FIRST POST AT YA OUTSIDE THE LINES

Yes, oh, yes, my first post has just gone live at YA Outside the Lines. You'd better head right on over (and watch a clip from my favorite movie of all time)...

WRITING TIP #1: FOR DRAFTING

I've gotten so many requests for writing tips over at YouTube that I've launched a new blog series! This marks the first of many vlog writing tips I'll be posting...

Today's trick has helped get me through the drafting process like no other...

FOLLOW FRIDAY #3

I couldn't let the latest Follow Friday go by...This week's question? "What book are you currently pushing?"

Let's see...

Need I say more?

(New followers, be sure to comment, and I'll head on over to your own blog...)

INTERVIEW AT ASSORTMENTS…

Manisha at Assortments… just posted a fantastic new interview…Head right on over to find out who I think is on the cover of A BLUE SO DARK (Grace or Aura), the craziest thing I’ve ever done, and why I jumped from schizophrenia in my debut to a love story in my second novel…

Also, Manisha’s a relatively new blogger. She dreams of writing a book someday and meeting several authors in person. Show Manisha some blogger love by commenting and following along (as I have)!

ON MUSIC POSTS (AND FAKE RUBBER ARMS...)

Seems as though I’ve been blogging more than usual about music lately—Zac Brown, David Nail…

Thing is, when I started blogging, it was because I’d just sold A BLUE SO DARK and my editor thought it’d be a good idea. So I put up the blog with the idea that it’d be about writing and reading...books and literature. Period. But music’s such an integral part of my life (the students I met while giving private piano and guitar lessons were the reason I started writing kid lit in the first place!), that not blogging about it has gotten to be a little like walking around your whole life pretending your left arm doesn’t exist.

Just imagine it: every time you go to hug an old friend, or carry a stack of books back to the library, you only use your right arm, leaving your left to just dangle limply at your side, like some fake rubber thing made for Halloween pranks. Weird, right? Yeah, weird. So from now on, music posts. On occasion.

Like this, for example: I just discovered this tune / band, and had, had, had to share: "Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars. Incredible song…Raw as a canker sore...And isn’t John Paul White a dead ringer for Johnny Depp?

(Click to purchase.)

I'VE JOINED YA OUTSIDE THE LINES

I'm thrilled to announce I've joined these incredible authors at YA Outside the Lines! Stay tuned for my first post at the site...

OFFICIAL JACKET COPY: PLAYING HURT

Now that PLAYING HURT has officially gone to the printer's, I wanted to share another official: jacket copy!

Here she is:

Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

IN MY MAILBOX #1

Here she is: my first IMM post! Today was the perfect day to film it...snow just makes me want to read. Actually, summer days make me want to read...and early spring...fall...

(The vlog is clearer on YouTube, if you'd like to view it there...)



Featured in this post:



JUMPSTART THE WORLD, Catherine Ryan Hyde

THE NIGHTMARYS, Dan Poblocki

THE REPLACEMENT, Brenna Yovanoff

GRIFF CARVER, HALLWAY PATROL, Jim Krieg

WISHFUL DRINKING, Carrie Fisher

TRUE GRIT, Charles Portis

FIRST REVIEW FOR PLAYING HURT

Loving this one: Andye at Reading Teen is the first to post a review of PLAYING HURT! And it's a great one...five stars at Goodreads!

(Warning: Anyone who doesn't want to know the full lowdown on the storyline might want to hold off on reading the full review...)

After a year and a half in development, getting that first review feels so, so good...

FOLLOW FRIDAY #2

I'm back for Follow Friday...love this meme! To answer this week's question, "What makes up your non-human family," I only have to point to my sidebar. Most spoiled Pekingese on earth. And, right now, the poor guy has the worst case of cabin fever on record. This snow needs to skedaddle...

New followers, be sure to post a comment so I can head on over to your site!

SONGWRITING: THE MOST POWERFUL WRITING AROUND

Seriously—you can read a book and empathize with the protagonist. You can root for the main character, hope they get out of their jam. And if the writer’s a good one, they’ll propel you forward so that you find yourself speed-reading the pages that lead toward the final conclusion. A song, though? You don’t just feel for the main character—you become the main character. A really good pop / country / rock song makes you experience the drama yourself.

...That’s exactly what happens to me every time I hear Zac Brown’s “Colder Weather.” I swear, my teeth chatter and I ache all over. Beautiful stuff. Powerful stuff…Even in this stripped-down version.

(My favorite version, though, is still the performance featuring Amos Lee at CMT Artists of the Year).

Click to purchase.

A BLUE SO DARK: A READING

...In all the excitement over PLAYING HURT's impending book birthday, I didn't want to overlook my other baby...

Here's a cool new reading of several sections of my firstborn, A BLUE SO DARK:

AT THE PRINTER!

...Yup, word has it that PLAYING HURT hit the printer this morning. How many more days till March 8???

CHASING SPARKS...

Ah, 2010—what an incredible year…And as 2011 gets well underway, all I can say is, "Inspiration is in the air!"

…You know, one of the most difficult jobs a writer has is just finding a great idea. And you guys all proved, during my Flash Fiction Challenge, that you're just brimming with great ideas. So get out there and put those ideas to use…(Never letting a single spark of inspiration go by? Yup—it’s my 2011 resolution…)

Here’s to a daily word count that sends smoke coming out of the keyboard…