L.W. Patricks's Blog, page 4
December 28, 2012
The Ten Commandments of Self Publishing Part 4: Law 6 – Social Media
Welcome back and happy holidays everyone! May the new year put us all on the best sellers list.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been writing a series of articles on the Ten Commandments of Self Publishing. The first three parts can be found here:
Ten Commandments of Self Publishing Part 1: website, beta readers, and editor
Ten Commandments of Self Publishing Part 2: Cover
Ten Commandments of Self Publishing Part 3: Trolls
I’ve met many authors who have written books, thrown them up on Amazon, Smashwords, and other indie publishing sites and sit back with their hands behind their heads while expecting the money train to make a stop in their bank accounts.
(Who still remembers Wesley Snipes?)
This is a bad attitude to have. As an author, you could have written the next “Lord of the Rings” that has the potential to sell more copies than the Bible. However if no one knows about it, how can anyone buy it? A book’s worst enemy (aside from typos) is being as obscure as Woody Harrelson’s hairline.
Luckily for us, the days of hauling a bunch of hardbacks in a nap sack to book fairs and conventions are long gone and with the use of the many social media platforms out there, we can promote our books while sitting on our couch and watching reruns of “How I Met Your Mother.”
Here’s a list of social media networks out there (I’ve highlighted the ones I’m currently using).
Google +
Blog
Email List
Forums
As you can see, there are a lot of channels you can promote your book. My advice is to choose three or four and focus on those avenues to develop a network of friends and followers. For this post, I’ll make some comments on the ones I’m actually active in.
I’m going to admit, I’m actually still figuring this one out so I can’t comment too much about it. If you do want to join my facebook page, check it out here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Strange-Crow-Publishing/554659924560118
I’m still figuring this one out and when I do, I’ll do a post about it.
Twitter is one of my personal favorites. For those just starting out, you’re probably wondering how the heck do you get people to follow you. I’ve been using a pretty simple trick and it’s been working quite well.
Check it out at the following link:
http://www.livewritethrive.com/2012/06/11/coming-clean-about-my-twitter-success/
Okay, so now you’ve built your network of followers. What do you do next? Do you start spamming everyone about your books and creating self automated messages to all your contacts?
Hell no! Twitter is meant to build communities and create connections. Nobody wants to feel like their interacting with a cyborg spammer. Honestly, when I look at twitter messages that look like this:
#DEAL #BUY #IMAWESOME #BUYMYSHIT #FIVESTARS+1 #MYMOMLOVESIT #YOLO #BETTERTHANANYTHINGYOUVEEVERREAD #51SHADESOFGREY #BUYTWOCOPIES #KICKSKINDLESASS #ITWILLCHANGEYOURLIFE #STEPHENKINGMAYLIKEIT
I feel like my retinas have just been bludgeoned by hashtags. I’m not saying it’s wrong to promote your books, but limit yourself. I only do it once a day, maybe at most twice. But my main focus on twitter is to network, make friends, and have those friends become fans. I genuinely care about every single person that’s following me and I’m interested in what they have to say. In return, I find they’re interested in me as well and go out of their way to promote my work.
Twitter is great if used wisely, but if you end up spamming all your followers with countless self promos like a hashtag-tossing ninja, you’re going to get unfollowed fairly quickly.
For those that want to follow me on twitter, you can add me. I promise, only one-two shameless self promos a day =)
https://twitter.com/LWPatricks
Blog
I mentioned the blog and the author platform in a Part 1 but I thought I’d add a few things. If you feel the need to shamelessly self promote your book, this is the place to do it. Your blog is your temple and you can dress it up however way you see fit.
However make sure it’s interesting. The idea is for people to return to your blog and no one’s going to do that if you only have a promo of your book and nothing else after that.
Email List
On your blog, it’s important to try and create an email list, a network of people that want to hear about your work and what’s new in your universe. Every blog should allow people to join the emailing list and become a part of your personal community.
Here’s another tip: do not SPAM your email followers with shameless promotions every five minutes. Your emails to your list should be reserved for giving away gifts, inform them about upcoming promotions, and provide updates on new releases. It should not be used to say “buy my book, buy my book, buy my book” every hour, unless your goal is to find your way into a person’s spam filter.
On that note, here’s my shameless plug: you can join my email list at the end of this post. I’ll be giving away the first part of my book Shadow of Wrath for all my email list subscribers in the new year. You can read the first chapter at the following link:
Shadow of Wrath Chapter One excerpt:
Forums
I find forums a double-edged sword. Forums can be the greatest time suck if you approach it incorrectly and as well there are plenty of trolls roaming around these places. However it’s also where you can meet some truly wonderful people.
Currently I’m on Goodreads (feel free to add me and see what I’m reading).
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6653579.L_W_Patricks
It’s a fantastic site and every author should be on it. I wrote a book for the YA genre so naturally I’m on all the YA discussion groups and actively participating in them. Once again, just because you’re in a forum doesn’t give you the excuse to spam people like crazy telling them to “Buy my book, buy my book, buy my book.”
Here’s a pretty good website by Robin Sullivan on how to strategically market yourself on goodreads. You can read the entire article there. Despite recent controversy surrounding Robin’s publishing company, it’s still an amazing resource for any self publisher.
http://write2publish.blogspot.ca/2011/10/goodreads-101-part-1.html
I suggest focusing on two forums or reading communities. Goodreads is an absolute MUST. The second forum I would choose is something specific to your genre. If you write fantasy, find a forum devoted to fantasy books and reader discussions and actively participate. You can slowly introduce your books using the method that Robin suggests in her blog post.
So let’s hear it from you folks out there. What social networking tools are you actively on? Be sure to provide a link in the comments section so we can all follow you as well =)
Remember to sign up for my emailing list. As mentioned, I’ll be giving away the first part of Shadow of Wrath in the new year, and I promise, there will be no spam 
-L.W.
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Filed under: indie author, Insight, Publications, self publishing, Self publishing covers, Writing Tips
December 17, 2012
The Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing Pt.3 :Laws 5 Trolls
Welcome back to part three of the Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing. For those that missed parts one and two, you can check them out at the following links:
Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing Pt 1.
Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing Pt 2.
Law number 5 I find very important in the success of an author (well aside from being a good writer). You want people to like you, which includes your fans and other professionals in the industry.
Self-publishing Law Number 5: Thou Shall Have A Positive Attitude.
Take a long, hard look at that picture. Is that you? Are you a troll? Or have you met a troll?
For those that don’t know what internet trolls are, they’re people who often post negative comments with no informative substance on message boards, slam others, shit all over a person’s hard work, and find this all funny. They are delusional in thinking they’re a literary Messiah sitting at the top of the hill while taking it upon themselves to put someone else down. I’ve encountered a few myself on writing forums and free content exposure sites (in fact, I’m sure I’m going to get some negative comments on this very post). So how do I react to these primitive Neanderthals that beat their chest while challenging everyone around them to a pissing contest?
I keep my fly zipped up, laugh, and keep on moving. As a writer, you’re going to encounter people that hate what you do and your writing for no reason other than to make themselves look better. But for every one person that shits in your coffee, there are ten others passing you the sugar and cream. Keep calm and listen to Coldplay. Guaranteed to either soothe your soul, put you to sleep, or bring up a different set of problems.
Same with handling negative reviews. You can’t make EVERYONE happy, and there will be times when you’ll receive a negative review or two. DO NOT under any circumstances defend your work to them, email them, post your rants online etc. Keep positive. Listen to the comments and either learn from them or move on. As writers, we need to be professional.
I absolutely hated Michael Bay’s Transformer movies. I thought they were 9 excruciating hours of my life that I could never get back (and yes, even though I hated parts one and two, I went and watched three. Something about listening to Optimus’s voice was nostalgic to me). I gave all three movies a 1 or 2 out of 5 stars at best. Now imagine Michael Bay finding me and unleashing a verbal assault because of my opinion, spewing things like “you’re an idiot, you don’t know a story when it explodes in your face, genital jokes are still funny, no I didn’t kill that one autobot because he was black.” Ridiculous, right?
Stay positive. Stay happy. You wrote a book, and you should be proud.
Destroy that chip on your shoulder and have fun with it all. Love your fans and treat other writers with respect. Help them and they will help you.
I know you can’t always shit rainbows, but don’t shit up a troll either. Trolls smell.
How do YOU deal with trolls and negativity? Let’s hear it in the comments! (And please, no names. Examples are fine, but we don’t want to turn this into a lynching….or do we? Nah, better not).
Filed under: indie author, Insight, Inspiration, self publishing
December 14, 2012
The Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing Pt 2: Law Number 4 – A Kick Ass Cover
Welcome back to my humble little blog. My last post, I explored the Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing, which you can check out at the link below.
Ten Commandments of Self-Publishing Part One.
This post I’m covering law number 4, a law that I find so very important that it gets its own post. For any indie publisher to succeed, they need a GOOD COVER.
You know that saying “never judge a book by its cover?” When it comes to self-publishing, that saying is useful like a nipple on your forehead. You NEED a good cover. Your potential customers will judge your cover first, and everything else second.
I know what some of you are thinking: “I can make my own cover. I drew a picture of a sparkling Unicorn once in grade 6 and it’s still hanging on my parent’s fridge, which MUST make me an artist.” Don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Nothing will kill the potential of your book more than throwing out a shitty cover that only a mother could love. You spent so much time and effort constructing your literary masterpiece, why on earth would you murder your own book with something that’s completely unprofessional in look and style?
I’m not going to lie, I thought about doing my own cover. This is what the cover of my book SHADOW OF WRATH could have looked like.
There are more things wrong with my cover than a naked sumo wrestler doing toe-touches. For starters, It’s coloured in pencil crayon, the girl’s head is smack dab in the middle of the guy’s crotch, the guys looks like he’s on ten kinds of steroids, and the girl may or may not be a midget.
Luckily, my wife pointed out the insanity of my devious plot to do my own cover and graciously offered her professional skills. The end product looks like this:
As always, my wife is right. She did a bang up job and my book looks professional. (Don’t tell her but I’m thinking of publishing a few books with my cover as a ‘variant.’ Message me if you want a copy. We’ll have to meet in a dark alleyway though….)
For those that have no idea what constitues as a ‘good cover,’ check out my 3 part series on YA Fiction covers to get a good idea. Links below:
Examining YA Fiction Covers pt 1
Examining YA Fiction Covers pt 2
Examining YA Fiction Covers pt 3
Honestly, spend the money. A good cover should cost you no less that $500. I fished around google and here’s a website that I found that offers cover designing services with fairly reasonable prices.
http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/
If you don’t want to drop 250-500 bucks on a cover, you can check out sites like Figment.com or Wattpad.com as there are people always posting up cover works. They’re not pro, but they’re not bad either. As a cheaper alternative you can also contact me if you have a simple project and I maybe be able to ask Mrs.Patricks if she wants to take on a project or two for under $200 (but that depends on her time and availability). Never hurts to ask!
Alright, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for more commandments coming soon!
Filed under: indie author, Insight, self publishing, Self publishing covers
December 12, 2012
Ten Commandments of Self Publishing your indie book: Laws 1, 2, and 3 – Platform, beta readers and a good editor
I recently published my book SHADOW OF WRATH on Amazon and for all those interested, I’d be delighted if you have a peek at it over HERE. No need to buy (unless you want to put a smile on my face and a coffee in my hand), but you can read the first few chapters for #FREE!.
Through this long (but fun!) process involving endless hours of: typing, writing, rewriting, personal edits, beta reader edits, editor edits, creating covers, creating a blog, creating a book website, uploading to Amazon, writing a synopsis on Amazon, writing your own bio, marketing and etcetera, etcetera; I developed my own personal list of commandments for the indie author. These are my own personal commandments and whether you think they’re useful is entirely up to you. These are not written in stone….more like cardboard actually, but I do hope they provide some use for my fellow writers out there.
Commandment #1: Thou Shall Create your Author Platform
The blog is your author platform. It’s where you can interact with your readers, followers, stumblers and share your successes and failures (hopefully less of these). This place is also home to your book, the promised land where you can direct everyone you meet on forums, other blogs, twitter, facebook, on the street, in the subway, in prison and tell them to bask in the aura of your hard work.
Like any good home, you want to make it presentable to all those that visit and leave the dirt hidden in the closet and swept underneath the rug. You–the author–are the gracious host, your books are your center pieces, and your readers are the guests that you treat like gold (even if they decide to act like trolls and sh*t all over your couch. It looks only bad on them, not you).
Commandment # 2: Though Shall Get Yourself Beta Readers for your manuscript
Three beta readers to be exact. They can be your friends, your neighbours, your siblings, the mail man. Just make sure they are brutally honest. We need to hear the blunt truth, as much as it will hurt. Send out your manuscript to these cruel and hard to please brutes and wait PATIENTLY for them to finish reading through your complete manuscript. Remember, beta readers are doing you a favour, so be polite and patient with them. WARNING: when you get your manuscript back, the results may hurt.
At first the comments will feel like open wounds carved by rusty knives and you’ll want to defend yourself, but seriously, don’t. Listen to what your beta readers say and accept it. The reason why I mentioned three beta readers is because everyone’s taste is different. What works for one person won’t work for another. However if you noticed that a piece of your plot is loathed by all three readers, then you have yourself a problem.
Keep an open mind to all suggestions, after all, an author’s goal is to please his readers. He can’t please all of them, but he can try pleasing most of them. And never attack your beta readers for their comments. Would you hurl insults at a doctor who’s offering you a cure for your ailments? No, of course not…unless you’re a dick.
Commandment #3: Though Shall get Yourself a Good Editor
So you fixed up all the plot problems with your beta readers. Now what? Get yourself a good editor. Many writers think they can edit their own work. Don’t even think about it. If you have only one expense you need to pay for, it’s an editor that will catch all your mistakes, figure out awkward sentence structure, and delete all those unsightly adverbs.
Yes, I know editors can be quite expensive, but there are some out there that are very affordable and do an amazing job. I heard good things about Anne Victory. Her website can be found here: http://www.victoryediting.com/
I highly recommend my editor Shawna DiFilippo. She was absolutely fantastic and very reasonable with her prices. She picked up many things that I would have never caught and she destroyed the dreaded writing cliches like an editorial ninja. You can leave a comment if you’re interested and I’ll direct her your way.
Alright, those are the first three rules for now. Stay tuned for my other 7 commandments.
-L.W.
Filed under: indie author, Inspiration, Publications, self publishing, Writing Tips
December 8, 2012
My debut Young Adult Fiction Book, SHADOW OF WRATH! Coming soon March 13, 2013
I’m excited to announce that my dystopian young adult fiction book SHADOW OF WRATH will be published by Strange Crow Books and available March 13, 2013! It’s been a lot of hard work and so many people to thank for their contributions, especially my beta readers, my lovely wife, and my fantastic editor Shawna DiFilippo.
Here’s a brief synopsis of the book:
“When a street boy is kidnapped and brought to a modern-day gladiator arena, hidden deep within the abandoned city of Bimini, he is forced to fight for his life. The crude death matches are a source of enjoyment for Ryker, who resides over the Arena as its vicious master. Given the name Dog, the street boy must find a way to survive, even if it means murdering other innocent kids in combat at the expense of his humanity.
Allegra, a slave girl in the pits, is his only key to salvation, but she too is a victim of Ryker’s cruelty. With death casting its long shadow over them, can anyone make it out alive?
A tale about survival, tragedy, and human perseverance, SHADOW OF WRATH allows us a glimpse into the world of the Sins of the 7.”
For more information, you can visit the official page at:
http://www.strangecrow.com/books/shadowofwrath/
You can also read an excerpt here:
-L.W.
Join the mailing list to be the first to know about new releases, get free stuff, and participate in awesome events. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Indulge yourself in the provocative world of the Sins.
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Filed under: Publications, YA Fiction
My debut Young Adult Fiction Book, SHADOW OF WRATH!
I’m excited to announce that my dystopian young adult fiction book SHADOW OF WRATH has been published by Strange Crow Books and is now available for purchase on Amazon! It’s been a lot of hard work and so many people to thank for their contributions, especially my beta readers, my lovely wife, and my fantastic editor Shawna Difillipo.
Here’s a brief synopsis of the book:
“When a street boy is kidnapped and brought to a modern-day gladiator arena, hidden deep within the abandoned city of Bimini, he is forced to fight for his life. The crude death matches are a source of enjoyment for Ryker, who resides over the Arena as its vicious master. Given the name Dog, the street boy must find a way to survive, even if it means murdering other innocent kids in combat at the expense of his humanity.
Allegra, a slave girl in the pits, is his only key to salvation, but she too is a victim of Ryker’s cruelty. With death casting its long shadow over them, can anyone make it out alive?
A tale about survival, tragedy, and human perseverance, SHADOW OF WRATH allows us a glimpse into the world of the Sins of the 7.”
For more information, you can visit the official page at:
http://www.strangecrow.com/books/shadowofwrath/
If you’d like a preview of the first few pages, you can check it out on Amazon:
As well I’ll be having a contest to give away promotional copies in the near future to the followers and subscribers to my blog, so follow me now for your chance to win!
Let me know what you guys think and if you’re excited as I am!
-L.W.
Filed under: Publications, YA Fiction
November 21, 2012
Controversial YA (Young Adult) Fiction Books Blog Post – Pt 2.
Welcome to part 2 of controversial young adult fiction books. Part 1 can be found HERE. This week, we’ll take a look at the 90s and the books that parents found too despicable for their teenage kids.
90s
The Giver
By. Lois Lowry
The Giver deals with a boy named Jonas and his life in an Utopian society where everyone has their freedom of choice removed and emotions suppressed. When the youths comes of a certain age, they are assigned professions that the society believes best suits them, and Jonas is tasked with the role as Receiver. This profession allows Jonas to unlock many of the emotions buried deep within him and he soon discovers that this “Utopia” may not be what it seems.
Despite being one of the most challenged books of the 90s, the Giver won the 1994 Newbery Medal Award for its underlying theme of life without choice (and also social commentary on communism) with a lot of the challenges directed at its presentation of euthanasia and sexual situations.
One of the challenges included a parent in Franklin County, Kansas, on the grounds that the book dealt with “suicide, murder, and the degradation of motherhood and adolescence.”
Here is Lois Lowry’s response during a speech at Richmond University:
“One of the reasons they have been debating The Giver in Kansas City (where, incidentally, the school board finally voted unanimously to retain the book in the schools) is because of what it says about the story on the inside of the book jacket:
In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.
Why, I wonder, are people so afraid to do that?
I feel very strongly that we should question our own beliefs and rethink our values every single day, with open minds and open hearts.
We should ask ourselves again and again how we are connected to each other.
And we should teach our children to do so, and not to turn away.”
Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark
By. Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark is a collection of folk tales and spooky stories written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell.
This book was one of the top challenged books by the American Library Association in the 90s. Let’s face it, kids like reading about death and what boy or girl doesn’t like experiencing the sensation of artificial fear? Of course having their kids reading about death, ghosts, and the supernatural in addition to the sadistic ending each tale provides made parents nervous and at the edge of their seats.
Check out this article found HERE, from a Librarian’s experience with this book, and how she successfully stood up to the pressure of having this book removed from her library.
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Harry Potter Series
By. J.K. Rowling
And last but not least, we have Harry Potter. I’m sure most of you know this wonderful tale by now so I’ll skip the synopsis.
Harry Potter has successfully made the American Library Association’s most banned book of America. Despite this, the book managed to sell 450 million copies, spawn a successful movie franchise, and continues to be one of the most endearing YA books of our time.
The number one challenge of this book was over the controversial topic of religion and the accusations that the book dealt with witchcraft and satanic undertones. Many religious organizations fought to have this book removed from the library. Interesting enough, witchcraft was recognized as a religion by the libraries which led to many intense and widely publicized legal challenges. Our current Pope had this to say about the series:
“(The series is) subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”
Luckily those who actually read the book understood the true story behind Harry Potter and the themes of good vs evil, sacrifice, and love.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!
- L.W.
Filed under: Insight, Publications, YA Fiction
October 31, 2012
Controversial YA (Young Adult) Fiction Books Blog Post – Pt. 1
Today in my blog, I thought I’d talk about some of the most controversial Young Adult Fiction past and present. As a society, we are accepting mature themes at much younger ages than prior generations. Television shows, movies, and books all geared towards young adults are darker, more violent, and more sexually charged than they were 25 years ago. Back when I was reading teen fiction, vampires and werewolves were the horror stories that made you hide beneath your covers. Now everyone wants to have sex with them. The paradigm of edgy has definitely shifted in my opinion.
I thought in this post, I’d take a look at some of the more “controversial” YA books and examine how they have evolved over time, beginning with the 70s.
70s/80′s
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
By. Judy Blume
The same author who brought you wonderful stories such as ‘Fudgeamania’ and ‘Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing’ examines puberty and growing up in a religious heritage. What was the controversial at the time was the fact that the central character undergoes puberty and wishes for breasts and her first period while developing crushes on boys. Meanwhile, she is caught at the centre of a religious tug of war — her Christian parents on one side and her Jewish grandmother on the other.
At the time, “Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret” was challenged numerous times by parents and topped the American Library Associations list of most challenged books due to the sensitive issues of adolescent puberty and religious debates.
However this book doesn’t compare to the challenges of the next book on the list, also written by Judy Blume.
Forever
By. Judy Blume
Whereas “Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret” dealt with puberty and religion, Forever explored the more mature themes of sexuality and teen pregnancy, which resulted in its banning and censorship. This book details the relationship between Katherine and Michael as they find themselves sexually attracted to each other and explores the physical emotions they felt and how their sexuality affected their relationship.
Because of the description of sex which included: “When I kissed his face it was all sweaty and his eyes were half closed. He took my hand and led it back to Ralph [his penis], showed me how to hold him, moving my hand up and down according to his rhythm. Soon Michael moaned and I felt him come — a pulsating feeling, a throbbing, like the books said — then the wetness. Some of it got on my hand but I didn’t let go of Ralph,” the book was challenged by parents to be removed from the public libraries and ranked number 2 on American Library Association’s most challenged list of 2005.
Go Ask Alice
Written By: Anonymous
Next up on the list is Go Ask Alice, a book that delves into the subject of drugs, sex, rape, and runaways. The premise of the story is a young girl keeps a diary and explores her troubled life as she finds herself in challenging situations — especially with drugs and sex — and how she reacts to them. Littered with profanity along with scenes of rape and explicit drug use, this book has a long history of being challenged ranking number 23 as one of the American Library Association’s most challenged books of the 90s with a ranking of number 8 in 2001 and number 6 in 2003.
Luckily, the author decided to keep herself anonymous (though there has been much speculation) and avoided direct wrath from concerned parents.
The Chocolate War
Written By: Robert Cormier
Last up we have Robert Cormier’s “The Chocolate War.” Despite the fantastic reviews the Chocolate War received, it topped the list at #3 of the American Library Association’s top challenged books of 2000-2009.
According to a petition online to remove the book from Mobile County Public School system, the first 132 pages contain the following curse words: hell – 20 times, bastard 9 times, God damn 3 times, damn 5 times, shit 1, bullshit 2, son of a bitch 2 times, and ass twice.
Furthermore, the explicit scenes of masturbation including: Archie had pulled open the door to one of the stalls and confronted Janza sitting there, pants dropping on the floor, one hand furiously at work between his legs, along with suggestions of high functional secret societies and bullying had parents in an uproar. Mr. Cormier’s response to the controversy surrounding his book: “kids can absorb my kind of book because they know this kind of thing happens in life.”
Thanks for reading. Part 2 of the most controversial Young Adult books coming soon.
-L.W.
Filed under: Insight, YA Fiction
October 20, 2012
YA (Young Adult) Fiction Hooks – Fantastic First Lines in Books
“Start off with a bang” they always say, and how true that is. When I’m at a store browsing through books, there are three things that affects my decision on whether to purchase it or not:
1) The book’s description on the back
2) The book’s reviews (normally displayed on the first few pages)
3) The first few lines
The third item in particular is known as the book’s hook: the sentences formed together to draw the reader into the story and hold onto their attention until the very last page of their novel. For Young Adult fiction in particular, there are many great hooks. Here are some of my favorites (and why I love them):
The Hunger Games:
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.
- Suzanne Collins
What is this ‘reaping’ and why is it giving someone nightmares? Clearly it’s something unpleasant. I want to know more about it.
The City of Ember
When the city of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder, both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.
“They must not leave the city for at least two hundred years,” said the chief builder. “Or perhaps two hundred and twenty.”
“Is that long enough?” asked his assistant.
“It should be. We can’t know for sure.”
- Jeanne DuPrau
Immediately I’m intrigued by this City of Ember, and why must the people not leave it for two hundred years? Especially when the normal lifespan is around eighty? Are these people special in some way that they can outlive a normal human?
Feed
I was raised in a gaunt house with a garden; my earliest recollections are of floating lights in the apple-trees.
We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.
-M.T. Anderson
How does someone manage to go to the moon just to have fun? And why does the moon suck? It’s so foreign and mysterious. There must be more to this story. The only way to find out is to keep reading.
The Uglies
The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.
Of course, Tally thought, you’d have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right. The scudding clouds did look a bit fishy, rippled into scales by a high-altitude wind. As the light faded, deep blue gaps of night peered through like an upside-down ocean, bottomless and cold. Any other summer, a sunset like this would have been beautiful. But nothing had been beautiful since Peris turned pretty. Losing your best friend sucks, even if it’s only for three months and two days.
- Scott Westerfeld
I love the description of the sky. Right off the bat, we can tell that Tally is a pessimist and much of this has to do with her best friend Peris turning ‘pretty.’ How can someone just turn pretty all of a sudden?
I love these books. After reading the first line from each of them, I was immediately drawn into their world and found that I needed to know more about the settings, the characters, or the situations. I just wanted to keep reading, which ultimately is the biggest compliment to any writer.
-L.W.
Filed under: Insight, Inspiration, YA Fiction
October 17, 2012
November is National Novel Writing Month — YA (Young Adult) Fiction 50K Word Challenge
In 14 days, we kick off National Novel Writing Month. For those who never heard of it before, it’s basically the ultimate spark to get you writing that novel you’ve always dreamed of doing.
The premise is this: It challenges you to write 50,000 words in 30 days and track your progress in a large online community setting. Who knows, you might even find a friend close by! For more details, you can visit the official website HERE
If you decide to participate, you can search for me: LW Patricks. I’m always looking for new writing buddies.
For even more motivation, here are some of the books written out of NaNoWriMo:
Good luck for all those who decide to participate and happy writing!
L.W.
Filed under: Inspiration
