P.J. Hoover's Blog, page 68

Writing from the Place: TEN THINGS FOUND IN ANY MANUSCRIPT

So I'm not sure how many of you know about my local writing group, but it's OSUM and fun and we meet at the coolest place. On a normal Friday I get together with K. A. Holt, Jessica Lee Anderson , E. Kristin Anderson, new member Madeline Smoot, and sometimes member Jenny Ziegler.
Yes, we talk about fun stuff. Yes, we get writing done. Yes, we listen to music from the 80s and read the graffiti on the walls (and there is lots and lots of it...). And yes, we come up with ridiculous lists.

Care of "The Group" from "The Place,"
here are ten things found in any manuscript:

1) A dog barking in the distance
Due to the paranormal craze, we'll stretch this to include werewolves, too.

2) A Star Trek reference

like the mind meld
Photo credit Star Trek Inspirational Posters

3) A head wound
A gash, a small cut, blood dripping warm on the face. You know you have one.

4) Some stupid joke which will not longer be funny after 50 revisions
So kill the darling early. No one else thinks it's funny from the start.

5) Something small to crawl through (like a secret tunnel or a ventilation shaft).
Make this a Jefferies tube, and you've got (2) taken care of, too.


6) A doorway/keypad/lock that's impassable that your character manages to pass.
Why? Because your character has to change the world. And how else is your character going to change the world if they can't get through that locked door or figure out the secret code.

7) Homage to a friend or teacher or family member or pet (Easter eggs)


No birthday is random in books. It's kind of like lottery numbers.
And names? It is no coincidence I named the bad guy in THE EMERALD TABLET after my ninth grade Geometry teacher.

8) Explosions or fire
When the middle of the book is sagging, blow something up. It's sure to make something happen to the plot.

9) Piercing or brooding eyes
Maybe think up some new descriptors for the eyes. And vary the arching and raising and narrowing while you're at it.


10) Typos
Yeah, maybe these aren't so good to have. But yet they exist. Always.

SPOOKTACULAR GIVEAWAY—THE MARBURY LENS

*Updated: I now have the signed ARC to give away along with three hot-off-the-press hardbacks!

I'm so excited to be participating in the Spooktacular Giveaway hosted by Kathy Habel at I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Whatever she is, I think she's awesome for organizing this! 86 blogs all giving away stuff related to books! And so in honor of this spooky holiday, I'm giving away a book I loved that actually comes out in a few weeks! You have to read it!


THE MARBURY LENS by Andrew Smith (Feiwel & Friends, Nov 2010)


And the best of all, the ARC is signed by the author, Andrew Smith, who I met at ALA!

me and Andrew Smith

From Amazon:

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he's trying to kill them. Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he's losing his mind. Conner tells Jack it's going to be okay. But it's not. Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.


Source of books: From publisher


For your chance to win one of three hardcovers (not yet released) or a signed ARC, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Follow The Texas Sweethearts blog
3) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win! The contest will run through 11:59 PM on Sunday, October 31, 2010.


And so you want to win more books, too, I bet! Continue on the Spooktacular chain. Check out all the blogs participating here!

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/spooktacular-giveaways.html



And don't forget I also have two more contests running:

Spot THE NECROPOLIS and win the first two books!

Enter to win an ARC of ANOTHER PAN by Daniel and Dina Nayeri

SPOOKTACULAR GIVEAWAY—Signed ARC of THE MARBURY LENS

I'm so excited to be participating in the Spooktacular Giveaway hosted by Kathy Habel at I am a Reader, Not a Writer. Whatever she is, I think she's awesome for organizing this! 86 blogs all giving away stuff related to books! And so in honor of this spooky holiday, I'm giving away a book I loved that actually comes out in a few weeks! You have to read it!


THE MARBURY LENS by Andrew Smith (Feiwel & Friends, Nov 2010)


And the best of all, it's signed by the author, Andrew Smith, who I met at ALA!

me and Andrew Smith

From Amazon:

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he's trying to kill them. Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he's losing his mind. Conner tells Jack it's going to be okay. But it's not. Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.


Source of ARC: From publisher at ALA


For your chance to win this awesome ARC, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Follow The Texas Sweethearts blog
3) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win! The contest will run through 11:59 PM on Sunday, October 31, 2010.


And so you want to win more books, too, I bet! Continue on the Spooktacular chain. Check out all the blogs participating here!

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/spooktacular-giveaways.html



And don't forget I also have two more contests running:

Spot THE NECROPOLIS and win the first two books!

Enter to win an ARC of ANOTHER PAN by Daniel and Dina Nayeri

NIGHTSHADE ARC Winner!

Huge thanks to all those who entered to win this week's giveaway!

The winner of an ARC of NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer (Philomel, Oct. 19, 2010)


is...

KAILIA SAGE at Musings of A Wannabe Author


*****

Thanks and congrats! And don't forget I'm also giving away...

ANOTHER PAN by Daniel and Dina Nayeri (Candlewick, Sept. 2010)
Click here to enter!


And come back for more giveaways this week!

MOSTLY MONSTERLY - The Perfect Picture Book for your Little Monster

Okay, even if Tammi Sauer weren't such a doll of a person, I'd recommend this book.
And even if we didn't have the same agent, I'd recommend this book.
And even if I hadn't put on the Chicken Hat of awesome at ALA, I'd recommend this book.*

MOSTLY MONSTERLY by Tammi Sauer (Simon & Schuster, August 2010)


For all you picture book lovers out there, this is the perfect book to buy your little monsters for Halloween.

It's about a monster, Bernadette.
Well, she's mostly a monster. But not always.
Kind of like my daughter :)

And the art is to-die-for.

*me with the chicken hat of awesome (next to Tammi, of course)

ANOTHER PAN ARC Giveaway!

I was lucky enough to meet one of the authors of this book at BEA this past May, and in addition to being a fantastic author, he's also an editor. In case you missed the first book in this series, ANOTHER FAUST, you'll for sure want to pick it up (it has a cover to-die-for)!
Up for giveaway this week is an ARC of

ANOTHER PAN by Daniel and Dina Nayeri (Candlewick, Sept. 2010)


From Amazon:

Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling and her insecure freshman brother, John, are hitting the books at the Marlowe School. But one tome consumes their attention: THE BOOK OF GATES, a coveted Egyptian artifact that their professor father believes has magical powers. Soon Wendy and John discover that the legend is real—when they recite from its pages and descend into a snaking realm beneath the Manhattan school. As the hallways darken, and dead moths cake the floor, a charismatic new R.A. named Peter reveals that their actions have unleashed a terrible consequence: the underworld and all its evil is now seeping into Marlowe. Daniel Nayeri and Dina Nayeri return to reimagine Peter Pan as a twisty, atmospheric, and fast-paced fantasy about the perils of immortality.

Source of ARC: From publisher at ALA


For your chance to win this ARC, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Follow The Texas Sweethearts blog
3) Comment on this blog post


For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me


And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win!

The contest will run through midnight on Friday, October 29, 2010!

And don't forget:

Spot THE NECROPOLIS and win the first two books!

Enter to win an ARC of NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer!

Spot the Book Contest and Win Free Books!

In honor of the release of the third (and final) book in my Forgotten Worlds Trilogy, THE NECROPOLIS, my publisher has offered up free books for a contest!

Here are the details:

1) Spot the third book, THE NECROPOLIS, in a bookstore.*

2) Take a picture of the book on the shelf. **

3) Email me the picture.


Three easy steps and you'll be entered to win one of five signed sets of the first two books in the series, THE EMERALD TABLET and THE NAVEL OF THE WORLD. ***

So don't you have to go to the bookstore today?????

Cute model not required

* Lots of Barnes & Nobles around the country are carrying it. You can check availability at barnesandnoble.com.

** Feel free to turn it faceout when you do this :)

*** Don't worry if you already have them. They make great holiday gifts, or donate them to your school or public library.

This Week's Contest Winners!

Thank you all so much for participating in the Superhot Austin Author's ARC Giveaway! I had such a great time!

The winner of an ARC of BLESSED by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, January 2011)


is...

TINA WERNER at tina werner

*****

The winner of an ARC of TRUTH WITH A CAPITAL T by Bethany Hegedus (Delacorte, October 2010)


is...

LOIS MOSS at Lotus Rising

*****

This week's winner of an ARC of my newest book THE NECROPOLIS by PJ Hoover (CBAY Books, Oct. 16, 2010)

is .....

PAM at Bookalicio.us

*****

Congratulations and thank you!

And don't forget I'm also giving away:

NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer (Philomel, Oct. 19, 2010)
Click here to enter.

Early B&N Sighting of THE NECROPOLIS!

So THE NECROPOLIS isn't even officially out yet (not until October 16th), but we have early shippings from Amazon and early sightings at Barnes & Nobles.

like this one taken at the B&N in Springfield, VA (um, thanks, Mom :))

If you happen to be at a B&N and see it there, snap a picture for me, pretty please!

JANIS JOPLIN, ANN ANGEL, and THE TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL

This Saturday at the Texas Book Festival I have the huge pleasure of introducing Ann Angel who has written a fascinating YA biography of the rock legend, Janis Joplin. I've been reading JANIS JOPLIN: RISE UP SINGING (Amulet, October 2010) these past couple days, and it's been a real treat.


I mean, who knew Janis drove the same car as my dad (bet you didn't know that, did you, Dad?). And I never knew Janis Joplin lived in Austin, TX, the coolest city in the world (outside of Northern Virginia possibly).


Anyway, this is a fantastic book for any teen or adult filled to the brim with pictures and info about the rock star's life.

If you're coming to the Texas Book Festival this weekend, stop by and listen to Ann Angel talk about the wonderful biography she's created! We'll be in

Capitol Extension Room E2.010
12:30-1:15

See you there!