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Thursday, February 28, 2013

More Author Insight: Writing Mission Statement


If you were to have a mission statement or mantra for your writing what would it be?




"Always try new things." - Dan Wells, author of Fragments. 




"'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.' —Henry David Thoreau." - Natalie Whipple, author of Transparent





"Give yourself permission to write utter crap. Then fix it!" - Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed




"The real writing is in the revisions." - Nova Ren Suma, author of 17 & Gone.


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Author Insight: Writing Mission Statement


If you were to have a mission statement or mantra for your writing, what would it be?




"Tell the truth, no matter how painful that truth is. Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth." - Bill Konigsberg, author of Openly Straight




"Love what you do and work really, really hard. Work harder than you think you need to." - Aprilynne Pike, author of Life After Theft and Earthbound.




"Finish, and the true story will reveal itself. " - Lex Hrabe , co-author of Quarantine: The Loners




"Treat writing like a job; plan, do the work, set concrete goals." - Victoria Scott, author of The Collector.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

New Find: "Book by its Cover" Tumblr


You know how we're not supposed to judge books by their  cover, but we all do anyway? We assume a genre, read the blurb and try to figure out how the cover syncs up and sometimes we read way to far into it and try to put the story together before turning the first page. And don't bother lying, we've all done it.

I know a lot of you may not follow on Tumblr, so I thought I would share my latest find here because it's too fun. I recently happened upon a fabulous new Tumblr that's doing it publicly and I love it!

The blogger, who has chosen to remain anonymous as far as I can tell, has laid out a set of rules for how books are chosen and reviewed. The best part is it's all done is a  good-natured, non-malicious way. There's even a disclaimer that outright states opinions found on the Tumblr site aren't a reflection of the story or the author's writing.

You should definitely check it out!

Book by its Cover

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday (44)


Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine 
that highlights eagerly anticipated books.


Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass
by Meg Medina

Release Date: March 26, 2013
Publisher: Candlewick
Author Website: http://megmedina.com/
Pre-order: Amazon / IndieBound / Barnes & Noble

In Meg Medina’s compelling new novel, a Latina teen is targeted by a bully at her new school — and must discover resources she never knew she had.

One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to piss her off. Word is that Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and isn’t Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent. And Yaqui isn’t kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back. At first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the father she’s never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is.


Why can't I wait?
The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind was an unexpected favorite of mine last year so I'm excited to see what Meg has in store for readers next. Not to mention the title of this one. Talk about a powerful statement! I suspect the novel will be just as powerful.