Vacation Contest!!!!!!

Vacation: a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday.

In honor of family time and the kid's winter vacation from school, I am going to take a break not only from my WIP, but from Facebook, blogging, and Twitter.

In my absence, I will be hosting another contest - this time I have two audio versions of EDGES to give away, featuring the fabulous Ryan Gesell and Cynthia Holloway and produced by Listening Library (Random House).

How to enter?

Follow this blog if you don't already, and in the comments section, tell me either what your ideal vacation is, or what you need a vacation from. (And while you're at it, couldn't hurt to "like" my EDGES page on Facebook too! Just because I'm taking a break, doesn't mean you need to!)) *

I need to live my life and fill myself up this week with family, friends and fun. What are we doing? I will keep that private until the contest is over, which is Monday morning, February 28th at 10AM. I will pick two winners lottery style, and then regale you all with a post about lessons learned on "vacation" from my internet/ laptop self. (I'll still be writing in my journal. I can't NOT write!)

Happy dreaming, living, and/or writing!

* If my question doesn't float your boat, just tell me what you are reading to enter the contest! I will be reading The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (I guest blogged on her blog last December) and The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.

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Teen Author Reading Night

It's November 3rd and day 3 of the NaNoWriMo challenge. So far I am on schedule, with over 5000 words to my fantasy with the (working) title of The Fog and I am having fun - surprising even myself.

But I couldn't possibly write another word at this point, because now all I can think about is the Teen Author Reading tonight, in which I get to participate as an author for the very first time! Just look who is in the line-up: (And the answer is: of course I didn't get a wink of sleep last night!)

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares

Sarah Beth Durst, Enchanted Ivy

Lauren Henderson, Kiss in the Dark

Barry Lyga, Archvillain

Lena Roy, Edges

Kieran Scott, She’s So Dead to Us

Scott Westerfeld, Behemoth

It's at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library downtown from 6 until 7:30. I'll have my support: Judy Blundell will be coming with me from Katonah (figuratively holding my hand), and Rebecca Stead, Deborah Heiligman, and Daphne Grab will be heading down from the Upper West Side. I need to put on my own suit of armor and rely on my friends and my own writing as we begin to count down the days to publication.

Another nice omen is that Ryan Gesell, (the gentleman who read Luke's narrative in the forthcoming audio for Edges and had the generosity to get in touch with me and let me know how much he loved my book - we writers love that, don't we?), just facebooked me to let me know that he also just finished narrating David and Rachel's new book,  Dash and Lily's Book of Dares which they will also be reading from!

So . . . no more NaNoWriMo or blog for the rest of the day . . . I best be pulling out Edges right now and practicing my four minute excerpt . . . I'm picking something from near the beginning, in Luke's narrative. Maybe I'll post that excerpt tomorrow - at the very least I'll let you all know how the evening went!

Comfort and Inspiration in Banned Books

Image by booklover472 via Flickr

Thursday, closing up on Banned Book Week and I am finding  comfort and inspiration from both my "real" friends and "fantasy" friends who write books that make us stop and think.

About how we treat each other and ourselves.

Like Laurie Halse Anderson, Sherman Alexie, Ellen Hopkins, even my grandmother (yes, she was banned) to name a few. Books that can make a difference.

I aspire to that, I do. I practice, I work, I lose myself in other worlds. So it is with both glee and mental fatigue when I tell you that I have finished rewriting The Land of the Lost and Found. No, that does not mean that I am ready to send it back to my agent. I have to step away from it for a few days in order to see the forest through the trees. Does my new ending work? I don't know yet. I have to REVISE my rewrite, and you know how I heart revision! The plot remains in tact, but the structure is completely different, which forced me to rewrite practically every word! But I have been feverish, driven. Hopefully I have improved it.

I would normally be jumping up and down, but I am so sore from taking a class involving kettlebells at the gym yesterday (DON"T ASK!) that I can't.

I have been living and breathing this leading up to and through this Banned Book Week, because the issue of "pregnancy" is at the forefront of this novel. Oh no, you groan. Not another novel about teen pregnancy? And you know, I groaned too when I learned that this was what was coming from my soul. I didn't plan it this way, really! I write the book that wants me to write it. But I promise you that although it has this "issue", it is from two very different perspectives and not, ultimately, what it's "about".

I am watching the wind rage through the trees and the rain pelt the ground. I have to remember this: I have been able to write despite several men stomping around putting holes in walls, ceilings and floors for heating ducts, despite my husband tapping away on his own novel next to me, despite that I have been disappointed by the chains not being willing to stock my book at first and a one star review (with no explanation) on Goodreads.

I have also gotten some rave reviews too, including a very sweet note from the actor, Ryan Gesell who narrated the Luke portion on the audio of EDGES, telling me how much he loved it. And my friend Judy, who I was afraid to loan my ARC to, only because I adored her book, What I Did and Why I Lied soooo much - she loved EDGES too.

I can't be afraid of reviews, because they're coming. My writing will be out there soon for the world to judge. But Banned Book Week gives me comfort, because I know that EDGES most certainly be banned somewhere, and I will have the company of many of my favorite authors. Those who make us think about the human condition, who might make us, yes, feel a little uncomfortable. Or a lot.

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