Corrine Jackson's Blog, page 21

Bookanista Review: ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

There has been so much buzz around ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS (and all of it good buzz) that I found myself a little skeptical. Seriously, how can that many people – some of them harsh critics – all love the same book? So, it was with a dubious spirit that I picked up ANNA on a plane ride from Orange County to my home in San Francisco. Read below to see what I thought.

Here's the official blurb from the publisher:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

You know how when a song starts playing on a radio and you like it, but then the song is background fodder on every TV show you watch (whether it makes sense or not) and every time you walk into the bank or Forever 21 or you're sitting at the movie theater listening to the piped music – there's that damned song again and why won't it freaking go away? Sometimes when a thing is talked about a LOT, I worry it will become like that song – a nice thing I might like, but a thing that can't live up to the hype. I'm happy to say that ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is not like that song. ANNA is a total keeper and completely shelf-worthy.

On the short flight home, I surprised myself by slamming through the first 81 pages and thoroughly enjoying those 81 pages. And then swearing I would finish it the next day, I trudged home with my luggage, so exhausted that I planned to jump into bed. Except I didn't. I picked up ANNA again, and damn it if it wasn't 2 AM when I finished it. The book is so charming and sweet that I smiled my way through the pages.

Stephanie Perkins has some of the best playful dialogue I've seen in YA. It reminded me of some of my favorite old "feel good" black-and-white romantic flicks like You Can't Take It With You and It Started with Eve. Nothing shocking or crude. Just well-written conversations that work because the characters have been finely crafted. Anna and Etienne are full-bodied characters with faults and strengths that make them real.

And Stephanie does something in ANNA that was so, so VERY refreshing. She allows the romance to develop slowly. Many YA novels rely on instant physical attraction, which is fine, but sometimes I feel like the bond never evolves from that place of arbitrary attraction to that deeper connection where you know someone's faults but still love them. I LOVED how Stephanie doesn't rush things, but lets the romance bubble and simmer. The gorgeous setting only helps things along!

If you've avoided reading ANNA because of all the buzz, avoid it no longer. Go read this book and prepare to enjoy it!

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

Christine Fonseca Fangirls Cassie Clare
Myra McEntire Hides Carrie Ryan in the Fort

Shannon Messenger Accessorizes with White Cat/Red Glove
Jamie Harrington Praises Posession
Shelli Johannes-Wells Admires Shimmer
Carolina Valdez Miller Wants You To Find Clarity
Megan Miranda Discovers Where She Went

Jessi Kirby Hopefully Doesn't Loath(e) The Liar Society

Shana Silver Seeks Clarity
Rosemary Clement-Moore is Overwhelmed by Wither
Corrine Jackson J'Adores Anna and the French Kiss
Stasia Ward Kehoe Cries Over One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
Sarah Frances Hardy Marvels Over Matched
LiLa Roecker Brags About Bookanistas Giving Back
Elana Johnson counts down to Possession with a "Tag, You're It" contest!

Bookanista Thursday: Charlie Bewley's RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

Logo by Elle Sharp

You may have heard of Charlie Bewley, otherwise known as Demetri from the Twilight Saga films. Fellow Bookanista Myra McEntire is friends with Charlie and swears "he's wickedly smart, very kind, and all-in-all a precious human." Charlie is going to be running an ultramarathon in an attempt to raise funds for a cancer hospital. Read this gorgeous post to learn why. And the Bookanistas want to help!

Charitable donations are a very personal thing. There are so many ways our hard earned money can help others, and lately our world seems to be breaking into pieces around us. Needs are many and great. The Bookanistas want to give back, so in the coming months, we're going to be looking for ways to pour into communities, both bookish and worldwide.

For the month of April, we've chosen to spotlight Run For Your Life, largely because the framework is already set up (we'd like to keep it simple our first time out), and also because of personal connections to the cause. Most everyone has lost a loved one to cancer or knows someone who has.

To encourage you to donate, we're going to give away some sweet prizes! Here's how it will work:

1. Go to the Run For Your Life page.

2. Make a donation. $5 is suggested, but lower or higher is fine. (Also know that for every dollar you donate, you'll be entered to win a private, advance screening for twenty people for Breaking Dawn. The Bookanistas have NOTHING to do with that part – that's all Charlie and Summit Entertainment.)

3. Come back and fill out the entry form on this page.

We're trusting you to be honest about giving, and about the amount you give. Don't be a mamby pamby. Keep up our faith in mankind.

4. The Bookanistas will be giving away a selection of prizes (see list below). You will be entered one time for each dollar you donate ($5 = 5 entries). If you wish to be entered to win a specific prize, let us know in the designated section of the entry form.

5. We're following the guidelines set forth by Run for Your Life, which means this particular event will only be open to those in North America. Entries will be closed on April 30th, and we will contact randomly selected winners shortly thereafter.

6. Spread the word. Tweet, post the Run For Your Life logo (above) with a link to Charlie's site on your blog, or Facebook about the event, and receive an entry (one entry TOTAL for doing all or one of these things). Place a link/links in the place provided on the entry form.

HERE'S THE LIST OF BOOKANISTA PRIZES (this list WILL be added to, so check back):

From Shannon Messenger:
A signed copy of WHITE CAT and a signed copy of RED GLOVE by Holly Black
From Carrie Harris:
A 50 page manuscript critique
From Jessi Kirby:
A signed copy of MOONGLASS
From Gretchen McNeil:
A swag pack of POSSESS goodies and a query critique
From Corrine Jackson – THAT'S ME!:
A 50 page manuscript critique
From Stasia Kehoe:
A signed copy of AUDITION
From Shana Silver:
A query and first chapter critique
From Lisa and Laura Roecker:
A signed copy of LIAR SOCIETY and bookmarks
From Shelli Johannes Wells:
A box of ten mystery advance reader copies
From Elana Johnson:
A Dystopian Trifecta of Awesome – a signed copy of DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan, a signed copy of MATCHED by Ally Condie, and a signed ARC of Elena's own POSSESSION
From Christine Fonseca:
Signed copies of EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS and 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS
From Myra McEntire:
A signed copy of DEMONGLASS by Rachel Hawkins, a signed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, a signed copy of TORMENT by Lauren Kate, and a unicorn. Yes, that's what that says.
AND, because Myra wanted to throw in something special, a one of a kind, signed and annotated advance reader copy of HOURGLASS. Myra will include inspirations, playlists, deleted scenes, research information and maybe reveal a secret or two about the sequel!

Enter below, and THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY. It takes so little to help make a difference.

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Celebrate With Me!

I've had so much to be thankful for in the last month. An overwhelming amount, actually. Four books sold and, as if that's not enough, other good things have happened in the part of my life I don't talk about much here. Code: day job.

Now, I like to celebrate my ups (and downs) (and middles) with cupcakes. They make me happy. Especially when someone else makes them for me. I'm pretty sure Chef Kara created Kara's Cupcakes just to serve me. To celebrate all the changes around here (including this shiny new site), I think it's high time we have a MASSIVE CUPCAKE GIVEAWAY.

To enter:

I'm going to make it super easy.

Just leave a comment below telling me one thing that happened to you this month that you could have celebrated with a cupcake OR
Tweet the following:  #Cupcakeme because [insert reason why you deserve/need a cupcake prize].  Be sure to include the hashtag!
Each day this week I will randomly draw four winners using Random.org.
If you have a minute, surf around my new site. If you find any broken links or typos, email me or note them in the comments to get an extra entry.

Prizes:

Each day this week I will randomly pick four of the below items to give away to four random winners.

5-Cupcake Lip Balms – It's Frosting Flavored!

5-Cupcake Yankee Candle Car Air Fresheners – Oh, hai, my car smells like heaven!

4-Boxes of Cupcake Pebbles – Fruity Pebbles. That taste like cupcakes.

1-Zombie Cupcake Book – Who doesn't want to make cupcakes that look like zombies?

1-Hello! Cupcake Recipe Book – So many recipes. So little time.

1-Giant Cupcake Pan – Z.O.M.G.

1-Yankee Candle Vanilla Cupcake Candle – Chocolate would be better, but Vanilla is good, too.

1-Cupcake Bubble Bath – Scented bubble bath bomb infused with mango, coconut and pineapple.

1-Pretty Cupcake Kit – Includes recipe booklet, hundreds of paper liners and colorful flag toppers.

Good luck!

And now I get a St. Paddy's Day Present…

On Valentine's Day I announced that my second YA novel IF I LIE sold to Simon Pulse. Well I have more news.

Yesterday my YA paranormal romance trilogy sold in a 3-book deal to Megan Records at Kensington/Kteen. The first novel, TOUCHED, is about a girl who has the power to heal people with her touch, but at a steep cost because every illness or injury she heals becomes her own.

I can't tell you how excited I am or even begin to describe what the last month has been like! Now you know why there has been so much talk of cupcakes on Twitter. =D

Also, can I just say how amazing my agent Laura Bradford is? I couldn't ask for a better person to have on my side.

Bookanista Review: WHERE SHE WENT

Last Thursday I opened up my mailbox and there was a shiny ARC of Gayle Forman's WHERE SHE WENT. Of course, I had to read it right away. Read below to see what I thought.

Here's the official blurb from the publisher:

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

I have a deep, abiding love for IF I STAY. In fact, I wrote a paper on it for school because the story structure impressed me so much. Mia is a classical cellist. She thinks, breathes, feels music. That story flowed in and out of memories like the whole book was this beautiful composition. And the story ended just perfectly.

So when I heard Ms. Forman wrote a sequel, I had this immediate gut reaction of a howling monkey shrieking, NO! When I finally calmed down and read the blurb, I discovered the sequel would be told by Adam, three years into the future when Mia and Adam have broken up.  And I knew I HAD to read this book.

My first worry…Adam's voice would sound just like Mia's. WRONG. That wasn't the case at all. Adam has a voice that is all his own. In fact, the structure in this book is different. More jarring and less flowing. Fitting since Adam is a rock musician. The structure fits his musical style.

My second worry…the ending. IF I STAY had a complex ending that didn't tie up all the loose endings. It left you thinking about what happened to the characters down the line. I didn't want everything to wrap up in WHERE SHE WENT. Without ruining the story or giving anything away, I'll just say the ending was very satisfying.  This is definitely a book I'll read more than once.

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

Elana Johnson shares her love for Like Mandarin

Christine Fonseca purrs over Save the Cat

LiLa Roecker is sweet on Like Mandarin

Shelli Johannes-Wells is giving Cheryl Klein's new book, Second Sight, some love

Carolina Valdez Miller gushes over Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Bethany Wiggins is enchanted by My Fair Godmother

Shanna Silver praises Possum Summer

Carrie Harris falls for Head Games

Rosemary Clement Moore travels Across the Universe

Katie Anderson goes Retro

Stasia Ward Kehoe sings about The Mockingbirds

Scrivener for Windows Love

The day the Scrivener for Windows beta debuted, I was all over like it was Ben & Jerry's and I hadn't had ice cream in a month. I downloaded it, played around with it for a few days and thought, "I love the corkboard tools, but this just isn't for me."

Last week I decided to give it another try. I've been editing up a storm and (as a procrastination technique) pasted my finished book into the updated beta program to see if it would help me in the editing process. Happily, I discovered that all the features I thought the program lacked on my first trial had been turned on in this later version.

I can write scenes and shift them around easily between chapters. I can write a quick summary of the scene that goes onto a tiny index card. All of these index cards show up in my chapter folders. I can stamp them First Draft, Revised Draft, Final Draft, etc. depending on where I was at in my editing process. And in the end, it took all of 10 seconds to compile my manuscript into a Word document.

And these were just the things I found useful in the editing process. I can't wait to use this on a new book where I get to use all those corkboard tools. On a joyful side note, I also discovered that Scrivener's Outline interface works incredibly well with my outlining methods.

I highly recommend this program to both outliners and pantsers. And if you tried the beta last year and didn't like it, I suggest you give the latest version a try while it's still free. It's come a long way since November.

(Image property of Scrivener)

 

Bookanista News!

This week, the Bookanistas are rocking the good news!

Gretchen McNeil unveiled the cover for her debut, POSSESS. Isn't it gorgeous?

A group of us went pink to support the release of Lisa and Laura Roecker. Their novel, The Liar Society, debuts 3/1/11 and it scored a phenomenal Kirkus Review.

And Christine Fonseca is sharing a chapter from her upcoming book: 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids. Here's a link to a chapter excerpt.

Confessions About Vlogging

Confession #1: I've never done a vlog.

Confession #2: Until recently, I never intended to do one.

Confession #3: If you ask me why not, I'll tell you I'm shy. Really, I'm just too self-conscious. I'm worried about how my butt will look, even though most blogs are shot from chest up.

BUT…I've decided to be brave. You shouldn't say you hate something without ever trying it. I mean, I thought I hated grapefruit my entire life until I tried it two weeks ago and loved it ten ways to Saturday.

So, in the spirit of bravery and trying new things and GRAPEFRUIT, I'm going to do a vlog. Just one. It'll be like putting my big toe in the water to test the temperature. If anyone tries shoving me, though, I am so making a beeline for my house. And locking you outside.

What will I vlog about? That's where you come in! Ask me questions. About myself. About writing. About my books. About MFA programs. About grapefruits. You decide. Just leave a question in the comments below, and I will pick five questions to answer. On camera. *dies*

It's so shiny!

Look what posted on PM today. It's all so very real and wonderful now. Ooh, aah!

Corrine Jackson's IF I LIE, about a girl who becomes an outcast in her small military town when she chooses to keep a secret for her Marine boyfriend who has gone MIA in Afghanistan, to Annette Pollert at Simon Pulse, for publication in Fall 2012, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency (World English). Translation: Taryn Fagerness Agency

Thanks again to everyone who has left kind notes on Facebook, Twitter, the boards, and here. If I didn't personally thank you, I'm so sorry. Just know I'm completely overwhelmed by all the love this week!

Bookanista Review: Divergent

This week I am so lucky to review a book written by a friend, fellow Bookanista, and former SCBWI roomie. I'm so excited to tell you that Veronica Roth's DIVERGENT is going to knock your ugly Uggs off.  Also, she snores.*

Here's the official blurb from the publisher:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she's kept hidden from everyone, because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves… or it might be what destroys her.

This book is 496 pages of awesome. Tris is not a perfect heroine who falls for a perfect brooding hero who saves her in the nick of time because she's too silly to possibly think for herself. She has faults, often acts impulsively, and doesn't always trust the right people. Her actions get her into trouble, from which she must frequently save herself. Smart and funny, she has the ability to think on her feet, and she is constantly thinking and wondering about her place in society.

And her society is not as simple as its founders and leaders would have everyone believe. The factions laud five virtuous traits, but they fail to take into account our baser human motivations of greed and ambition. Watching Tris navigate this imperfect landscape becomes a fascinating journey as you draw parallels with our own society. As she questioned the imperfections of the Erudite or the Abnegation, I found myself questioning manifestations of those groups in our world, like Scientists or particular religions.

This novel is smart. It has layers of complexity that will leave you thinking about it for days. As if that's not enough, it also has brilliant action and a hot romance. Pick this up. Read it. Veronica Roth is going to wow you and leave you breathless for a sequel.

*I lied about the snoring thing. That was Deb.**

**Okay, I lied again. I'm pretty sure it was me.

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

LiLa Roecker hosts a sunny tour stop for POSSUM SUMMER

Christine Fonseca shares her Guestanista Post: The Lost Hero

Shannon Messenger spotlights the cover of SO SILVER BRIGHT

Scott Tracey is inspired by ANGELFIRE

Michelle Hodkin toasts DEMONGLASS

Beth Revis finds amazing MAGIC UNDER GLASS

Carolina Valdez Miller uncovers WORDS IN THE DUST

Megan Miranda leaps and shouts for THE LIAR SOCIETY

Bethany Wiggins glows for RUBY RED

Shana Silver gets psyched about WITHER

Jen Hayley raves about RAISED BY WOLVES

Gretchen McNeil gushes over BLOOD AND FLOWERS

Rosemary Clement-Moore revisits HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Sarah Frances Hardy is nuts for THE NINTH WARD

Stasia Ward Kehoe celebrates THE LIAR SOCIETY