COME SEE ME: CROSSROAD REVIEWS #AUTHORCHAT

Come see me June 30, 3 pm EST via Google+ for an Author Chat with Crossroads Reviews. This will be my second appearance, and I can tell you from experience that Jessica's an incredible host. It's bound to be a fantastic talk, as we discuss all my work, including the indie release FIFTH AVENUE FIDOS and the forthcoming PLAY IT AGAIN, the sequel to my YA romance PLAYING HURT. You'll also have a chance to win a copy of FERAL (YA psychological thriller) and PLAYING HURT (to find out for yourself how Clint and Chelsea's love story began).

For more information on the show, visit Crossroad Reviews.

Can't be there but want to ask a question? Shoot me a question at hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll be sure it gets on the air.

WRITING TIP: BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF

Every single time I get hit with a deadline (as I did last spring, for the rewrites of my next YA, SPARK), I'm invariably in the middle of another WIP. And I never want to leave that WIP. Every single time, without fail, I spend the day or so before my editorial notes arrive hitting social media, asking fellow writers for tips on how to balance to projects at once.

Last April, I finally came clean and admitted it to myself: I cannot work on two projects at once. I just can't. I'm a one-project-at-a-time woman. I'm good at remembering where I was with the WIP that has to be put aside, and picking it all back up once the deadline's been met. But if I try to divide a day between two different narrators, two different books? The quality of both projects suffer.

If there's one thing I've learned these past few months, it's that you're better off, as a writer, owning up to your own individual process. If you're a fast writer, fantastic. Write 6,000 words a day. If you're a daily writer, that's cool, too. If you can juggle multiple projects in a day, you have my undying admiration.

But if you write at a slower pace, who's to say that's not every bit as productive? Aren't 500 solid words better than 4,000 words that have to be completely reworked? (I'm not saying anyone who writes a ton of words a day always writes a bunch of crap that has to be fixed. But if you force yourself to write at a pace that's faster than is comfortable for you, I guarantee you will write a bunch of junk that you wind up trashing later on.) If you write three days a week, and manage to churn out a solid 10,000 words, isn't that better than spending most of your week staring at a blank screen because you're burned out?

In short, don't be distracted by the ways in which other writers work. Don't assume that someone else's process is better than yours. It's not. The process that works for you is the best one. Even if that's writing two days a week, to show tunes, while wearing a stocking cap. Whatever works. Do it. Own it. It's yours.

...And if you ever see me on social media, asking for advice on how to juggle two projects, tell me to shut up, put my WIP to the side for a few weeks, and get to work on meeting my deadline. Because that's what I know works best for me...

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: THE FIX (NATASHA SINEL)

Natasha sent me a copy of THE FIX in manuscript form, and I was delighted to blurb it:

"First shot out of the gate, Sinel bravely addresses tough topics, demonstrating that the weight of secrets can pull us under—and their release can save us from drowning."

Holly Schindler, critically acclaimed author of A Blue So Dark and Feral

 

 About THE FIX:

One conversation is all it takes to break a world wide open.

Seventeen-year-old Macy Lyons has been through something no one should ever have to experience. And she’s dealt with it entirely alone.

On the outside, she’s got it pretty good. Her family’s well-off, she’s dating the cute boy next door, she has plenty of friends, and although she long ago wrote her mother off as a superficial gym rat, she’s thankful to have allies in her loving, laid-back dad and her younger brother.

But a conversation with a boy at a party one night shakes Macy out of the carefully maintained complacency that has defined her life so far. The boy is Sebastian Ruiz, a recovering addict who recognizes that Macy is hardened by dark secrets. And as Macy falls for Sebastian, she realizes that, while revealing her secret could ruin her seemingly perfect family, keeping silent might just destroy her.

The Fix follows two good-hearted teenagers coming to terms with the cards they were dealt. It’s also about the fixes we rely on to cope with our most shameful secrets and the hope and fear that comes with meeting someone who challenges us to come clean. 

 

~ 

 

Grab a copy.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: BREAK YOUR HEART (RHONDA HELMS)

In BREAK YOUR HEART, Rhonda Helms offers a fresh look at an old dilemma: teacher / student attraction. Instantly accessible, insightful, and intriguing.

About BREAK YOUR HEART:

Fearless and flirtatious, Megan Porter isn't your typical math major. On the fast track to graduating with honors, a spot in her school's masters program is nearly guaranteed. But her senior year is quickly turned upside-down by her new thesis advisor, cryptography professor Dr. Nick Muramoto. Young, effortlessly good-looking, and intellectual, he's far more intriguing than the immature jocks Megan usually goes for. And as she decodes the hidden messages he leaves in the margins of her assignments and in their emails, she realizes this might be more than a schoolgirl crush--especially after they share a passionate kiss...

Soon Nick and Megan grow closer, and their different worlds begin to merge. But if their relationship is discovered, Nick's career could be over. With Megan's parents close to campus on business, hiding their love becomes an even greater challenge. Yet keeping secrets will lead Megan to discover hers is just one piece in a much larger puzzle--next to her mother's stash of painkillers--that may put her carefully laid plans for the future in jeopardy.

Grab a copy.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: THE IMPROBABLE THEORY OF ANA & ZAK (BRIAN KATCHER)

One unusual setting + 2 alternating POVs + Katcher’s distinctive humorous tone = 1 amazing book.

I always gravitate toward a Katcher read because I know I’m going to smile all the way through it. Katcher consistently manages to address serious topics and reveal his characters through humor. (I don’t think anything illustrates a character’s world view quite as vividly as their own personal sense of humor.) In ANA & ZAK, Katcher also keeps from relying on stereotypical differences between his male and female alternating narrators; the differences in narration are both subtle and smartly handled. Fun read with some great, realistic characters that teens will instantly recognize and identify with.

~

About THE IMPROBABLE THEORY OF ANA & ZAK:

 The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak is Stonewall Book Award-winning author Brian Katcher’s hilarious he said/she said romance about two teens recovering from heartbreak and discovering themselves on an out-of-this-world accidental first date.

It all begins when Ana Watson's little brother, Clayton, secretly ditches the quiz bowl semifinals to go to the Washingcon sci-fi convention on what should have been a normal, résumé-building school trip.

If slacker Zak Duquette hadn't talked up the geek fan fest so much, maybe Clayton wouldn't have broken nearly every school rule or jeopardized Ana’s last shot at freedom from her uptight parents.

Now, teaming up with Duquette is the only way for Ana to chase down Clayton in the sea of orcs, zombies, bikini-clad princesses, Trekkies, and Smurfs. After all, one does not simply walk into Washingcon.

But in spite of Zak's devil-may-care attitude, he has his own reasons for being as lost as Ana-and Ana may have more in common with him than she thinks. Ana and Zak certainly don’t expect the long crazy night, which begins as a nerdfighter manhunt, to transform into so much more…

Grab a copy.

FIFTH AVENUE FIDOS COUNTDOWN DEAL

Mark your calendars:

FIFTH AVENUE FIDOS will be .99 on Amazon this Thursday, June 11; you can snag a copy for 1.99 on Friday.

Enjoy!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: ROBERT SHARENOW'S THE GIRL IN THE TORCH

THE GIRL IN THE TORCH - Robert Sharenow 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret meets True Grit in this heartfelt novel of resilience, hope, and discovering a family where you least expect it, from award-winning author Robert Sharenow.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, thousands of immigrants are arriving in the promised land of New York City. Twelve-year-old Sarah has always dreamed of America, a land of freedom and possibility. In her small village she stares at a postcard of the Statue of Liberty and imagines the Lady beckoning to her. When Sarah and her mother finally journey across the Atlantic, though, tragedy strikes—and Sarah finds herself being sent back before she even sets foot in the country.

Yet just as Sarah is ushered onto the boat that will send her away from the land of her dreams, she makes a life-or-death decision. She daringly jumps off the back of the boat and swims as hard as she can toward the Lady's island and a new life.

Her leap of faith leads her to an unbelievable hiding place: the Statue of Liberty itself. Now Sarah must find a way to Manhattan while avoiding the night watchman and scavenging enough food to survive. When a surprising ally helps bring her to the city, Sarah finds herself facing new dangers and a life on her own. Will she ever find a true home in America?

~

As someone who recently got hooked on digging into my own genealogy, I quickly devoured THE GIRL IN THE TORCH. I dare any young reader to experience Sarah’s tale, packed with drama and adventure, and running the gamut of emotions, and tell me they can’t get into history. 

Click to grab your own copy.