I refuse to feel guilty if I'm ahead or behind, or unable to do a certain thing. It's a hobby. I want to be good at it, but it's okay if I'm not. Yarning is not my job.

My hobby allows my brain to work in different ways. It inspires me. It's part of my real life that informs my writing. Having another passion doesn't take away from my writing. It adds to it. It makes me a better writer.

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Pre-order your copy of INCARNATE now!
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Don't forget to leave a comment below to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
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And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Elana Johnson has learned!

Guest Post: Kathleen Peacock on a Lesson Learned

A couple of years ago I met Kathleen Peacock on the boards at Absolute Write. I got to know her through silly posts about anything that came to mind at odd hours. I remember a lot of randomness and cheerleading. Kathleen is so wise and kind. And funny. Her book HEMLOCK comes out in 2012 and I can tell you, I can't wait to get my grabby hands on it. Read on to see what lesson Kathleen has learned in the last year.
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Holding on to the Moxie

mox-ie:

1: energy, pep 2: courage, determination 3: know-how

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I was sixteen when I came across the word "moxie" in a Dean Koontz book (The House of Thunder, if you really want to know). I remember rolling the word over my tongue and filing it away for the future. Moxie. I liked it. It was something I wanted to have.

It conjured up mental images of someone who strode through life. Someone who wasn't afraid to take chances and who was determined to try even if the odds were stacked against her—heck, maybe because the odds were stacked against her.

Sometimes, if I reached hard enough, it felt like my fingers could skim the word. When I decided I would write a novel—instead of, you know, just dreaming about it—it felt like I had become moxie personified.

It felt like nothing could stop me.

No matter how many hours it took and no matter how often I read that the odds of getting an agent— let alone a book deal—were on par with winning the lottery, I had faith. I knew that it would somehow happen (in hindsight that may less have been an example of a sixth sense and more an example of being delusional). I finally had my dose of moxie.

Then the book sold.

And doubt—which had been my companion for far more years than moxie had—started to settle in. What if everyone at KTB had all eaten bad takeout and were delusional when they bought my book? What if I let my editor (who I adored) down? What if my agent (who I also adored) had second thoughts about taking me on? What if everyone laughed when the book came out? What if only ten people bought the book and those ten people all left one-star reviews on Goodreads?

My friends and family tried to reassure me. My agent tried to reassure me. My editor was nothing but awesome and supportive. Deep down, though, that doubt gnawed at me.

And then, one afternoon, when I was worrying about revisions, I confessed to my agent that it never seriously (and we're talking seriously as opposed to the occasional moments of doubt that even the most confident people get) occurred to me that the book wouldn't happen, that I always had faith I would get an agent and it would sell.

Smart little agent that she is, she filed the story away and then slipped it into the conversation the next time I sounded stressed.

For some reason, hearing my own words paraphrased back at me had the effect of a switch being flipped. I didn't just remember how it felt to feel that way; as we talked, I started feeling that way again. I felt calmer, more certain that I was on the right path and that this wasn't some sort of universal fluke. I had my moxie back (and I really wanted to listen to "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" from the Kill Bill Soundtrack).

So I guess my lesson for this year (and the one I would pass on to anyone reading this) is to hold onto your moxie. There will be days when it's hard to find, but you do have it. As soon as you made that leap from "someday I'd like to try and write a novel" to actually putting wordage on paper you proved that you had moxie in spades.

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Add HEMLOCK to your Goodreads shelf now!
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Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
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And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Jodi Meadows has learned!

Guest Post: Beth Revis on a Lesson Learned

Beth Revis is the reason I really wanted to be a part of the Bookanistas. Okay, I really didn't know her. BUT the love the Bookanistas obviously felt for her when they made this incredible video made me want to join this group. And anyone who could get a bunch of writers to dance – onscreen for posterity – was someone I wanted to know. Since the group let me sneak my way in, Beth has been generous with her advice and a great person to learn from. I wish I'd met her sooner so I could've danced on that video, too. Read on to see what lesson Beth has learned in the last year.
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The greatest lesson I learned since last year is that it doesn't always get easier. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was a hundred times easier to write than A MILLION SUNS. I expected A MILLION SUNS to be easier: after all, I was a full-time writer this time around, and had a synopsis, and had my editor behind me and…it was supposed to be easier this time around, wasn't it?
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Of course it wasn't. A MILLION SUNS was harder in a million different ways. The character motivations had to make sense for two books, not just one. I had to be aware of what happened in the previous book…and what needed to happen in the third.
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A surprising thing happened though. Whenever I started to get reallllllly down about writing Book 2…I'd get a positive review for Book 1. When the edits were at their hardest, I'd get a note from someone telling me thanks for my website. And the kind words of others made everything suddenly much, much better.
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So, perhaps, my biggest lesson wasn't just that it doesn't get easier–instead, it was that even when it gets harder, it's still so, so, so worth it.
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And if you haven't already bought it, be sure to pick up ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.
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Don't forget to leave a comment to enter my contest to win a $20 Amazon gift card. More info here.
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And be sure to check back tomorrow to see what lesson Kathleen Peacock has learned!

HAPPY 2nd BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!

July marked the second anniversary of this blog. Last year, I ran a week-long series of guest posts where awesome authors Veronica Roth, Jodi Meadows, Marjetta Geerling, and Jennifer Echols shared the biggest lesson they'd learned in the previous year. You liked the series so much that I brought it back with a new set of guest posts. Nine young adult writers, including me, will share the biggest lesson they've learned in the last year. Beth Revis, Kathleen Peacock, Jodi Meadows, Elana Johnson, Myra McEntire, Kate Hart, Matt Blackstone, and Stephanie Kuehn have all kindly agreed to participate with amazing guest blogs you will love. Be sure to check back every day this week and next week to see what these great people have to say about the challenges they've faced. Read below to see what I had to say, plus there's a contest for a chance to win a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card.

My Lesson Learned

Okay. I'm taking a deep breath here. Last year at this time, I had been on submission for about five months. I'd started the sequel to TOUCHED – and stopped. I'd started a new contemporary – and stopped. The big, bad truth is that I let the submission process get to me in a terrible way.  I hoped I would be one of those authors who sold overnight. I wasn't. I hoped I'd enter the YA scene with a big splash. I didn't. I hoped editors would be fighting over me. They didn't. They asked to see my manuscript, but mostly, not a lot happened for months and months. I grew increasingly dejected over my non-start. My confidence in my ability was shaken, and I agonized over every freaking word that I wrote, though admittedly there weren't many.

What kept me going? First, I went to SCBWI LA in August, meeting Steph Kuehn for the first time when I picked her up to drive the seven hours from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. I met some amazing writers and listened to many keynotes that inspired the hell out of me. Then I went home and started a crit group with a few friends. Steph, Dawn Miller, and I met twice a month (plus Debra Driza joined us for one faulty Skype meeting) to critique each other's writing. Twice a month, I HAD to turn in a chapter for the group. Not to mention, school packets of 40-50 pages of writing were due every six weeks, whether I felt like writing or not. And when I stalled on Chapter Ten of IF I LIE and kept agonizing over how different it was from TOUCHED, Steph gave me a short speech that's imprinted on my brain (even though she doesn't remember giving it to me). She told me to stop talking about writing and just do it. For about ten seconds, I hated her. Until I realized she was right and doing what the best of friends do – calling you on your crap. The book would never get finished if I didn't just sit my butt in a chair and get it done.

She told me to stop talking about writing and just do it.

That's what I did from October to December. I got serious about finishing IF I LIE. That book sold in February. And TOUCHED – the first book to go on submission – sold in a 3-book deal in March. Everything turned around because I KEPT WRITING. Even when I didn't feel like it. Even when I struggled. And even when I doubted I had anything to say. So my lesson learned should be to keep writing, right?

No.

My lesson learned is that every writer needs a friend like Steph Kuehn who will tell you exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it, even if it will make you hate her for a whole ten seconds. I

 

AND NOW FOR THE CONTEST…

The Prize: One (1) $20 Barnes & Noble gift card.

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment on any of the guest blog posts this week or next week. Each comment counts as one entry. I will randomly choose one winner on 9/3 using random.org. It's that easy!

GOOD LUCK, and remember…check back tomorrow for a great post from Beth Revis!

I'm a YA Rebel!

Last week, I made the leap and auditioned for the YA Rebels, a group of YA authors vlogging about young adult literature. Two lessons I've learned in the last year – taking chances can pay off in a big way and life is too freaking short – made it possible. Because honestly I used to be a very shy person. As in awarded Most Shy by my classmates. As in diagnosed with social anxiety kind of shy. From my childhood through my 20s, I often felt like a wallflower, and I rarely spoke in class. Over and over again, though, I tried to force myself to do things that felt uncomfortable and out of character. Cheerleading, public speaking, parties with strangers. I did them all, even when I felt like I was dying inside.

Because something in me knew that I wanted more for myself than to be wallpaper.  I REFUSED to accept that I couldn't grow beyond that. Everyday I still feel that tendency to make myself small and unnoticed, but I don't think anyone who has met me in the last few years would call me shy. It's something I've worked at very hard, and today, I feel like I've crested another mountain.

Not only did I film myself being silly, but I actually showed it to people. And they liked it. And now I'm going to do it on a weekly basis, which is both exciting and terrifying and oh-so-rewarding. Is there something you're afraid to do? I challenge you to take a chance.

If the girl voted Most Shy can do this, I believe you're not giving yourself enough credit either. You might even find you like that thing that scares you so much. I did.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@yarebels) and YouTube (YA Rebels Channel).

Congrats to my fellow rebels, and thanks to Leah and Gretchen for this opportunity!

Monday – Gretchen McNeil

Tuesday – Me

Wednesday – Amber – Me, My Shelf, and I

Thursday – Leah Clifford

Friday – Alex Incognito

Saturday – Sarah Nicolas and Kayelee Fisk

Sunday –  Danny Marks

Hannah Moskowitz – Web Presence

Journaling and Italy and My Father

I'm not into journaling. I know a lot of writers are, and if I never get another journal as a gift, I'll be a happy girl. I just don't care for it. Part of me wishes I did. I think about these famous authors who left behind a legacy of hundreds of journals filled with their thoughts and bits of writing, starting from their teen years through their old age. Then I think, "Oh, well. I should've started as a teen, and now it's too late. Besides, you know, I still don't like journaling."

It's not that I haven't tried. As a teen, I tried to keep a diary, but I ended up writing lame, stilted entries that sounded like I was explaining my life to somebody's awkward cousin. Happily, those journals have long ago disappeared into a trash bin.

I would happily never journal again, except that my school asks us to every summer when I go off to my summer residency. They like us to record our experiences and then we read an entry to each other our last night together. It's actually very fun to hear the readings, to hear how others were inspired by what we experienced. I generally write exactly one entry during the residency – the one I read out loud. (Sh. Don't tell my school.)

This summer in Italy, I planned to do a better job, but I kept putting it off so I could do homework or cool off in the pool at Spannochia. Then, in the last days of the trip, my father passed away. When I sat down to write my one journal entry, all I wanted to was curl up and cry. So the journal entry I read our last night was not a happy one. I broke down reading it, and my amazing friends cried with me. And I was reminded how cathartic writing could be, and how it connects us with people, even when we feel disconnected from everything.

I didn't plan on posting this, but because a few people requested that I do, here it is. I promise to post a much more cheerful piece of writing next week.

I will not journal. I will not sit and pause over what this trip has meant to me. I will not ponder the grieving pietas or the blood-stained Colosseum or the churches with their body parts. I will not write about the Roman roads that often never led home or the wars that showed the darker side of men. I will not think about the Inferno, or the Purgatorio, or a paradise that some men may not reach. I will not journal about an email from home or how Italy has left her mark on me.

Because everything here reminds me of death and grief and him. It's in the ground and in the air and in all the words we breathe. Age makes me think of wasting, waning time and everywhere I look I see bricks older than a great-great-great me. We're dying every minute, blowing back to dust. Which brings me back to an email and to him. Which makes me cry. So I will not journal.

Bookanista Review: THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER

First, to give full disclosure, I want to state that the author is a fellow Bookanista. Sometimes it can be hard to review books by friends. But to be honest, I forgot who wrote the book and fell into Michelle Hodkin's THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER.

Here's the official blurb from the publisher:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

There has been so much buzz about this book. I'm always a little afraid of buzz, but the synopsis for this book intrigued me and the gorgeous cover sucked me in. I wasn't disappointed by what I found inside.

First off, the author knows how to write suspense. I felt like I was holding my breath for much of the novel. The tension kept building and building, but I never really tired of it. I kept flipping pages wanting to know what was happening to Mara as much as she did. The mystery of what happened to her in those first chapters consumed me as a reader.

Second, Noah. I've read some reviews criticizing Noah as a Patch-like jerk who's rude and condescending to Mara. I have to admit, I didn't see the relationship like that at all. He's arrogant, sure, but Mara has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Everything he dishes at her, she dishes right back. This girl can definitely hold her own, so I never felt like Mara was a victim or taking crap from a boy who treats her poorly. I thought they were pretty evenly matched, and their sparring was pretty hot.

Another thing..I loved Daniel, Mara's brother. Siblings in stories can often fade to the background or seem to be cliched. I didn't feel that with Daniel. He's a little too good to be true, but Mara herself points that out about him. I liked their interaction and how they often teamed up when it came to their parents. This seemed real and like something I've done with my own siblings.

I have to confess that I wasn't wild about the abrupt end of the book. I like a novel to feel complete even when I know a sequel is coming, and the last pages left me more than a little frustrated. A few times, I did get a little lost about what Mara was experiencing. But overall, I'd give this book a 4 out 5 stars and a "please write the dang sequel already!"

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

Elana Johnson and Scott Tracey find wonder in The Near Witch

LiLa Roecker sing out about Where She Went

Christine Fonseca adores A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie

Corrine Jackson delights in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Stasia Ward Kehoe marvels at My Life, the Theater & Other Tragedies

Veronica Rossi is wild about Wildefire

SCBWI LA Special Edition Vlog: Roommate Etiquette

Yep. Another vlog. I'm sure you're asking yourself how often I'm going to torture you with these. The answer? As often as I can. Not really, I may do them a couple times a month – hey, it takes some time to edit these babies. The only reason I'm doing another so soon is because I care about YOU. And I want you to survive SCBWI Los Angeles. Here are some tips that are going to see you through it. You're welcome.

Debut Vlog

Alright, people. This is a momentous day. I decided to go for it and do my first vlog. And believe it or not, I had a lot of fun doing it. So I may do another one. At some point. Questions and prompts are welcome below, and please let me know if you liked it!

Bookanista Review: SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD

I'm finally getting back on track with my Bookanista pals. Today I'm looking at Lindsey Leavitt's SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD. Read below to see what I thought, but note there are a couple of SPOILER-ish things.

Here's the official blurb from the publisher:

According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own.

In this sweet story of first love, Lindsey Leavitt seamlessly balances heartfelt family moments, spot-on sarcastic humor, and a budding young romance.

As soon as I heard about the premise for Sean Griswold's Head, I couldn't wait to read it. I loved the idea of a girl taking a deeper look at a boy who's been sitting in front of – literally – the whole time. I imagined the seemingly nice boy would have hidden depths and secrets, and the girl would learn a lesson about looking deep than a book's cover.

That's not the story I found when I opened this book on a train from New York City to Connecticut. Instead I was sucked into a story about a girl dealing – poorly – with the revelation that her father has MS. Payton doesn't know how to deal with the emotions she has about her father's illness, so she punishes her family with a wall of silence. It's this silence that lands her in her guidance counselor's office and with the assignment to find a Focus Object – some object she can focus her attention to gain a little clarity. Sitting behind Sean Griswold in biology, she decides to make his head her Focus Object. Of course, when she gets to know him a little better, she expands her interest – for scientific purposes – to his entire body.

I liked that the author gave me a little of what I expected and a whole lot of what I didn't. I'm not sure I bought into who Payton was at the beginning of the novel, where she obsessed over details to the point of color-coding things and wanting a planner more suited to a thirty-something like me who works in the corporate world. Some of those details seemed a little far out, and I have to admit that Payton's best friend, Jac, tended to steamroll over Payton in the name of friendship in a way that irritated me more than once. And part of me wished that Sean Griswold wasn't *quite* so perfect through the novel.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this imperfect heroine and watching her fall in love for the first time at what seems like the worst possible time. And I appreciated the author's portrait of a complex family dealing with an illness that is changing their lives forever. This book is definitely one I'd reread, which I think is about the highest form of a compliment you can give.

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

Elana Johnson  points you to Human.4

LiLa Roecker  glories in The Goddess Test

Christine Fonseca is impressed by Imaginary Girls

Shannon Whitney Messenger delves into The Future of Us – with giveaway

Scott Tracey and Shana Silver are wild about Wildefire

Carolina Valdez Miller shivers over The Eleventh Plague – with giveaway

Jessi Kirby celebrates A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie

Stasia Ward Kehoe embraces All the Things You Are