SMASH AND GRAB

My sweet friend and critique partner, Amy Christine Parker has a new book out this week!

So....

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY-WEEK, AMY!!

*confetti*

*cupcakes*

*champagne*

 *girly screams*

How much do you LOVE this cover? I mean, I work at a bank and I think we should display this on the walls in the lobby. It's almost as beautiful as what's inside, so you should definitely go buy it, and read, and love it as much as I do. (CLICK ME TO GO TO AMAZON, but buy local and Indie if you can!) I have been reading and fan-girling over Amy's stuff for years, and she never fails to disappoint with suspense, twists, and loveable characters in her stories. 

She is an amazing writer, and I am a lucky girl to be able to call her my critique partner and friend!

Amy is doing a release-week-giveaway on her blog, so go check it out by CLICKING HERE, and enter to win some great books and other swag! 

And in honor of SMASH AND GRAB's release, I am going to choose my ultimate heist crew!

1.) Amy Christine Parker, obviously - since she spent a couple of years researching bank robberies while writing this book, and because I know she's pretty diabolical *cough* I mean, creative, she'd probably be a pro at planning the whole thing.

2.) Morgan Biggs - Morgan and I have been best friends for a long time, and I know that she would help me do anything. Also, Morgan is a very meticulous planner. She would go over our plans step by step and make sure we weren't missing important details!

3.) Travis Ebert - Travis is my boyfriend of two years, and he is one of the smartest people I have ever met. He's also super muscly, so not only could he figure out the more difficult parts of the heist, he could be my bodyguard if I needed one. Plus he's got a sock-it-to-em smile that could be a distraction if needed. :) 

4.) Miranda Green - Miranda is my other best friend, and she is the type who would help me bury a body and not ask any questions. Not saying my heist would go in this direction... But whatever mischief I get into, she'd be riding shot gun with a smile and a bottle of wine. My kind of girl! We'd "Thelma and Louise" it all the way to the desert.

5.) Carolyn Haines - Carolyn is an author who started as one of my creative writing professors in college, and eventually became a good friend. She is one of the bravest people I've ever met. I keep telling her that she NEEDS to write a memoir, because her life sounds like the greatest adventure I could ever imagine going on. She is devious, and delightful, and wicked smart--she'd be on every girl's dream heist team!

6.) Rachel Redding - Last, but certainly not least, is my big sister. It goes without saying that she would do whatever she had to do to protect me (much like our mom), but she is fearless and amazing, and she never gives up on anything. She never complains, and she succeeds in whatever she puts her heart into. She would be the perfect leader for our team!  

I hope all of you have friends who are as adventurous, creative, and intelligent as mine!

And, um, please don't actually go rob any banks. Just buy Amy's book and live it vicariously through her characters!

Smash your mouse clicker on that link above, and Grab it today!

What Do You Do When Your Book Idea Isn't Unique?

WHY, OF COURSE YOUR IDEA IS UNIQUE!!!

I recently came across this problem while reading a new book. My work in progress is something that I've  been planning for about three years. It's a concept that has always intrigued me, and I'd never read any other YA book with this storyline. As I plotted the story out, I wanted to pat myself on the back and congratulate my genius brain for being so awesome because NO ONE HAD EVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE.

Then I sat down to read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. My first thoughts:

• Oh my gosh, y'all this book is so good. 
• Her prose! ACK! ENVY! Beautiful! I want to pet the pages!
• This character is so beautifully broken that I want to jump inside the novel and give her a hug! (Even though, you know, Juliette would kill me... But she wouldn't feel good about it.)

Then I got to a part that completely shattered me. (You see what I did there?) One of her main plot points is EXACTLY like mine. I was crushed. Here is this amazing writer, already agented by one of the top agents in the industry, published by one of the most prestigious YA houses in America, and to top it all off, her prose could suffocate mine like a sugar coated boa constrictor. 

I stopped writing for weeks. I mean, what was I going to do? I was already halfway through my WIP and what was the point of continuing it? Surely no agent is going to want to take on a copycat project. I felt so defeated that I considered scrapping the 20,000 words I had and starting completely over-- even though I LOVED those 20,000 words like WHOA. 

This project was SO different from my previous manuscript that is now shelved, and I just KNEW that it was going to be the one to get me an agent. It had a unique plot and it was science fiction (which is wanted in the YA market right now), so I was going to have to no trouble finding an agent this time. 

But someone got to the finish line before me.

So what DO you do when you see your genius book idea written by someone else? YOU WRITE IT ANYWAY. 

After five weeks of abandoning my manuscript and feeding my depression over it, I said, "You know what? I'm going to write this novel anyway!" My main character is nothing like Shatter Me's Juliette. Actually, my main character is what classifies the novel as science fiction. THAT was different than Shatter Me. 

And that was just the first of a string of things that I realized made my novel unique from Tahereh's. It really is true that the execution of a concept is what makes you different from everyone else who has thought of the same thing. No one thinks exactly alike-- it's what makes us all unique. (There I go, sounding like a kindergarten teacher. Everyone join hands, let's sing Kumbaya) 

So even if you have an idea for the NEXT BIG NOVEL and then see it a week later on a Barnes and Noble shelf, write it anyway! I promise that it will turn out 97.6% different than anyone else's similar idea. (My math may be off by a bit. It's not my strong suit). 

(NOTE: If for some reason Tahereh Mafi ever reads this post, please know: I am a huge fan of yours! No disrespect was intended for you or your amazing book. And how cool is it that Tahereh Mafi is reading my blog right now?)

The Raven Boys

I've made it no secret that Maggie Stiefvater is my #1 author crush. I've loved everything she's ever written, whether it be a novel, short story, or blog post, so imagine my delight when she posted the trailer for her upcoming book today:

SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Among her talent for writing, she is an artist and a musician. So not only did she write the book, she wrote and recorded the music for the trailer AND drew and animated it. She's totally crush worthy, am I right??? (Insert teenage girl scream).

The book looks amazing (I would expect nothing less of a Maggie Stiefvater novel) and I can't WAIT for September to hurry up and get here so I can read it!!!

Without further ado, here is Maggie's gorgeous trailer for her upcoming novel, THE RAVEN BOYS:

SQUEEEEE!!!!!

Good Enough

Lately I've had the writing blues. Wicked Illusions has not done well in the querying process and I hit a big bump with my work in progress (until today I haven't seriously worked on it in a month and a half). With all the rejections I've gotten for Wicked Illusions I started to wonder if I was ever going to be good enough to get an agent, let alone get published. It's hard when you see friends and other writers getting requests when you're not, then getting an agent, then getting a book deal, and so on.

And then it's even harder when you see a terrible book like Fifty Shades Of Grey make millions upon millions of dollars, and then your own book-- which you KNOW is better (sorry E.L James)-- is never "good enough."

I've not seriously considered giving up yet, but I was getting close. I really wanted to abandon my WIP because it didn't feel "good enough." I was going to start on something else, but I'm pretty sure I would have abandoned it too for not being good enough.

WHAT IS GOOD ENOUGH, ANYWAY?

Who knows?

But when I get to feeling this way, I start scouring the internet for blogs, vlogs, and stories from other writers who have been in my shoes. I watched these two videos this morning and they jump-started my motivation. How will I ever know if I'll be good enough if I don't sit my butt down and just WRITE THE DANG BOOK ALREADY?

So my first book wasn't "good enough"? That doesn't mean that the next one won't be. I'll get that first book polished enough to publish one day, but I've got to branch out and push myself to do something better first. Anyway, these two videos inspired me to get going, so maybe they'll help you too if you need a little boost like I did today. (I've written 3500 words and counting today. Yay for getting over the hump!)

Thank you Shannon Messenger and Jackson Pearce!

Defending Twilight

I will unashamedly admit that I am Twilight fangirl. I have read all of the books (including the Midnight Sun excerpt on Stephenie Meyer's website) over and over until the spines began to fall apart, giving me the excuse to buy a second set. Yes. I have two sets. Plus the audiobooks and eBooks. Don't judge me.

I have gone to all the midnight premiers of the movies, and purchased all the DVDs. And every time one of the movies comes on TV, my husband groans because he knows we are going to watch it (for the eleventy billionth time). I even have all the movie soundtracks and scores. I say all this because I am confessing to you right up front that I love me some Edward Cullen, and I will shout it from the roof tops while waving my Team Edward shirt.

So many people bash Twilight these days. That's to be expected, because most things that go as viral as Twilight will always have haters. I've even heard a few people say that they used to like Twilight, but started to hate it when the pandemic began. But the question is, why do so many people hate it? Is it the "impossible" forever love? Is it Edward himself for not being "manly"? Or is it Bella, because she gives herself completely to Edward without regard for her future? Some people just don't like vampires, or they don't like Mrs. Meyers' version of vampires, or a myriad of other reasons. But I am not here to argue with the people who don't like it.

I admire the Twilight series mainly because of Edward Cullen. Every person in the world wants someone to love them whole heartedly. Not to say that my husband doesn't love the way I want him to, because he is my Edward-- but he is still a human man. He loves football. He loves to fish. And his brain is solely connected to a certain other part of his body, like every other man on this planet. Seriously, though. I love my hubby more than anyone in the world.

But I'm in love with Edward Cullen too. And Harry Potter, and Mr. Darcy, and Noah Dawson (the male protag of my novel). I think it's okay to be in love with fictional men, even if you have a real-life man of your own. Or EVEN if he's a hot mannequin, like the one that chick from the Axe commercials falls for.

                                 

Because that's what fictional men ARE FOR. They're there to keep you company when the hubby/boyfriend is away on a trip. They're there to comfort you when you and the hubby/boyfriend have a fight. They're there to make you swoon when you have no hubby/boyfriend, and ya need a little romance in yer brain. Sure, these fictional men are usually already taken by the female protagonist (Darn you, Bella Swan!!), but THAT'S THE JOY OF READING. You get to pretend to be somebody else for a few hours a day.

Okay, this post has taken a weird turn. I digress.

So many people bash Stephenie Meyer for her writing, for her morals, and countless other things, but all I see is a good love story and man who makes me sigh with swooniness. (See? He causes me to make up words.) In Stephenie Meyer, I see a woman who helped pave the way for me as a writer.

Before I started college, I used to devour every book I could get my hands on. But when the homework started piling up, I no longer had time to read or write. I found myself going into a reading hiatus, choosing mindless television shows in my free time instead. When my best friend suggested Twilight to me, at first, I was like, "Vampires? No, thanks." But she kept insisting that I would love it, so I bought it at CVS one day. I then read all four books in three days.

After finishing the series, I thought, "Hmmm... I miss reading. I miss writing. I want to write something like this." And so I immediately started writing the very-different-from-what-it-is-now first draft of my novel. I'd always wanted to write a novel, but I'd never actually pursued the idea until I read Twilight. (My novel doesn't have any vampires though, just in case you were wondering)

Also, while I was on a Twilight fansite one afternoon, an ad on the left side of the screen suggested that I  should read the book, Shiver. It sounded interesting, so I bought the book, and delightfully discovered the WONDERFUL Maggie Stiefvater. Her prose, carefully crafted sentences, and characters are... I have no words. "Perfect," might come close. She is now my favorite author, and the author I aspire to be like someday (in her classy & helpful blog posts and writing alike). And I may never have read Shiver, had I not been on that Twilight fansite.

And so many bands have been brought to my attention through the Twilight movie soundtracks. Inspiration through music is a big part of my writing process, and without Bon Iver, Sia, Sleeping At Last, and many others, some of the scenes in my novel would NOT be the same as they are now, had I not found these artists through their brilliant work on the soundtracks. (Come on, even if you aren't a fan of the movies, you HAVE to admit that the music is awesome on every single one).

So to bring this LONG post to a close, I think you should never, ever pass on reading/listening/watching something just because it's "popular," or because you heard that someone else hated it. There are so many things I would have missed out on in my life had I never picked up Twilight at CVS Pharmacy that day. I might not have even written a novel, and would still be bouncing around trying to pick a major in college and trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do with my life.

So with this in mind, I am off to work on revisions for my novel (so that maybe one day someone will be buying MY book in CVS because their friend made them) :-)