Live Blogging: Extreme Deadline Edition

I made a bet.

A crazy, crazy bet.

I bet another writer friend that I could finish 15,000 words and a short story in one week. That was last Thursday. I took the weekend to write the short story. Monday I wrote 5k words, and Tuesday I wrote 1,600 words. That leaves me with today, Wednesday, and I've got...8,400 more words to write.

Eight thousand four hundred more words to write.

Today.

Will I make that goal? I have no idea.

But I decided last night to try a live-blog. For you new kids, a live-blog is where I update a post (this post) regularly throughout the day with the status of what I'm doing. Typically, this helps me keep track of how much time I end up wasting (for example, online) and is also often hilarious as people watch me flounder around under the microscope.

SO: Come back throughout the day to see how far I get!

8:15am: Wake up. Stay in bed for another 15 minutes to avoid work.

8:30-9:15: Breakfast--leftover pasta from last night, a diet Sprite, and an episode of How I Met Your Mother.

9:16: Start working on this live-blog

9:16: Realize that working on this live-blog = working on the novel =  I have to do some actual work.

9:26: Oh, look! The shiny internet has neato things!

9:30: Best. Kid. Halloween costume. EVER.

9:48: Crap. I should, actually...you know...work.


Current word count: 0.


10:18: Coffee made: an espresso shot with hot chocolate and three melty peppermint candies. Sweatshirt: on. This one. Thank goodness it's a cold, rainy day.

Current word count: 0.  I know! I know! Quit pressuring me!!!

10:51: Finished up the chapter I was working on last night. The problem--and this is the reason why I've been stalling, and why I'm using this live-blog to kick my butt in gear--is that I know what needs to happen in, oh, fifty or so pages. I've got that, all the way to the end, nearly figured out. But to get to those fifty or so pages away...that's where I'm struggling. And I'm not the kind of writer that can just skip ahead fifty pages and write the scenes I know. I need to write the next fifty-ish pages to get there before I can really get swinging in this story...

Current word count: 571. 

10:54: Oh, look, the internet's out! Which means I can't update...but I guess this means I can't goof off online, either....

11:17: I was right. No internet is preventing me from wasting time. I have noticed that after I hit a stopping point--the end of a scene, the end of dialog, heck, even the end of a paragraph--my default reaction is to click onto the still-open internet window. But my connection is completely dead, and so instead of spending five or ten minutes goofing off, I go right back to Scrivener.

Current word count: 1387


11:23: Of course, even without internet, I'm still opening up this window every five seconds. (Exaggeration.)

11:28: Five minutes. I went five minutes between checking online and writing and checking back online. Ugh. That's pathetic.

11:32: When I get 2000 words, I can break for lunch. That's the deal. Also, then I'll connect to the internet with my phone so I can actually post these updates...yeah, that's why...

11:48: Oh, coffee, I can feel you kicking in. *jittery legs while typing too fast and misspelling every other word*

12:05:  I hit a bit of a roll there, rounding out a final chapter. Heh. Maybe a lack of internet + an increase in coffee = words. I'm pretty sure that's a solid foundation in a scientific theory. That discovery's as important as E = mc2, no?

Current word count: 2801


12:06: I earned lunch! Yay!

12:11: But before that...I sent a DM to the author I made the bet with. All it said was "Be afraid. Be very afraid." hehehehe...

1:25: That was...a rather long lunch. But the rain is holding, and my internet isn't, so that bodes well.

1:28: WHAT IS THIS FRESH HELL? I return from my leisurely lunch to discover that... STEPHANIE PERKINS HAS, INDEED, BROUGHT IT. Oh, it is ON NOW, PERKINS. You realize, of course, that this means WAR. 


(I get irrationally pumped up about competition. Have I mentioned this? It's true.)

(Crap. The dog is being cute and demands scratches.)

1:34: I am bringing it.


1:52: I am so NOT bringing it. (a) Had to call my father. Then (b) Dog decided to play. Then (c) Kiersten White decided to TURN ON ME. Proof 1. Proof 2. WHY KIERSTEN WHY?!

1:55: That does it: going offline so I can TYPE LIKE THE WIND.

2:14: The siren song of the internet (and the Twitter War perpetuated by Kiersten) draws me back online. *shaking my fist at Al Gore* Why did you invent the internet?!

Current Word Count: 3047/8400  (which, for the weekly goal = 9647/15000)
Stephanie's Word Count: 212/15000


2:36: There was something I cut in A MILLION SUNS that I think I might be able to bring into Book 3. Off to search for it.

2:43: Found it. Also found this. *sigh* Internet, y u so addictive? *pets the shiny*

2:59: New coffee acquired. *cracks knuckles*


3:20: It's quiet around here. TOO QUIET. *stares at Steph's live-blog* *frets*

Current Word Count: 3626/8400 
Stephanie's Word Count: probably a gazillion


3:40: Had to pause to do a little bit of research. This is unfair. All of Steph's research is kissing based. Mine's just boring ol' science...

4:15: You know what's not boring ol' science? Twitter. Twitter, twitter, twitter.

4:19: The Steph emerges! This fuels me even more. Because...the Steph never sleeps. She will probably start lapping me near the end of the night....

Current Word Count: 3964/8400 (10,664/15,000)
Steph's Word Count: Just Wait Until Tonight.


4:47: Supper's cooking in the CrockPot (Meals of Champions! ...also Meals-of-not-spending-much-time-cooking) but I still had a snack break. It was necessary. Fuel for writing!

4:51: I probably need more Sprite, too. Dang. Lookit the clock. I'm winding down, but I have a feeling Perkins is winding UP...

5:18: Just finished a rather difficult scene. I kind of want to show you all right now. I'll just say this: Amy has more balls than me.

Current Word Count: 4475/8400 (11,175/15,000)
Steph's Word Count: I FEAR HER. 


5:28: Oh Tumblr, you so pretty.

5:35: Remember that time Steph took a nap? Smart move.

5:35-8:15: I don't even know. Stuff happened I guess. Mah belly's full.

8:16: I will admit: I'm a tad daunted by this. I'm a bit over 4k words of making my goal, but that 4k feels like Everest right now. And while I'm all run-down and the coffee's worn off....Perkins has woken from her slumber LIKE A BEAST.

*rolls up sleeves*  Cover me. I'm going back in.

8:23: The husband walks into my office. "I don't hear the clackity-clack of your keyboard," he says.

"I'm looking at the competition," I says.

I show him THIS.

And then I show him THIS.

He says, "You do realize there's a chance she's going to pull an all-nighter for this."

Me: meep.

He says, "You do realize that she might just win, right?"

Me: MEEP!

He says, "You should consider fighting dirty."

Me: ?

He says, "Find out something she likes, and send her links to them."

But! But! But! I have words that I need to write. NOW! So I can win!! Especially because she's already beating me HERE. (the voting link for that is HERE)

So...*I* can't play dirty and send Stephanie pictures of Hot British Boys. Such as James McAvoy. Or Jim Sturgess. Or even, I suspect, Young Colin Firth. BUT YOU CAN, DEAR READERS, YOU CAN.

Here is Stephanie's twitter: @naturallysteph

Any Hot British Male will do. Your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to FIND PICTURES OF HOT BRITISH MEN. And then tweet them at Stephanie. ALL NIGHT LONG.

Is this cheating? ...maybe... But! But! But! It means that Stephanie will have a cadre of pictures of Hot British Men! HOW COULD THAT BE WRONG?   IT CAN'T BE, THAT'S HOW.

Go forth! Track down the Hot British Men! And distract give them to @naturallysteph!

8:49: Having spent the past 20 minutes coordinating an attack against Perkins, I, er, have no new words to show for it. And she's updating her liveblog in...11 minutes. MEEP!


8:58: I have been staring at the clock, waiting for Perkins update. Why is this psyching me out so much?!

9:21: Let it be known that this is the writing session in which I started killing characters off mercilessly. #desperate

9:39: And....there goes the first person. (Well, not the first. I killed three people off in the first three chapters. But that's just how I roll, yo.)

9:48: Finished chapter.

Current Word Count: 5448/8400 (daily goal). (Weekly goal: 11872/15000)
Stephanie's Word Count: 2190/15000


Do not be deceived, gentle readers. It may look as if I have more words than Steph, but I happen to know that she has pulled the rabbit out of the hat before. Also: she took a nap, and is therefore charged and ready for the long night ahead, whereas...I didn't.


10:03: Just finished a furious five minute run on the Gazelle (it's like an elliptical, but less fancy) while talking to the husband about a plot point. Basically, I figured out that I need to get more people injured and/or sick, then do this nasty thing to the characters, then have Amy do this thing...and basically, I can't tell you without ruining everything, but PLANS I HAS THEM.

10:14: Get totally distracted BY THIS.

10:23: CURSES! My plans...are foiled. (Not by Perkins--see comment below.) It's just that I realized...if I do THAT THING now, then the book will end too soon. I need something else before THAT THING happens...but...WHAT??

*frets*   *pulls out hair*

Current Word Count: No change, dangit.

10:33: Five more furious minutes on the Gazelle. I might have an alternate plan. Problem: the husband will go to bed soon. Which means...I'm doomed.

10:42: So I wasn't working. I am still rather stuck.

How stuck?

Let me illustrate with .gifs:

In this one, the camel is my Muse.

In this one, the fish is my Grand Idea.

Note that it got away.

I am going to pour hot water on my head until I figure this scene out (read: shower).

Current Word Count: 5553/8400 (11997/15000)
Steph's Word Count: *too afraid to look*


11:41: Shower acquired. Ideas...cooking. I'm currently in my cupcake pajamas and wrapped in my Sailor Moon quilt and have a pile of peppermint candies by my side. I've also moved to the couch because my bum hurt. Did you know that this is the longest time I've ever continuously live-blogged in one day? And it's soon to be the next day...

Anyway: sally forth! Onto the next chapter!

12:38: For reasons entirely unrelated, the scene I'm working on now reminds me of a story I heard from a Holocaust survivor. It's making me quite sad to remind myself of the details of her story, but also determined to make that scene, at least, as beautiful as possible.

Current Word Count: 12943/15000 (let's just stick to the weekly goal for sanity's sake)
Steph's Word Count: 4010/15000 (but that was an hour ago, and she writes like the wind)


1:19: I have been writing pretty steadily for...almost twelve hours. Sure there've been breaks in there, but...almost twelve hours.

I'm tired.

I'm tired.


Steph's last update put her about 10k behind me, which...well, it makes me feel safe about going to bed right now. But she IS chugging espresso like mad, and that worries me...but if I wake up early enough tomorrow, maybe I can round out my word count and we'll at least tie...

Speaking of word count...

Total Word Count for Today: 7,174
Total Word Count for Weekly Goal: 13,598 words out of a goal of 15,000 words


Stephanie hasn't updated yet, so I'm not sure where she stands on this...*gulp*

But I know, for me, this is what I'm going to do now:

On Communication

I should just admit it:

I'm behind.

On Twitter replies, Tumblr ask box replies, Facebook replies, and--worst of all--emails.

I am terribly, terribly, terribly behind.

But.

I am trying to write Book 3. I mean, I've been trying to write it for some time, but I'm in the long sprint to the finish line right now (read: crazy focused and dedicated to finishing like whoa), and it's too easy to let (literally) hours go by when I venture online.

I know many of you are writers, and you understand. <3 And many of you are readers, and I'm sure you'd rather me write a book than an email. That, at least, is what my publisher must surely be thinking, lol!

So please forgive me, but for the next little bit, I'm going to be a tad incommunicado. I'll pop online between breaks and answer what I can, but it'll probably be a tad sporadic. And by "tad," I mean: very. If it's something urgent, please mark it as such in an email. I may miss Facebook or Twitter posts, but I will eventually get to every single thing in the inbox.

<3

*opens up Scrivener*   *hunches back over the manuscript*   *stares blankly at the screen*

On Big Heads

Whenever I start to get a big head, I think of one of my favorite poems by Robbie Burns (I've pasted it below) entitled "To a Louse." A louse being, of course, a singular of lice.

Burns can be a bit of a pain to read at times, but the story of the poem is, basically, that there's this high and mighty woman sitting in church, rather proud of herself, and the narrator of the poem sees a giant louse creeping up her bonnet. Which, basically sums up as: the bigger the head, the more room for the louse.


On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church


Ha! whare ye gaun' ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely
Owre gauze and lace,
Tho faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn'd by saunt an sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her--
Sae fine a lady!
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.

Swith! in some beggar's hauffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle;
Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle;
In shoals and nations;
Whare horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.

Now haud you there! ye're out o' sight,
Below the fatt'rils, snug an tight,
Na, faith ye yet! ye'll no be right,
Till ye've got on it--
The vera tapmost, tow'rin height
O' Miss's bonnet.

My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an grey as onie grozet:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum!

I wad na been surpris'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy
Or aiblins some bit duddie boy,
On's wyliecoat;
But Miss's fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do't?

O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin!
Thae winks an finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin!

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notion:
What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,
An ev'n devotion!

Bookanista Guest Post: Janice Hardy, author of DARKFALL

Today I'm pleased to welcome Janice Hardy, author of THE SHIFTER, BLUE FIRE, and DARKFALL, a trilogy that is superb. I started with THE SHIFTER when it first released, and was hooked. Now I'm just waiting to get my hands on a copy of the last book, DARKFALL! This trilogy takes place in a world where some characters have the ability to shift pain or sickness away from a person. Of course, keep in mind that the title of the trilogy as a whole is THE HEALING WARS...in a world where healing can be done with a simple touch, healing itself becomes a commodity. 

Whatever your expecting about the books: don't. Janice has twists and turns aplenty throughout, and the ending's impossible to guess. 

Without further ado, here's Janice, author of THE HEALING WARS trilogy!

Yes, I’m Evil. At Least to My Characters

There are some writers who cringe at the thought of putting their characters into danger. Caring authors who encourage and look after their fictional charges as they send them on their literary ways.

I’m not one of those authors.

I love to torture my characters. I cackle with glee when I think up something horrible to do to them. Maybe it’s my dark side coming out, I don’t know.

Take the characters in my teen fantasy series, The Healing Wars. The heroine, Nya, never gets a break from me. First, I kill most of her family (this is before the story opens, so don’t worry). Then, I give her an evil “is it a blessing or a curse?” magical ability (she can heal, but only if she shifts pain from one person to another). To add insult to this injury, I give her a little sister who can heal without the nasty drawback and all its nastier side-effects (because ya know, being jealous of your little sister really bites)

You’d think that would be enough to make my dark side happy, but no. It wanted more. It whispered into my mind…let’s take away that little sister, and make poor Nya have to reveal the one secret she’s been hiding her whole life in order to save her. And while we’re at it, let’s toss in some agonizing decisions, some physical pain and suffering, and a mistake that will haunt her rest of her life. (and all that’s just in the first book, The Shifter)

I’m smiling as I write this. Really. I told you I was evil.

This attitude did trip me up a bit when I got to the third and final book of the series, Darkfall. Okay sure, I got to be the most nasty and horrible I’ve ever been to Nya because it’s the last book, but I also tend to like happy endings (“happy” being relative of course). I do have a light side to balance my dark. Could I do all those terrible things to Nya and just…leave her like that?

Yes and no.

My light side wanted some reward for all Nya’s hard work and pain, but my dark side couldn’t give her a totally happy ending (that’s just not right). So I compromised. I may have torn her world apart, killed off some of her friends and destroyed her home, but I also gave her a few things to ease some of that suffering in the end. I got to be evil, and she got a “happy” ending. Kinda.

Though I bet overall, Nya is happier that I’m finally done with her.

At least for now. But you never know when the urge to be evil will strike again.

If you’re a writer, do you like to be naughty or nice to your characters? For readers, do you prefer a character who gets trouble heaped on them or one who has an easier life?

Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, BLUE FIRE, and DARKFALL from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins.  You can visit her online at www.janicehardy.com or chat with her about writing on her blog, The Other Side of the Story. blog.janicehardy.com.

About Darkfall

War has come.

Nya’s the one who brought it. And the people love her for it.

With Baseer in shambles and Geveg now an impenetrable military stronghold, Nya and the Underground have fled to a safer location—without Tali. Nya is guilt-ridden over leaving her sister behind and vows to find her, but with the rebellion in full swing and refugees flooding the Three Territories, she fears she never will.

The Duke, desperate to reclaim the throne as his own, has rallied his powerful army. And they are on the move, destroying anyone who gets in the way.

To save her sister, her family, and her people, Nya needs to stay ahead of the Duke’s army and find a way to build one of her own. Past hurts must be healed, past wrongs must be righted, and Nya must decide: Is she merely a pawn in the rebellion, a symbol of hope—or is she ready to be a hero?

To Find out What the Other Bookanistas are Reading, Click the Links below!

• Elana Johnson offers a preview of upcoming awesome!
• LiLa Roecker dances for Audition
• Christine Fonseca  is wowed by Witch Eyes
• Beth Revis  features a guest post by Darkfall author Janice Hardy
• Carolina Valdez Miller steps up to Audition – with giveaway
• Shana Silver contemplates The Future of Us
• Carrie Harris is dazzled by Don’t Stop Now
• Corrine Jackson celebrates the success of Epic Fail
• Shelli Johannes-Wells is psyched for some swell book launches!

And finally: if you live in the California, Washington, Oregon, New York or New England areas, check out the group tour Stages on Pages that features several of my fellow Bookanistas and Elevensies!

 

On Being Afraid

Confession time: I'm scared to write.

I was scared for most of the time while I wrote ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. Here's why: I had this big idea, and I was scared that I wouldn't do it justice. I was scared that I wasn't a good enough writer to write this novel--that this idea was better than I was.

I wrote it anyway.

And I was scared to query it. At the time, there was VERY little YA sci fi on the market. When I went to my local indie to look for comp titles, I came back with ENDER'S GAME and THE HOST. That was it. And some of my fears were valid: I still have the rejections I got from agents who said specifically that a space sci fi would never sell for the YA market. Those early rejections made me fear that my little novel, the one I'd slaved away on, would never sell.

I queried anyway.

Now I find myself facing the barrel of the gun on Book 3. It's crazy to me that I am working on the third book of the trilogy before most people have even seen the second. And...I am petrified. What if you hate it? What if you hate the second one and hate the third one even more? What if I take the story in a different direction from what you want? What if everyone hates it? What if it flops, and my publisher, who I love, doesn't love me back? What if I never sell another book again? What if I have to admit defeat and go back to the day job and reconcile myself to the fact that being a writer isn't for me? Even though I realllllly want it to be?

I'm writing it anyway.

And I know it's bad. I'm still working on the first draft, and it's kicking my butt. I have an idea of what I'd like to see happen, but it's the same thing with AtU: it's this big idea that I want to be able to write and do it justice, but I'm worried I can't. That I'm not good enough to tell this story.

I'm still writing it anyway.

I know fully that I might have to trash this entire draft. With A MILLION SUNS, I rewrote the novel from start to finish four times. I reckon only about 10-20% of the original novel is in the final version. And so, even as I work on Book 3, I know in the back of my head that I'm just taking baby steps up the foothills, not making the big climb to the summit.

When I sit down in front of my laptop, open Scrivener, and stare at the blank document, my stomach twists. It's this sick-anxious feeling. My hands shake a little. I think about throwing up. I jump up and pace the room.

All because I'm scared.

For all the reasons I listed here and more, I'm scared.

But I'm going to write it anyway.





And for the record? There's a little voice inside my head that is whispering: It wouldn't be worth it if you weren't scared. And every time I hear it, I smile. I sit back down. And I write some more.

Password Reveal--and prizes for EVERYONE!

Here's the deal:

Penguin wants to thank YOU for your awesome support of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. So rather than just giving you a clue...Penguin has decided to give you the whole password!

All you have to do to discover the password is go to the official Fan Page (you'll have to like it if you don't already) and click on the PASSWORD REVEAL link in the left sidebar.

The whole password is right there for you.

AND THAT ISN'T ALL.

Penguin would really like to see the page get 5,000 likes. We're really close right now--at about 4,500. And as soon as we get 5,000 likes...Penguin's going to reveal the first chapter of A MILLION SUNS for EVERYONE to read. 


Only one person will win the prize pack I show here but everyone who enters the password will get the extra goodies on the password protected page...and if the Fan Page gets 5k likes, then everyone will get to read the first chapter, too!

AND GUYS GUYS GUYS. Remember how I kept saying that there are two lies in ACROSS THE UNIVERSE that are revealed to be lies in A MILLION SUNS? One of the lies is revealed in Chapter One. So if you want to know what that lie is--or if you want to see if you guessed that scientific "error" correctly--or if you want to know what the ship's going to be like now that Elder's in charge--all of that is in Chapter One.

Eeeeee!!!!! I can't wait for you to read it!

PS: If you are morally against Facebook or can't get on Facebook for whatever reason...the clues in the post below are enough to guess the password. I'll also give out one more clue by the end of the week.

October Giveaway: Passwords and Secrets, oh my!

Last Friday I mentioned that the password to my secret page has changed. Don't know where the secret page is? Look closely...

Found the page? Then you'll notice that it's password protected. And behind that password? Is the entry form to the October Giveaway.

Want to know what prizes lie behind that password protected page?

What is all that awesome? A signed poster of Across the Universe. A signed, advanced reader copy of A Million Suns. A limited edition Across the Universe water bottle. A package of astronaut ice cream. And a box of "Out of this World" goodies from the awesome soap store, Lush.

Entry to the contest is easy: all you have to do is fill out the form. But the form? Is behind that password protected page.

Now today I'm going to give you some clues, and if you're super clever, you might just figure out the password. But if you don't know the password, don't worry! By the end of the week all will be revealed!

Here are your clues:

• The password is three words long (no spaces)
• The middle word is "the"
• The password is a well known, common phrase every child would know (at least in America; not sure how popular it is in other countries)
• The password comes from something hugely significant in A Million Suns, particularly significant to Elder

Feel free to try your guesses now--the page is up and the form is waiting for you to fill it out and enter for the big prize above! And if you don't get it, don't worry. More clues (and perhaps even the password itself) will be revealed...SOON! 

Winner & More Prizes!

The winner of the signed advanced reader's copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER is...

Kate, of the Midnight Book Girl Blog!

Congrats, Kate! Send me your address, and I'll drop MARA in the mail for you!

Speaking of contests, you might remember that I promised to give every single person who entered the Creative Contest a prize. Well, there's been some trouble getting charms shipped (so much trouble that I actually ordered some back up charms, which means everyone gets two!), but I finally got them in, and I put them together to make a special thank you for each and every person who entered...

Yay! They're currently in the mail, so you should get them either by this weekend or early next week. Please let me know if you don't get yours by the end of next week.

Annnnnnnnnnnd speaking of contests........

PENGUIN JUST SENDED ME A PRESENT. And you know what that means! When Penguin sends ME a present, I send YOU presents! Wanna know what it is? Well, HA! You have to wait! 

Want to know how you can win the mysterious mystery prize? Welllllllll....you could try to guess the password of the secret page. Don't know where the secret page is? Hint: look closely at the telescope up above. If you crack the code, you get to enter for the prize.

But just in case you can't figure out my code (it's pretty tricky, I'll be honest), don't worry: on Monday I'll announce what the prize is, and on Tuesday I'll tell you where you can find the password. 

Bookanista Interview with Rae Carson, author of THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS has been one of my most anticipated books of the year, so I'm very glad to know that Rae didn't run screaming from me when I bombarded her email with questions on how could I get signed copies of her books, would she let me interview her, how creeped out would she be if I started stalking her, and so on.

Fortunately, Rae is a charming, wonderful lady who wasn't creeped out by my fangirling! And without further ado, here's her interview!

YOU
We can read all about your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

I competed in beauty pageants when I was in my early twenties. I used to run away with the swimsuit competition. Now that I’ve learned to rock plus-sized womanhood, I doubt I’ll ever have a desire to be skinny again.

As a kid, what was your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up?

I loved Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins. I must have read it seven or eight times. Now that I’m wise and mature, I prefer my books to be full of magic and/or ridiculously hot men.

Did you draw anything in your book, THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS, from your real life? 

Oh, definitely. Like Elisa, I very self-conscious as a teen—in my case it was due to an egregious case of acne. I drew on that experience a lot for the first third of the book.

YOUR BOOK
It's the inevitable question: what inspired THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS? 

I was dating this guy. He considered himself an “encourager.” His golden nuggets of motivation tended to be things like, “Are you sure you want to eat that?” And, “Wow, Rae, if you lost another five pounds, you’d be reeeally hot.” And, “Did you get your run in today?” I was a size 6 at the time.

It took me a year to come to my senses and kick him to the curb. I spent the next day eating cookie dough ice cream and thinking about all the fabulous women I knew and the qualities I admired in each of them. It never once occurred to me to put “skinny” on that list of admirable qualities.

Then I jotted down the fictitious diary entry of an overweight and seemingly-inadequate princess named Elisa who was destined to save the world using smarts, courage, and determination—traits my real-life girlfriends have in abundance. That diary entry didn’t make it into the book, but it was the seed of an idea that eventually became The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

You are getting rave reviews for the unique settings in the book—the geographies of the kingdoms, the desert, etc. Can you tell us a little about why you chose to have such a diverse setting, and how you went about creating your world?

I love deserts like whoa. Whatever I wrote was going to have a desert in it. Also, I was learning to speak Spanish at the time. So it made sense to draw inspiration from Colonial Mexico and Spanish Morocco. Once you establish a harsh, barren climate, it automatically restricts your choices about clothing, architecture, food, etc. So as long as I stayed true to the world, everything fell into place.

Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS?

I wrote the first three chapters in a flurry of inspiration. Then I got stuck. But the first chapter was selected as “editor’s choice” at an online writing workshop, and a few months later, I workshopped the first chapter at a conference--and the editor requested the full manuscript! Those two things gave me the motivation I needed to figure out the difficult middle and make a real book out of it.

If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS, what would you want it to be?

I hope teens who read Elisa’s story come away with the idea that they don’t have to be perfect to be extraordinary.


YOUR WRITING
What's the most surprising thing you've learned since becoming a writer?

I’m been surprised—nay, shocked!—to learn how much of writing is not-writing. There are edits, copyedits, research of agents and publishing houses, interviews, research for the story itself, page proofs… I could go on and on.

Beyond the typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best advice you'd like to give another writer?

Learn to absorb and apply constructive criticism. I think it’s the most important weapon in the writer’s arsenal.

What do you think are your strongest and weakest points in writing?

I think I do all right creating complex characters dealing with realistic issues. I could give you a whole list of weaknesses. The thing that handicaps me the most is my own self-doubt.




To check out what the other Bookanistas have been reading, click below:

• Elana Johnson  is obsessed with Possess
• Christine Fonseca  twirls for Audition
• Shannon Whitney Messenger is wowed by The White Assassin – with giveaway
• Shelli Johannes-Wells applauds The Pledge
• Beth Revis interviews The Girl of Fire & Thorns author Rae Carson
• Carolina Valdez Miller delves into The Future of Us – with signed book giveaway
• Shana Silver shouts out about Shut Out
• Sarah Frances Hardy fancies You Will Be My Friend

Three Videos

Come over here and sit for a spell: I've got three awesome videos lined up for your viewing pleasure :)

The first is a music video made by Efehan based on the song "Ancestors" by Jed Whedon. I think you'll be able to immediately tell why I (and any SF fan) would like this music vid.


Ancestors (Jed Whedon and the Willing) from Efehan on Vimeo.

Found via @MollyQuinn93

Next, here is a longer (10 min) video told through images instead of sound: a tragic steampunk love story.


Found via Epbot.

Finally, here's a sand art video. I adore sand art, but the ending of this one made me especially happy.


Found via Angela Wallace.

Which one did you like the best? Have any other recs for me?

My Muse

In other news:

• Emails are going to be slow to be answered
• I'm so far behind on @-replies on Twitter that I think the bird has it in for me
• My Facebook has wrinkles
• Things will eventually get done
• After the writing
• Oh, btw.
• The charms came in!
• Will be in the mail to you by the end of the week

How to Make a Boy Hot

I recently read a review of a book I'm reading (FRACTURE by Megan Miranda, out in January) and the reviewer said that the lead boy, Decker, is "hot."

It made me pause.

Now, Decker's not ugly--it's not like people run screaming from him whenever he shows up on the page--but I didn't really get the impression that he's hot. There's another boy in the book, Carson, who's often specifically described as the good looking one of the group of friends, not Decker. In fact, if I were to try to think of what Decker looked like specifically...I couldn't. Not that the author does a bad job of describing him, just that his looks are not really a part of the story and aren't dwelt on.

Decker's the good guy of the novel. There's a bit of a love triangle (not an angsty, over-done one--a realistic one) with another character, Troy, who's the bad boy. Troy's dangerous and older and not good for the main female character. Decker's the boy-next-door (literally) and he's good and kind and he really loves the main female character for who she is. He wants only good things for her--even if that means he misses out on his chance with her.

But he's not hot.


So what made the reviewer think that Decker was "hot?"

I was thinking about that a lot this morning, in part because I got a fan letter from someone who said that my main character, Elder, is hot. Elder's not bad looking--but he's also not deliciously-muscle-bound-contractually-obligated-to-take-his-shirt-off-in-every-scene-oh-boy hot. I took care to describe him physically in order to show his ethnicity--dark skin, dark hair, high cheek bones, almond-shaped dark eyes, etc. But Amy's not instantly physically attracted to him, and I really didn't want their romance to be based on hot-people-making-out. I wanted the romance to be based on two characters who treat each other with respect and whose love develops from friendship as well as attraction.

Which is why, I realized, Elder's hot. And Decker.

They're hot not because of their physical descriptions--they're hot because they're the good guys. They do good things. They are sincere and true.

They are beautiful on the inside, and that makes them hot on the outside.

Which, honestly, makes me happy. I've never been one to like the bad boy--not the really bad boy. This is why I had a hard time liking Edward Cullen: he's physically hot, but he treats Bella rather poorly in the beginning of the first novel, and that made me not like him. (I realize later it's proven that he's actually good, and his meanness was done to protect Bella. I'm just telling you my initial impression of the character; his actions cancelled out his appearance to me.) There are several characters in YA recently who are the "bad boys"--hot, but often mean or even cruel. I've never liked these characters--I don't mind a bad boy with a heart of gold (hello, Captain Mal), but I don't like the unremittingly-kick-the-cat-and-spit-on-your-grandma bad boys.

Give me a good boy. That's what makes a boy really hot.

Bookanista Interview with Michelle Hodkin, author of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER

To wrap up my week of MARA DYER, I've got an interview with the lovely author herself. I was lucky enough to meet Michelle in NYC (she took me to this fab restaurant and coerced me into eating squid-ink pasta, and then she followed it up by taking me to a place called Pomme Frites which serves the BEST french fries EVAR). Then, Michelle was a guest stop at two of the Ash to Nash events, which was fantastic!


Still, I hadn't really had a chance to pick her brain specifically about Mara, so today, we're going to do just that!




YOU

We can read all about your life from your bio in the jacket flap of your book. So, what's a completely random fact about you that most people don't know?

I am a champion food-orderer at restaurants. A skill appreciated by no one but my dining companions, but a skill nonetheless. 

As a kid, what was your favorite book? Have your tastes changed since growing up? 
As a little little kid? The Joss Bird by Sarah Garland (about this bird that infiltrates a museum to retrieve her stolen egg). As an elementary-school kid, anything in the Fear Street saga by RL Stine. As a middle-schooler? Anything by Stephen King or Michael Crichton. As a high schooler? LOLITA and GEEK LOVE. As an adult, those books are still my top two favorites, I still think Fear Street is frightening (and awesome) and I still veer towards the dark and disturbing; the more dark and disturbing, the better. 

Did you draw anything in your book, THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, from your real life? 
The Ebola incident (see e.g. 41-42)
A sketchy dog incident not unlike page 70 for reasons referenced on p.197
The jhbjhjhbb  gggggggggggggggggggggggggg and hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.                            
Err, actually, my lawyer told me not to answer that. 



YOUR BOOK

It's the inevitable question: what inspired THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER? 
Short answer: I was inspired by true events.
Long answer: will be posted on www.maradyer.com when it goes live :)

You are unflinching with your words—unafraid to graphically describe hard situations or censor your characters. Can you talk a little about how you came up with this style of writing, and why you chose to tell your story in this way?

First: thank you. That means a lot, coming from a writer whose raw, emotional prose has made me a) cry b) laugh and c) scream in the span of a few hundred pages. 

I don’t censor my characters because I know they would sound false if I did. How do I know? 

I tried it. 

I was told by some people that choosing to use certain words (usually consisting of four letters, sometimes beginning with the letters f and s) would limit my audience. Which I didn’t really want. So I tried substituting the words out, changing the sentences, and dancing around the words to try and achieve the same emotional content of the scene without using the same language. 

It didn’t work. 

The truth? I personally believe that words are just words, and they only have the power that we give them. The f-word is no more inherently evil than the word “melon.” But when it’s used in the book, it’s used to convey emotion in a way that would be real to the teens in the story—Mara (the protagonist), who has been through events so traumatic that she hallucinates and has unconsciously self-harmed; Noah (the male main character), who really couldn’t give a *&^% what other people think of him; and Jamie (Mara's only friend in Miami), who is loud, obnoxious, and brutally honest no matter what. Eagle Scouts my characters are not. That’s how they roll, and those are the words they would use at the points that I used them. Daniel (Mara’s older brother) wouldn’t use those words, and so…he doesn’t. And he even comments (negatively) on Mara’s use of them. 

As far as describing hard situations, I felt (and feel) that my main responsibility was to always firmly stay in Mara’s perspective while I wrote the book. She has suffered through some tough stuff. Glossing over it would do the book, and it’s readers, a great disservice. 

That said, it is recommended for readers 14+, and I do strongly believe that teenagers (and their parents) should decide what kind of content they’re ready for. Is it a dark book? Yes. Is it a sexy book? I like to think so. And will the sequel get darker and sexier? Definitely. So if dark and edgy isn’t your thing? This may not be the book for you. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the process--particularly the timeline--of writing THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER?
It took me ten months from writing my first words of fiction ever (on May 15, 2009) to the day I submitted it to a handful of agents in March 2010. I signed with an agent a month later, worked on a few revisions over the course of a few of weeks, and then Simon & Schuster bought MARA DYER in a two book deal at auction on May 25th, 2010. It happened crazily (and unusually) fast. 

If your reader could only take away one emotion, theme, or idea from THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, what would you want it to be?
I just hope that people have fun reading it!

Beyond that, I wouldn’t complain if it made even one person rethink the (silly) idea that pit bulls should be banned from towns, cities, states, and even countries. And that statement will make no sense to anyone who hasn’t read the book. 

YOUR WRITING

What's the most surprising thing you've learned since becoming a writer?
The fact that I can write books. Seriously, I’m still getting used to the idea that I wrote a book. It’s still reaaaaallllly really surreal. Really surreal. 

Beyond the typical--never give up, believe in yourself--what would be the single best advice you'd like to give another writer?
Write the story that only you can write. And finish the book. 

What do you think are your strongest and weakest points in writing?
I’m proud of my characterization. I had no idea how tough it would be to write an unreliable narrator until I was in far too deep to quit, but I think that my legal experience helped me stay firmly in her perspective (which isn’t easy when you’re writing in the first person) even when I was painfully aware that what she was noticing, experiencing, thinking, feeling, or opining wasn’t accurate in the story’s context. Keeping track of who knows X, who believes Y, and who’s lying about Z was a juggling act, but I think I did the characters justice. I hope readers agree—especially when they read the sequel. 

Structure, on the other hand, was an enormous challenge. It’s kind of mathematical to me, which means I had to call in reinforcements (like my brother) to offer their assistance. I’m lucky to have readers whose strengths compliment my weaknesses. 

Don't forget! You can enter to win a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER until October 3rd! And if you'd like to read what the other Bookanistas are reading, check it out here:

• Elana Johnson interviews Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise
• Christine Fonseca  is wowed by The White Assassin
• Shannon Whitney Messenger loves Lola & the Boy Next Door – with giveaway
• Beth Revis delights in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – with giveaway
• Shelli Johannes-Wells falls for Fracture
• Carolina Valdez Miller adores Ashfall – with giveaway
• Jessi Kirby marvels at The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
• Shana Silver steps up to Audition
• Corrine Jackson is crazy about Cracked
• Stasia Ward Kehoe swoons for Swan and To Dance

Review of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER + Giveaway!

So yesterday I posted an announcement about how I'm giving away a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER--if you haven't entered yet, you might want to get on that ;)

Tomorrow I'll be interviewing the lovely Michelle, so make sure you tune in tomorrow as well. Meanwhile today I'm going to be reviewing this remarkable book...but keep in mind that if I'd written this review as soon as I finished the novel, my reaction would have just been a bunch of exclamation marks interspersed with appropriate emoticons. Like this: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *__*  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGWTFBBQ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for a more appropriate review:

First: That cover! Man! I promise I don't just pick books to blurb that have pretty covers, but...I'm totally two for two right now.

Second: It is creeptastic. I'm so glad this novel's coming out in time for Halloween. It's the perfect story to read on a spooky, stormy, dark fall night. In fact, I wish you dark and stormy nights in which to read this book, just to set the mood.

Third: A truly surprising end. I'm not even worried about hyping this up, because you are NOT going to see the end coming. Not at all. I'm not saying it comes out of left-field--this isn't something random and crazy--I'm just saying Agatha Christie couldn't guess this twist.

Fourth: Realistic dialog and teens interactions. That sounds boring. It's not. I'm just saying, this book sounds real. A lot of adults write for teens, and sometimes the teens come across as wooden or old or preachy or whatever. In this book, the teens sound like teens.

Fifth: Did I mention creeptastic? Because that. Again.


Sixth: No one's perfect. Don't you hate the perfect guy? In real life or fiction, the perfect guy is annoying. I want characters flawed. And in Mara's world, no one is perfect...not even Mara.

Seventh: Strong pacing. I wanted to put this book down. I read until 4 am. I was tired. But I could not put it down, and that's mostly due to the strong pacing. Every time the action slowed down, the emotion ramped up. Every time I though Mara was okay emotionally, something dramatic happened.

Enticed enough yet? Don't forget to enter yesterday's contest for a chance to get a signed copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER! Or pick up your copy, available in bookstores today! :)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Launch! Celebrate and Win!

Do you know what day it is? No?

Today is the launch of the fabulous Michelle Hodkin's debut: THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER!!!!!!

I got this book late one day--I was super busy, but thought Hey, I'll check out the first chapter. I then read until 4 in the morning, and as soon as I was done, I texted Michelle and demanded MORE RIGHT NOW.

She laughed at me.

And I have yet to break into her house and/or mind and steal the sequel. BUT I WILL.

Meanwhile, I did give THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER my second ever blurb.

"WOW. Michelle Hodkin's debut will keep

you guessing until the last page--

and long after."

Trufax. I am still making guesses about what's going to happen next...and what actually did happen in the story I read. That last page? Will blow your mind. 

Want a hint about what the story's about? Check out the creeptastic trailer:

I'll be doing a complete review tomorrow, but in the meantime, check the book out online at these places:

•  Michelle's website
• Official  MARA DYER website
• MARA DYER on GoodReads
• MARA DYER fansite
• Buy signed copies of MARA DYER here

Also: Michelle is awesome. I know this. You know this. Know how you know this? Because she's donated a SIGNED copy of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER (an ARC) for YOU! Yes, YOU! To enter, the only thing I ask of you is that you check out the book--you could click on one of the links above, or watch the trailer, or drop by a bookstore and pick it up. 

Just fill out the form below, and you're entered for a drawing for a signed copy of Michelle Hodkin's THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER.

And since Michelle's the one who donated the copy for you to win, drop her a comment here to say how much you like the book, the trailer, or how much you want to read this. Show her some love for donating the prize! :) <3

Additional contest information:

• Open internationally
• Entrants must be 13 years old or older
• Only one entry per person
• Contest closes on October 3rd, 2011

Some Updates!

This weekend, I will be a part of the Smart Chicks Kick It tour!! I'm dropping in on the Portland and Vancouver stops, so if you're in the area, please come by and see me! I will sign your book, give you some swag, and/or sign THAT shiny poster over there

<<<------- THAT ONE

(Which you can download and print out for just such a thing here.)

I am. SO. Freaking. Excited about this.

Also? If you live in Portland, Vancouver, or anywhere in between, let me know about cool places to see, neat restaurants to chow down at, or whatever else is cool--because I'm actually going to be driving from Portland to Vancouver and would love a mini adventure on the trip.

Some other updates:

• Between this and the conference I just presented at, I am VERY behind on email. Like, over a hundred emails behind. If I owe you email correspondence, please be patient with me. If it's super important, please yell at me and tell me to answer your super important email. 
• I got an email from the guy who is shipping the charms for the creative contest. They are supposed to ship to me this week, and I'm taking cards with me on the road so I can get them made and written over the weekend and therefore get them back to you! Sorry this is taking so long, but please keep in mind that I was not originally prepared to award 50 prizes! I had no idea you guys were so awesome!
• I am also super-slow on Twitter right now. I'm sorry. I should catch up after the trips and such. 
• Giveaway! Yes! Coming tomorrow! 
• And another one! In October! 
• And another one! In November! My biggest giveaway to date!
• And another one! In December! Even bigger than the November one!

Banned Books Week and Doctor Who

So I just did my post on the League for today--and it was about Banned Books weeks. I'm rather proud of it--I got quite a little rant on--and I realized that there was a perfect quote for me to use for that post:

You want weapons? We're in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world! This room's the greatest arsenal we could have - arm yourselves!

So, I decided of course I should just embed the Doctor Who video with that quote! Of course! So I trotted off to YouTube and looked up one of the best episodes ever, "Silence in the Library."



And...then I watched the whole darn episode, despite the fact that I have a house to clean and a book to write and a dog to wash and a million other things.

 Thing is, the weapons quote isn't in that episode. It's in "Tooth and Claw."

 I regret nothing.

As Easy As Falling In Love

A lot of times people ask me when I know that a work is ready, complete and to the point where I need to submit it for publication. Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dry answer to this, but I can tell you what it tends to be like for me:

Dread and Hate: There is a moment--usually brief--before I start writing that I am filled with dread and hate for the project. I have this vague, wispy idea of what it should be, and I know I'll never achieve the ideal, and so it sort of makes me sick to my stomach to think about writing it. 

Falling in Love: Somewhere along the way, usually within the first fifty pages of the manuscript, I start falling in love with it. The words sing, the characters are vivid, and the story's zinging along. 

Blind Love: ...and then I start having this sort of blind love for the project. I think every words perfect. I get very self satisfied. This feeling typically lasts all the way to when I write THE END...and as I stare at the whole manuscript, I have this sort of "this-is-the-best-book-ever-written-and-I-am-a-genius" sort of attitude. 

I've learned, after years of trial and error and a ton of rejections, that this is NOT the time to submit a manuscript for publication. This is the time to submit a manuscript to peers for critique. 

So, then I submit the manuscript for crits. And my feelings when I get back the critiques--which have NEVER said that the manuscript is perfect and I am a genius and deserve a cupcake--my feelings are this:

Anger and Denial: My initial reaction, no matter how much I love and respect my critique readers, is that they are WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And MEAN. And they're out to get me. So I usually read a crit, then give it a day before I feel...

Determination: I think this comes from my Southrn upbringing--I get this bull-headed attitude where I want to prove the critiquers wrong, and I'll write the best frexing book there ever was no matter how hard it is, so I pull up my boot straps and get to work. 

Until...

Falling in Love...Again: When I get to the point where I've started to fall back in love with the manuscript--that's when I know it's ready. I no longer have blind love for it, I can see the flaws, and I can see the bandages I used to patch it up after I broke it down, but for the most part, I love it again. 

And that's when I send it out.

My Little Ponies...in SPACE!

Here are some things you might not know about me:

• When I was a kid, I was obsessed with My Little Ponies. I had dozens of ponies, I had the knock-off ponies (sea-ponies, anyone?), I had a barn made of popsicle sticks, I had audio books on cassette tape...I was obsessed.
• I am totally hooked on the re-boot of the show and have seen every episode at least five times each.

So, when I saw that Rebecca was holding a contest for a custom-made My Little Pony based on a character of a novel, I just had to jump on that band wagon!

The only problem? I couldn't decide which of my characters would make the best pony! So I made THREE using this really fun pony-maker.

Amy Pony!

Type of pony: Earth Pony--because as much as she wants to fly away, 

she's stuck on the ground ship

Body type: short

Body Color: blue, for the sky she misses

Eye color: bright bottle green, just like the real Amy

Mane and tail: red and gold, just like the real Amy

Cutie-mark: an hourglass, to symbolize how she's out of time

Note: yup, that's the same hourglass of Doctor Whooves

Other details: freckles, to symbolize her fair complexion, 

and shoes, because she's a runner!

Elder Pony!

Type of pony: Unicorn, because he's the leader

Body type: tall

Body color: dark brown, just like his real skin

Eye color: blue, like the sky he longs for

Mane and tail: black, like the real Elder

Cutie-mark: a series of stars, because once he sees them, he can never be the same

Other details: I gave him a stern expression, to show how he's trying to be a leader

Harley Pony!

Type of pony: Pegasus--he wants to fly through the stars

(I did a screenshot without the wings, though, so you could see his cutie mark)

Body type: average

Body color: blue and yellow spatters--like the sea and the stars at the same time

Eye color: gold, to represent his heart of gold

Mane and tail: What I really wanted was a rainbow colored mane and tail, like Rainbow Dash has. BUT I couldn't do that in the generator, and I was too lazy to edit it in Gimp
Update! Thanks to @literaticat, I was able to give Harley a rainbow mane!

Cutie-mark: A koi fish, of course

Other details: Of course Harley would be laughing!

What do you think? I know it's silly, but I had so much fun doing this! If you have a character you would like pony-ize, then go to this website for a pony generator, and don't forget to enter Rebecca's contest yourself!

Speaking of, I have to pick ONE pony to enter into the contest...but I can't decide which. Which one is your favorite?