Giving and learning

I'm so glad I asked people to share a holiday wish on my last giveaway. There was something really heartening about reading all those good wishes. People are hoping for a whole host of things, from good books to good times with families. They're looking for acceptance, success, kindness, tolerance, respect. They're wishing for cures for diseases like cancer and mental illness. They wish food, shelter, and safety for all. And, as Kare said, "for people to be able to see the amazing inside them." I wish all that and more for everyone!

And by the way, Chey won that giveaway. But if you still want a copy, there is another giveaway of Try Not to Breathe going on right now at Nathan Bransford's blog.  Nathan, who was my agent at the time I wrote the book, describes a bit of the behind-the-scenes process for this book. And he should know: he had a significant role as the alpha reader and primary critiquer for the project. Try Not to Breathe was not the book that I originally intended to be my second published novel. It was, instead, the project that muscled aside a work-in-progress and told me, "I'm your next book, like it or not."

And as long as I'm doing links, here's a link to the announcement that one of my favorite literary magazines (One Story) is launching a version to feature one of my favorite genres (YA). It's the birth of One Teen Story!

Finally, a writing-craft link: Jeannine Atkins gets all brilliant about how writers can't act like mother hens toward characters: "Our characters should get in trouble. They should stumble all over themselves, collide into bad decisions and traps."