"You have to answer for Santino, Carlo. You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people. -Michael Corleone"

"You have to answer for Santino, Carlo. You fingered Sonny for the Barzini people. -Michael Corleone"

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The Godfather came out the year I was born, which both dates and brands me with a stamp that reads B.A.D.A.S.S. (Only hoping on that second part!)

The past couple days, the YA internets— Twitter in particular—has burst with Mafia jokes because a few folks hinted a "YA Mafia" may  be lurking in our midst. Specifically, a core group of published writers who could make or break careers. I found this especially amusing after a week of Charlie Sheen rants, and coming off of Freddy the Moose narrating the Snowpocalypse retreat like the friggin' Country Bear Jamboree.

At first I thought #YAMafia was just a joke. But after digging a bit, YA Highway had the most extensive post with links, I got to thinking about some of the complaints, and they made me sad. The greater YA community is a wonderful group of people. My book debuted in June, and I've always felt welcome. And appreciated! Last year when we launched AUTHOR APPRECIATION week, I got nice messages from many of the winners. I have a lot of author friends. I'm proud to know them, and I'm lucky to have them. If I didn't? I would feel incredibly lost in this vast world of publishing, which is often quite challenging to navigate. Do I get invited to every retreat out there? Nope. But guess what. Nobody gets invited to EVERYTHING. Not even Libba Bray. Not even John Green. That's not how the world works. Do I think there is a gang of established writers who actively try to stop new authors from gaining ground in this business? No flipping way.

If you're an aspiring author, the best thing for you to do is work on YOUR CRAFT. Join a critique group. Take writing classes. Try not to worry about what everyone else is up to. Focusing on that stuff will drive you crazy. My particular brand of internet poison is Twitter. I love it. Mostly because people are cool there. Friendly, funny, and generally likable. I mean, unless you are Kanye West it's hard to be too harsh in 140 characters.

I can pop in and out while I'm writing, while I'm watching my kids, while I'm juggling bowling balls. 

The rest of the internet, these blogs where people are generally behaving badly, is simply not my cup of tea, will not further my career, so why spend time there?

About bad reviews. Everyone gets them. Everyone. It's how you respond to them that determines your character. But authors, like anyone, are just people. People who love to create other worlds, who often fall in love with those worlds, so when someone bashes their book, it stings. And sometimes authors behave badly too. Does that mean they need to sleep with the fishes? Of course not. It's just a learning opportunity for them, to know how to react better next time.

It's a crazy time in our country, and in our world.

People are stressed out and tense. It's just the way it is. 

But we write & review & publish & represent books for a generation full of potential. We have responsibility to them to set a good example.

All Vatican Warlock Assassin joking aside, it's up to us to be the good guys. 

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