Support Literacy and Writing Through These Amazing Programs

There are some amazing things happening online right now, and if you support literacy, you should absolutely check them out.

For those of you who don't know, Kickstarter is a place where people can pitch a project they want to do, and people can pledge money to support the project. If they get enough money to make their goal happen, then they keep the money pledged. If they don't--they don't. It's an all or nothing deal, and there are some amazing Kickstarters going on right now that I want to make sure you all know about!

First up is the North Texas Teen Book Festival. This program is run by people I've worked with in the past (Irving Public Library is one of the best library systems I've had the honor of working with), and they're trying to start a book festival in their area. These are amazing kids who dearly love reading, and I want them to succeed so much.



If you're in the Texas area, they have some amazing perks for people who contribute and can attend the festival--and even if you're not in the area, a $5 donation will help this program get one step closer to giving a large group of wonderful teens a fantastic experience. They're at about 20% of their goal now and they have a month to raise the rest of the funds, but remember: this is all or nothing. If they don't reach their goal at the end of the month, they get nothing and the Teen Book Festival may die.



I'm sure by now that most of you have heard about one of the most famous and successful Kickstarters in support of literacy--the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter. While they already have their initial goal (of a million dollars!), Reading Rainbow is shooting for a higher goal now to bring their program--and a love of reading--to even more children.



I remember Reading Rainbow fondly from when I was a child. The thing that always stood out to me was the children's book reviews of books. It wasn't an adult talking down to me to tell me to read a book; it was a kid my age excited about a book, and that made me excited, too. Reading Rainbow really is one of those programs that I truly believe helps children love to read, and if you agree, consider supporting the program and helping them help a new generation of kids.



It's not all about money, though. There's a new program launched on Tumblr called We Need Diverse Books, and they've just launched a summer reading program that compares diverse titles to popular books to encourage more people to try something new. You can read more about the program here, but definitely consider following their tumblr as well as you don't miss out on a single new title!

And finally, one for fun--it's not about literacy, but it IS about writing, and I can't help myself. If you follow my Twitter, you'll know that for the last few days I've been tweeting about an amazing keyboard. It is basically my dream keyboard--it looks and feels and sounds like an old typewriter, but it works with computers. Here, see for yourself:



The only problem? This keyboard doesn't exist yet. It's a part of a Kickstarter campaign to manufacture the keyboards, and it's only at 20% of its goal. So tell your writer friends! The board is pricey, but it looks like it'll be amazing, and I really hope they get made! You can read more about the project here. And to watch it in action--including some of that sweet, sweet clacky-keys reminiscent of typewriters, click here.

Tell Me What You Want (What You Really, Really Want)

Ugh, I apologize in advance for putting that song in your head, but I guess everyone's day isn't complete without a Spice Girls earworm.

If you're on Twitter and follow publishing people at all, you'll notice that just about everyone and their mother is going to BEA--Book Expo America, the largest publishing trade show in America and one of the biggest book events in the world.

And I am super jealous of everyone who's going.

See, I've always wanted to go to BEA. Even before I was published, I wanted to go as a fangirl, but couldn't afford it. Now that I am published, I've wanted to go as an author, but the timing of my books' releases haven't been good for it.

Segue!

I have a book that is very close to my heart, and that I want to make it out into the world. I've been writing and revising it between my other contracted books (I started working on it before I finished Shades of Earth), so it's been slower that normal, but I really love this book.

I recently saw a dress on ModCloth that was perfect for this book. This one. Everything about it--words, pens, birds--was perfect for this book of my heart. The one that I'm currently revising--again--and hope, hope, hope that it sells.

Which means it's not sold yet.

And I've been doing this long enough to know that it might not sell at all.

But...I could see myself holding a launch party for that book wearing that dress. When I shut my eyes, I imagined how it would be to sign a book in that dress, and have the reader notice the tiny details in the cloth and realize that the dress really was that perfect.

But...I hadn't sold the book yet. I shouldn't buy that expensive of a dress for an imaginary launch party for a book that had not sold yet.  It was sort of ridiculous.

I bought it anyway.

I decided that I needed that dress. I needed to believe that I would have this launch party, that it would happen for me, for the book. I needed to believe that one day I would wear that dress and a reader would notice the details and connect them to this book. That a reader would read the book.

That's why I bought it. For the chance of this dream coming true.

It's hanging in my closet now. I'm not going to wear yet. But I will. One day. Hopefully soon. I will iron the wrinkles out, and I will whisper to the cloth, "I told you so."

Seeing everyone tweeting about BEA right now of course makes me a little jealous. That's a dream I would like to fulfill, one that probably won't happen any time soon. But rather than stew in my own envious green juices, I decide what I'd do is make a list of things that I hope will one day happen. I don't want to seem ungrateful! My biggest dream--to have a book published--has already come true, and with it, so many other dreams that I hardly believed possible--listing, reviews in Kirkus and PW, seeing the book on a shelf, being asked to sign, getting fan mail and fan art. That stuff is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If nothing else happens, those memories will forever be a part of my happiest place.

But I also think it's important to think about what else you want--to strive for something more, to never quite reach the star in the distance. So here's my list of pie-in-the-sky dreams, the things I desperately wish would happen:

My Wish List

Attend BEA as an author: I've just talked about this one, but it's one I definitely want. BEA has been this glimmering dream of mine, and I really want to walk into the Javits Center as an author and do a signing or a panel. Other events that I really want to go to as an author: Comic Con in San Diego and the Texas Library Association Conference (TLA).

Do a signing in the Philippines: I hear from readers in the Philippines about every other day, and they seem like voraciously avid readers, and I would love to come and meet them! I've never been to that side of the world before, but it seems so awesome. Other countries that I really want to visit for book signings: Germany, Spain, Brazil, and basically everywhere. I love to travel. 

Get a movie (or TV series) made of one of my books: While I'm dreaming big, right? I'd love to see a movie of one of my books. The most asked question I get as an author is, "Why don't you make a movie?" Of course, it's more complicated than that, and even if I sell movie rights, there's a huge chance it won't happen. But still...it's definitely a dream of mine. (And, of course, part of the dream is they make a good movie...)

Merch: This likely would never happen unless a movie is made, but I've always sort of wanted to see some kind of merchandise based on something in my books. A Lego kit of Godspeed? A FunPop vinyl doll? 

...and now I realize that, with the possible exception of the second wish, George RR Martin is living my dreams. I really should just grow out my beard and swap lives with him...

And the biggest one of all: A lifetime career in writing and a legacy of books. This is one that I will never see personally. But...I want to always be writing. This is my dream job, and even now, it's still a dream. And...I'd like it if, long after I'm gone, I have an oeuvre out there in the world, and that far in the future, some kid will pick up a copy of one of my books and enter my world again. This is the closest thing you can get to immortality on Earth. 

Some of these dreams I can control. If I save my money, I can attend BEA or do an international signing on my own. Some authors have even run successful Kickstarters or other campaigns to turn their books into film or launch merch lines. And I will certainly not quit writing as long as I am able. I'll do all I can to give Fate a chance to make these dreams come true.

That's it--those are my current biggest dreams for my profession. What are yours?

Find all the secret symbols hidden in these portraits of Amy & Elder!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to find an artist who could make a Mucha-style portrait of my characters. First, I just really love that style--but second, I think it lends itself to discovering characters in a particularly wonderful way. See, every little detail in a Mucha portrait is symbolic, and when we're talking about characters, a Mucha-style portrait of one will show hidden meanings.

I'm so happy that Christine Tyler was able to capture Amy and Elder so perfectly! And within each image, there is so much hidden meaning. Take a look for yourself, and see if you can see all the symbols within each image. Answers below!

Ladies first...what symbols can you see in Amy's portrait?

Click for an even larger image!

And now for Elder--do you see all the symbols?

Click image to embiggen!

Ready? Think you see all the secret symbols hidden in the image? I know that even I didn't catch all the amazing details Christine included in the portraits. Check below!

...

....

.....

.......

AMY:

• The flowers in her hair are amaryllises. In my very first draft of of Across the Universe, Amy's name was short for Amaryllis, and she was frozen with a flower bulb. But that was a touch too complicated for the story, so I cut it.
• The fish in the corners symbolize Harley's nickname for Amy, Little Fish.
• The pond in the background of the story is the pond hiding the portal to escape the ship.
• Amy's background is green to represent phydus, likewise the edges of the circle have little splashes to represent the water laced with phydus.
• In the icons of the circle around them are snowflakes, to represent how cold and lonely Amy was in cryogenic freezing.
• Amy's holding a cross, to show her faith.

ELDER:

• Elder is wearing the Eldest Robe, which in the book is described as having a field on the bottom fading to stars at the top. Christine went a step further and made the stars constellationally correct-- at Elder's right arm is the constellation Orion, and at his left arm is the constellation Scorpius, which chases Orion across the sky and, according to mythology, is Orion's greatest foe. This was such an amazing detail that Christine added on her own, and is just perfect!
•  In the corner of Elder's image are rabbits, to symbolize the rabbit farms on the ship, which are featured not just in the books but are a key part of the novella, "As They Slip Away."
• In the edges of the large circle, the image is breaking and shattering. Here's Christine's reasoning, directly from her: "Elder's is breaking/shattering because to me, his biggest moment of change was when the explosion happened on the [Eldest level,] and he had to choose to close the doors off for the great good. He also 'breaks off' from the line of Eldest."
• And don't forget that in the background of both images are stars, which is the only level of symbolism I consciously added to the story. Stars, much like in Dante's Inferno, equal hope.
• And on a personal note, I love that Christine took so much care to show Elder's ethnicity, and that he's not white, with features influenced by South Asian and Native American physiology.

There's one more secret to these images, and it's this: these aren't the only things Christine made for me (and you)! I'm still working with my agent and publisher on this, but hopefully you'll see some brand new characters...soon! 

Would you like your very own art cards featuring Christine's art? Well don't go away--I'll be doing a giveaway of more art cards very soon :) 

And again, make sure to check out Christine's work here:

• Website 
• Twitter 
• Tumblr 
• Youtube (booktube) 
• Youtube (family and travel)
• Blog

Amy & Elder, Mucha Style

I adore the artwork on Alphonse Mucha. This art nouveau painter is probably best known for his highly stylized portraits that feature strong lines, symbolic icons, and beautiful colors. 

Amy and Elder's story takes place in the far future--which may make my desire to see them in a Mucha style a bit odd. But I love the juxtaposition of old and new, and the plethora of details that can be contained in one image. 

To create portraits of Amy and Elder, I reached out online to the very talented Christine Tyler. She worked tirelessly to see the vision through to completion, and the results are, simply, breathtakingly beautiful. I am in utter awe of the art Christine made come to life, and cannot say enough how happy I am that these images exist in the world. 

My favorite thing about Mucha's art is the attention to detail, and I knew that Christine wouldn't disappoint in that regard. Every little thing in these images has a deeply symbolic meaning. I'll be doing a post later about her art, and detailing all the brilliant symbols she included. 

But first: as many of you know, I'm currently at the RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans (click for my full schedule). To celebrate winning the RT 2014 YA Futuristic Book of the Year award for Shades of Earth, I've made art cards of Christine's portrait of Amy and Elder. I have a couple hundred with me--and to get one, all you have to do is find me at one of my panels or at my signing or at the Teen Day Party, and I will give you one!

And to whet your appetite so you can see just how awesome these are, here's what the art cards look like:

I'll be posting more about the art later, as well as sharing the lovely full versions of the prints, but for now, come snag me at RT to get your very own copy of Christine's lovely art! You can find out more about Christine online here: 

Website: http://www.christinetyler.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrsctyler

Tumblr: http://christinetyler.tumblr.com

Youtube (booktube): https://www.youtube.com/CTylerBooks

Youtube (family and travel): https://www.youtube.com/ctylervision

Blog: http://www.christinetyler.net

Check back here after RT for fuller versions of Amy and Elder. And while I can't reveal everything I've been working on with Christine, I'll simply say that this is only half of the art she's done for me, and we still have two more very special prints to reveal in the (hopefully near) future! 

Out Now! Dead Man's Hand: A Weird West Anthology

Note: I'm not really here! I'm still offline, enjoying much-needed time with family. I'm scheduling this from the past. Which means I'm sort of like a time traveller...

I'm thrilled to be a part of Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West, edited by John Joseph Adams. I recently got my copy in the mail and saw so many old favorites in the table of contents...Charles de Lint, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire. And the anthology has some new authors whose works I simply cannot wait to get into!

My short story is called "The Man with No Heart," and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Here's some fun facts!

• The main character is named Ray Malcolm, a nod to Mal Reynolds from Firefly
• The story visits the Grand Canyon, as well as Flagstaff, Arizona and Native American cliff-dwelling ruins
• It is heavily influenced by Hopi legends
• There's a steampunk element without truly being a steampunk story--let's just saw somethings are mechanical that shouldn't be mechanical
• Spiders!
• Guns!
• A saloon girl and bad guy and a white hat!
• The story was fact-checked by my father, the world's leading expert in all things Wild West

I hope you check this anthology out! If you like Westerns, if you like science fiction, if you like Firefly and heros and twisty stories and battles and the Old West...

Check this title out!

Travel is the Greatest Inspiration

Relatedly, I'll be away on travel from now until mid-May. If you don't hear from me on email, Twitter, FB, Instagram, Tumblr, etc., know that I am soaking up as much inspiration from the world as I can in preparation for future books! Replying to you all will be even slower than normal as I go on a few trips over the next few weeks. Go! Explore!

Meanwhile: 

• Enter my contest to win FIVE SIGNED BOOKS here!
• Start reading my FREE Writing Advice book here!
• Sign up for my newsletter, which has a ton of insider information, links about science fiction, upcoming events, and more here!
• Follow me on Instagram, where I'll be posting travel pics!

And coming soon...

• A new anthology with a new short story from me
• Some amazing art based on Across the Universe...

Your Favorite Reads: Share & Win!

I love books.

I don't think I'm in the minority here at all. You are my people. Books are awesome!

As an author, I'm sometimes given books to read for a blurb--a sort of recommendation for others to read. I can't blurb every book I get, even if I like it; I have to limit my blurbs to only a certain number per season, etc. So, of course, I have love a book in order to blurb it. It has to be the kind of book that I have absolutely no reservations thrusting into the hands of readers, the sort of book I can't stop raving about, the sort of book I wish I'd read when I was younger, that I want to re-read as soon as I finish.

When I find those kinds of books, I sort of flip out in my excitement.

And I tend to buy extra copies of them, so I have them on hand to give out to other people. Recently I was cleaning out my shelves, and realized that I had four extra copies of four awesome books I've blurb recently, and I thought--let's share the love! Not just of these amazing books, but of all books!

So--I'm going to tell you about these books and why I loved them, and I want you to pass it on: tell the world about your favorite books and why you loved them. Tweet it or post it on Facebook or writing a review or anything else--and you'll be entered to win signed copies of all these books, plus a signed copy of my book as well :)

Gilded by Christina Farley

My review:

An amazing contemporary fantasy that explores the vast legends of Korea, this richly detailed novel kept me turning the pages well into the night. Jae Hwa starts off as a strong character and ends as a noble one, using both her brains and her brawn to win the day--she's exactly the kind of girl YA literature needs.

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

My review: 

Rhine's struggles and pain are real, and her story is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
I couldn't read this book fast enough.

Salvage by Alexa Duncan

My review:
Alexandra Duncan's debut illustrates a richly detailed world that vividly shows a possible future of Earth where society has both regressed and progressed, where the struggles of humanity have become more dire, but where love still remains. Everything--from the world to the characters--felt viscerally real.

Origin by Jessica Khoury

My review:
I loved Origin's action, romance, and mystery--
and I couldn't stop thinking about the questions it raised.

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

My review: 
Absolutely brilliant. This is the sci fi I've been waiting for!
Action, romance, twists and turns--this book has it all!

In addition to all these wonderful books, signed, one winner will also get 
a signed poster for These Broken Stars,
 a bunch of swag from other authors, 
and a copy of Shades of Earth (signed of course)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest Details:

• Open to US addresses only--sorry, this is a heavy prize pack!
• Open to readers aged 18+ or who have permission from their legal guardian to enter
• Prize won't be shipped until the end of May--I'm on the road!

After the End Blog Tour with Amy Plum

I absolutely adore Amy Plum. She's one of the nicest, most considerate people I know, and I wished she lived next door to me so we could chat over tea every day. Scratch that, I wish I lived next door to her because she lives in France!

To celebrate her upcoming book, After the End, Amy's doing a bit of truth or dare. And of course chose to make her go on a dare. Anyone who lives in France has access to some...fun...things to do...

Welcome to the AFTER THE END blog tour!

Amy's Truth or Dare

This is one of Amy's special author-hosted Truth or Dare stops. (The truth-or-dare theme is particularly relevant to AFTER THE END, since Juneau's oracle has said she has to tell the truth or she won't find her clan.)

I opted for "dare," giving Amy the mission to kiss an author's grave in Paris's Pere Lachaise cemetery! And here she is, thwarted in her efforts to kiss Oscar Wilde's grave by a big glass case put around it SPECIFICALLY to thwart grave-kissers.



Mission accomplished!

And now, on to the juicy info about AFTER THE END + prizes!

About the Book

By: Amy Plum, Published by: Harper Teen, hitting shelves on May 6, 2014

Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Find out more about the book

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness.

They′e survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact.

Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she′s trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.



About Amy Plum

Amy Plum is the author of DIE FOR ME, a YA series set in Paris. The first three books—DIE FOR ME, UNTIL I DIE, and IF I SHOULD DIE—are international bestsellers, and have been translated into eleven different languages. The fourth book is an eNovella, entitled DIE FOR HER. The first book of Amy’s new series, AFTER THE END, releases in May 2014.

Amy grew up in Birmingham, Alabama before venturing further afield to Chicago, Paris, London and New York. An art historian by training, she can be found on most days either daydreaming or writing (or both) in a Parisian café.

Visit her on: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads



The Giveaway

Each stop on the tour will be hosting a giveaway! We're giving away:

- 13 SIGNED After The End books

- 6 iPhone After the End shells.

*This is open Internationally*

To enter, please be sure to fill out the form featured on each stop along the tour.




a Rafflecopter giveaway
The first 300 people who pre-order AFTER THE END and show proof of their pre-order will receive one of these limited edition After The End water bottles. *see below*

Please be sure to send your mailing address and receipt to katieloumercier@gmail.com.

Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice

Look, I'm no expert. I want to say that, straight off the bat.

But...I like analyzing. I like knowing how things tick. I like breaking things down into smaller bits, and I like thinking in terms of how I'd teach someone else the idea. It's how my brain works. To understand something, I have to explain it, both to myself and to others.

I've slowly been amassing an archive of writing articles and thoughts (I've been blogging for half a decade!), and recently, I was compiling it all together for my own use and thought...maybe I should just make this available for anyone who wants to read it.

I quickly realized that I needed the right format to compile everything. A website was too spread out--despite archives, they're hard to search, and who reads archives any more? I'm not ready to self-publish a finished version. I wanted something accessible. Fortunately, about the same time that I was researching all this, my publisher pointed me toward Wattpad, a website that compiles things into a similar format as an e-book, is absolutely free, and can be read by someone without the need to create an account (you only need an account to post your own work or comments).

So...I did this.

I'm slowly amassing everything that I've done in terms of writing and serializing it at Wattpad. The archives are organized and will be easy to search. Some of it has been published on this blog before, and some of it hasn't, but none of it has been grouped together in one spot.

You can read the beginning of the project here, 

and more will be posted periodically.

I hope it's something that you find helpful. It's definitely an on-going project--I'm publishing several opening chapters now, and then will publish more on a schedule after returning from an upcoming trip. I'm particularly proud of the third chapter, "Why All Writing Advice Books Suck, Including This One." :)

I hope you check it out! Please let me know your thoughts and if there are any topics you'd like me cover.

Cover designed by the insanely talented Hafsah at Icey Book Designs!

The Slutshelf

When Alexa Duncan told me that her book had been shelved on a "slut shelf" in GoodReads, I was...shocked.

Ava, the main character of Salvage, has sex, yes. Once. With a man she thought she would marry. And that--that?--made her a slut?

I've talked before about how the sexualization of young people--particularly women--is seen as very wrong in our society. More wrong than murder and graphic violence. I've talked before about how wrong that is.

Consider, for a moment, Hunger Games. A novel where, literally, children kill other children. There's no other way to look at this: a society has promoted, encouraged, and forced a group of children to attempt to kill each other, and they do, graphically.

This book is sold in Scholastic book order forms distributed to schools. The publisher recommends the title for children aged 11-13. The movie is rated PG-13.

You know what's not in Hunger Games? Sex of any kind--there's hardly even a kiss.

Sex is the golden taboo, the one thing that, if included, moves a book past the pale. But why? These are conversations we should be having--not shying away from. Personally, I'd much rather a teenager enter a mature, consensual, healthy sexual relationship than a blood-soaked arena where only one person will make it out alive.

I'm not saying Hunger Games is bad. On the contrary, I think it's brilliant. And I'm not saying that children shouldn't read Hunger Games--I am all for people reading the right books for them, and I think there are many powerful messages in the context of the violent storyline.

What I'm saying is, the line should not be between violence and sex.

You can read Alexa's full post here; as usual, she's brilliant. She's also giving away a huge prizepack of books (including a signed AtU!) to encourage people to discuss what this trend of slut-shaming books means to our society as a whole. Additionally, for every person who enters the contest, Alexa will donate one dollar to the Freedom to Read Foundation (up to $1,000), so please spread the word!

I'm not a feminist, but...

I've always had a fairly complicated relationship with feminism.

When I was younger, I was fairly proud to not be a feminist. Feminists were screaming harpies who demanded attention and were just causing trouble. Sure, I'd see things that were wrong with society, but I'd say something along the lines of, "I'm not a feminist, but..."

This attitude carried on for quite some time. I remember first coming up with this idea of "I'm not a feminist, but..." in high school--I don't remember the exact reasoning behind the words, but I remember having that attitude. I had that attitude in college, too. We'd discuss literature that obviously had sexist undertones (typical, to be fair, of European literature of a certain age), and that phrase would come up. When I participated in the semi-political professional organization of my state's branch of the National Education Association, I'd make arguments for fair wages and treatment and say, "I'm not a feminist, but..."

But we deserve equal pay.
But the society we live in isn't fair.
But not enough people are standing up for the rights of others.
But we deserve respect.
But it's not right for a woman to be judged solely by her gender.
But, but, but.

There are two things wrong with the phrase, "I'm not a feminist, but..."

First, it's wrong for me to couch my opinions with a disclaimer. Saying something like, "I'm not a feminist, but I feel like women deserve the same rights as men," belittles not just the idea of feminism, but also the idea that what I'm saying matters. I'm dismissing my own words before I even speak them. I'm giving an excuse for why I should be allowed to say the words following the phrase, as if the only reason I would say those words is if I had such an excuse.

The second thing wrong about that phrase is the fact that it exists.

Our society has turned "feminist" into a bad thing to be. A screaming harpie seeking attention and trouble. A thing that we should distance ourself from.

But we deserve equal pay.
But the society we live in isn't fair.
But not enough people are standing up for the rights of others.
But we deserve respect.
But it's not right for a woman to be judged solely by her gender.
But, but, but.

On my second Breathless Reads book tour, I remember very clearly a man from the audience asking us if we felt guilty that we had written books told from a female's point of view. "What about the boys?" he asked. "What about their voices?" Disregarding that myself and Marie Lu had written books that were half from a boy's point of view, I want to point out that word he used.

Guilty. For writing from a woman's perspective.

Guilty.

I'm not a feminist, but I should feel guilty for writing from a girl's point of view.

Across the Universe won an award from RT Book Reviews--the best YA of the year--in 2012. I told a friend about the award.

"What does RT stand for?" she asked.

"Romantic Times."

I can see the confusion in her eyes. "Like...romance novels?"

"Yeah," I said.

She smiled sadly. "Well, it's nice you won an award, even if it's from romance people."

Even if it's from romance people--a genre dominated by women. A genre entirely dismissed as being lesser. Is romance lesser? Of course not. There are some poor romance novels. But there are poor novels in every single genre in print. Had I won an award from, for example, SFWA--maybe an Andre Norton Award for YA SF--that, that would have been prestigious. There are just as many bad SF novels as there are bad romance novels.

I'm not a feminist, but an award in a female-dominated genre is regarded as less that one from a male-dominated one.

(By the way, I'm damn proud of that RT award, and I am freaking excited to accept another one for Shades of Earth next month.)

I'm not a feminist, but books written by women in YA tend to have far more gendered covers than books written by male authors.

I'm not a feminist, but when a book is written about a girl who's real and embraces herself for who she is, it's labeled as feminist, as if such a book cannot stand on its own merit and is somehow odd for being that way.

I'm not a feminist, but when an author is female and writes a female character, some critics automatically assume that the character is far more vapid and stupid than if a male had written a female character.

I'm not a feminist, but I have read book reviews of female authors which are focused primarily on the authors' appearance, giving the book less points because the author is either too slutty or not lady-like or too fat or wears too much (or too little) make-up.

I'm not a feminist, but when a female author is aggressive about her own marketing plan, she's dismissed as being pushy or bossy, but when she's not, she's dismissed as being meek and worthless.

I'm not a feminist, but JK Rowling has never published a book with an obviously female author name.

I'm not a feminist, but an actress in an upcoming YA film recently dismissed the entire YA genre for "diminishing a book's value."

And when I started adding up all these "buts," I realized something important.

I don't have a complicated relationship with feminism at all.

I am a feminist, and I am damn proud of it. Because all a feminist wants is equal treatment and respect. That's all. And the reason why we need feminists in society is because we don't have equal treatment and respect.

It's because even when we see these discrepancies in the world, we still say, "I'm not a feminist, but..."

But...that's changing. Slowly but surely. And part of the reason our society is changing is because more and more people aren't letting their voices fade to silence. From now on, I'm going to say:

I am a feminist, and I believe we're going to change the world.

Why You Should Read Salvage Right Now

Today marks the release of one of my favorite YA science fiction novels! From the very first page, I was enraptured with the brilliance of Alexandra Duncan's world.

Okay, so I'm working under the assumption that everyone on Earth has seen the brilliant show Firefly, yes? If not, GET ON THAT PEOPLE, there's naked Nathan Fillion to be had. But meanwhile, you know that episode where we see Saffron for the first time? And we think she's just a completely naive girl from a planet that's kept their society rather primitive, and then she winds up on a spaceship and having adventures? Salvage reminds me of Saffron (except minus the knock-out lipstick).

Let me try to explain in words that don't rely on a deep-seated love of Firefly to understand. Salvage follows Ava, a girl raised on a spaceship that is ruled in a very specific, limiting way. But after she tastes a different life, she is forced to flee her ship. And that's just the beginning...

What I loved about this book (the same thing, btw, that I loved about The Martian and the movie Gravity) was the realism. Alexa has done her science--when Ava leaves the spaceship she's lived on all her life, she doesn't just walk off with no issues at all. But she also knows her sociology and psychology, exploring not just Ava's perspective, but also the different societies she winds up in and how Ava fits into that.

But it's also real in the way it seems like the world and the people are real. Some books you read, and you know they're fiction. And that's fine. We need an escape, and there are some books I pick up, and I know there's going to be a happily ever after, and I know there's going to good guy's going to win, and I can see the plot as it unfolds.

Salvage is not that book.

In Salvage, I had no idea what would happen next. I had no idea if Ava would find a happily ever after. If the characters I'd come to love would live.

Salvage was real.

So definitely give this one a read. It will creep inside your mind and stay under your skin for a long time.

Find out more about the book
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The Best Students are Teachers

I am extraordinarily lucky to have had the opportunity to pursue two careers--writing and teaching. Although I'm no longer a teacher (I used to teach English to high school students), there's a part of me that still sees the world through an educator's eyes. I'll visit a museum and think of my former students who would like to see the exhibit, or I'll read something and think to myself, "that would make a great lesson!" I've harassed Laura, my fellow teacher and dear friend, more than a few times with ideas for her to turn something into a lesson because I'm no longer in the classroom.

This is probably why I'm an active mod over at the YA Writers group on Reddit, why I make blog posts about books that are sometimes in an academic or instructional variety, and why my favorite style of presentation to give is a Q&A. It's also probably why I identified so strongly with Hermione Granger.

I'm always afraid of pushing the Hermione-ness of myself too much, and I try not to be a know-it-all, but if you're my friend, there's a 99% chance I've tried to one-up you in a conversation, or slip in a random historical fact, or inserted a weird bit of trivia. It should be noted that the husband won't play Trivial Pursuit with me, and that's probably why we've got such a happy marriage.

But seeing the world with an eye for education has definitely helped me to understand the world better, and to seek out the why of things.

Source

Teaching something forces you to know more about the subject than a student does. This was the first thing I learned as a teacher, the most important lesson, and the one that has stayed with me. I thought I was so smart as a college student. I had a decent GPA, I was young, I was brilliant, I was going to change the world! But knowing the answers to the test don't always mean you understand why an answer exists.

My first few weeks of teaching taught me more about education than five years of college and two degrees and three certificates did. I did far more homework as a teacher than as a student. I prepared a million times more. For every page my students read, I read ten. When I taught a novel, I read not only the novel, but all the criticism, all the analyses, all the background.

In order to condense my lesson into a short, 90 minute lecture, I compiled enough information to fill a book.

Source

Every year, at least one kid would ask: "Why do we have to learn English anyway? How is that going to help us in the real world?" And every year, I struggled to find an answer. Math and science are easy to see the relevance of. Vocational studies had real-world implications. Even PE could have a lasting effect on the body, if not the mind. But English...it was all just stories and grammar, right? And while lessons on the parts of speech and how to compose a resume are helpful, the literature--the core of every English class--has no real world implications, do they? Your ability to read Shakespeare will likely no effect your chances of securing a job; your understanding of symbolism in modern literature won't get you a pay raise.

Except English classes and literature aren't about what you learn. I don't really care if you know that Moby Dick is a whale or not. English classes and literature are about how you learn, and what matters is that you understand the futility of Captain Ahab's quest.

I never really had a good answer for "why do we have to learn English" when I was a teacher. I tried--the quickest way to distract me from a lesson and invoke a thirty-minute rant from me was to ask that question during class. But it's only now, as a writer, as someone who's making literature, that I realize the importance of it. Just as, as a teacher, I had to truly understand a subject before I could teach it, as a writer, I have to understand the importance of literature before I can write it. And just as my point as a teacher was always to help guide my students into understanding rather than rote memorization, my goal as a writer is to show the world and the character and the story and leave the meaning to grow in the reader's mind.

Writing books isn't just about telling a story. It's about creating a story not of ink and paper, but of thoughts and ideas. If I've done my job--and I try very hard to do this with everything I write--then the story exists beyond the book. It changes the way you see not just the characters, but yourself.

That's why we learn English lit.

Upcoming Newsletter & Information

On April 1st, the next edition of my monthly newsletter will be out! I just wanted to remind everyone of two important things:

Every month, I'm giving away one signed copy of one of my books to a random subscriber to my newsletter! All you have to do is sign up for the newsletter--nothing else is required. You're automatically entered, and I'll be drawing one name every month for a winner.

The other thing I want everyone to know is that this is not just a newsletter about me. Every month, I collect the best and coolest links dealing with the sci fi nerdy stuff I love, and compile it into the newsletter. I do have book information, but most of the newsletter is cool links and info that I think people would want to read whether or not they're interested in my books. This month's newsletter has information about NASA, a satire film on the Cosmos, info on an exciting new sci fi documentary, Sailor Moon details, a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game, and more! So please don't think that I'm going to be spamming you every month with info on me and my books--I'm so not that interesting. :)

If you'd like to sign up, here's an easy form. And I promise: I don't send out emails more than monthly, and I never use your email for anything other than the newsletters or to alert winners of the prizes they've won. The next newsletter goes out on April 1.

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Skip a Starbucks Day!

Note: let's blame Blogger for the fact that this post didn't go up when I thought I'd scheduled it for... 

CJ Redwine is an amazing person--not only is she the author of the Defiance trilogy, but she's one of the most kind and giving people I know.

So kind, in fact, that she's opened her heart and her home up to adoption. A few years ago, she adopted a little girl from China. And now she's trying to do it again.

CJ and her family has been paired with Isabella, a precious little girl who was born with a few birth defects. Because of her special needs and the timing, CJ and her family need to come up with $15k--fast. And they're asking for help. When good people ask for help for a good cause, the world rises up to meet them.

But CJ and her family aren't asking for the world--they're just asking for a coffee.

Your average coffee at Starbucks costs about $5--and a $5 donation is a simple, easy thing to give. It adds up fast, and it can change the life of this family. Also? A simple, $5 donation will enter you in a prize pack of awesome proportions. There are TONS of prizes available, including an entire set of signed books from me!

Please consider donating to this worthy cause.

For more information, including details of all the prizes, just click here!

Girls Gone Sci Fi Tour Event!

Announcing the Girls Gone Sci Fi Tour!

Throughout this week, the ladies above are going to be touring around the south. You can find the full schedule of events here--definitely check it out if you're in the area! And if you happen to be around Asheville, I'll be a guest author at their last stop at Malaprop's Bookstore, 7pm, THIS SATURDAY!

I really hope to see you there! It should be a lot of fun, and I'm honored to be with such amazing ladies!

Genre Elitists

Today at the League, I write about the YA SF community, and a few members who think there's no real point in writing anything after Heinlein juveniles. Definitely check it out if you're so inclined!

In writing that post, I was reminded of one of my least favorite authors--Faulkner. Which is a shocking thing for me to say, considering I'm Southern and all, but Faulkner is just...well... definitely not my cup of tea.

Part of it comes from me being contrary. In my very Southern university, I was among the most Southern of Southern students, and my profs tended to insist that "of course YOU will LOVE Faulkner!" despite the fact that, yeah, no, I never have. Don't get me started on Gone With the Wind. If you tell me I have to love something, I will probably hate it.

But beyond that, I also tend to fall into the Hemingway camp on Faulkner's literary style.

Source: Rachel Draws

In case you can't read the lovely graphic:

Faulkner: He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

Hemingway: Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?

While my article at the League references YA Science Fiction specifically, I think a similar attitude has befallen YA in general. There's a prevailing idea that because a book is YA, it is lesser. 

But do these people really think that adult emotions only come from adult books? 

YA genre isn't about anything lesser. There are, if anything more emotions--emotional characters are a part of the trope!

These so-called "genre-elitists" are the worst kind of readers, in my opinion. When someone ascribes the idea that something is better or has more merit or prestige, when someone assigns class levels to art, then that person is diminishing not the art itself, but the people who enjoy that art.   

Art is an object. It has no feeling. It simply is. 

But the people who like the art do have emotions and feelings. When you insult an art, when you say it is lesser, or not important, or not as worthwhile, you are insulting the people who like the art. It's as simple as that. 

I could go on and on about this, but let me take a leaf out of Hemingway's book (rather than Faulkner's). I don't need fancy words for this anyway. 

People who insult other people for liking the things they like are assholes. 

Source: Tom Gauld, via Kelly Said

A History of Science Fiction, Tied With Our Societal Fears

Today on the League blog, I write about the history of science fiction, and the way it's tied to xenophobia. I don't always link back between blogs, but I particularly like this post, and wanted to point my readers there today as well.

In it, I compare two charts. The first is a chart made by Google which shows the use of the word "xenophobia."

And then I compared it to a chart that shows the number of science fiction novels published in the past century.

To read the entire article and see how I compare a word to a genre, please click here.

I noted in my original article that I had to make the second chart myself, and I wanted to take the time to explain how I made it. There wasn't really room in the original article to discuss it, so here's my methodology.

First, I went to Wikipedia, looking up the number of science fiction novels published in each decade, tracking that in the chart. It was a bit difficult to find reliable data, and I fully admit that the data I ultimately used was not conclusive. As I was trying to show simply a general trend in numbers, I felt that using one source of data was acceptable.