PLAYING HURT: THE LOCALS!

It's here! It's here! The first leg of my PLAYING HURT Blog Tour.

I’m thrilled to kick this leg off with GreenBeanTeenQueen, who just happens to also be my local teen librarian. (I just heard that collective sigh of envy out there…)

I adore Sarah; we all know how lucky I am to have her in town.

I’m cross-posting our interview below in full; be sure to comment and link to the post at GreenBeanTeenQueen for a chance to win the very first signed copy of PLAYING HURT. (Check out the entry form here.)

…And be sure to follow along at GreenBeanTeenQueen, if you haven’t already. Sarah’s incredible.

What’s the best thing about Missouri?

I’m a lifelong, sixth generation Missouri resident. So when you ask me what I love about Missouri, I feel as though you’ve asked me what I like most about my favorite room in my childhood home. Missouri’s just mine, in the same way my family is mine. The sweet, the rugged, the frigid, the sweltering, all of it—it’s mine.

What myths of Southwest Missouri would you like to prove wrong?

The thing is, you never do know who you’re talking to. That old guy in a pair of overalls at the convenience store in some no-stoplight town in the middle of nowhere has probably had more life experiences, been more places, done more, seen more, understands far more than any of us could ever expect…probably lived far more life than any of us ever will.

In some respects, I kind of think Missouri gets seen as that old guy in a pair of overalls. But if anybody’d stop to really get to know Missouri, they’d find out there’s a lot going on underneath those Carhartts.

In A BLUE SO DARK, Aura lives in Springfield. In PLAYING HURT, the characters are in Minnesota. Was it hard to change locations for the setting?

Not so much. The older I get, the more I enjoy my time outside. When I think of my most frequented haunts right now, many of them are outdoors: riverbanks and lakesides. When I’ve been cooped up writing too long, I don’t usually want to go to an indoor public area—restaurant, movies, etc. I usually want to get outside. In my passages about Minnesota, I was able to express my love of fresh air and wildflowers, quiet lakes and sunshine.

What’s the best thing about being a writer? And what’s the worst (or hardest)?

The best is seeing my lifelong dream coming to fruition. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was little. But it’s been a long, rough, winding road…

Basically, after getting my master’s from MSU, I devoted myself full-time to my writing. Took seven and a half years to get to the first acceptance at Flux books. Sticking with a dream even when the dream is beating you up is beyond rough—so I’d have to say the waiting and the rejection and the incredible amount of time it took to just get started was the hardest part. But getting my writing career off the ground is an incredible feeling.

Seriously, what is the deal with Cashew Chicken?

Ahhh, Cashew Chicken. Sprinfield’s own faux Chinese Food. I grew up on the stuff—and have a special love for it. I even requested it for my last birthday dinner! There’s just something so homey about it. It’s the ultimate comfort food for me…the food of my youth that I still love.

BOOKLIST REVIEW: PLAYING HURT

The first print review is in for PLAYING HURT! (In short? Bloggers aren’t the only ones loving this book…)

Booklist claims readers will enjoy every detail of Chelsea and Clint’s passionate romance!

An excerpt: “With no slick, happily-ever-after ending, this novel will capture teens with the characts’ guilt, anger, and especially, the intensity of the young people’s connection.”
—Booklist

WHERE TO BUY AUTHOR SWAG

Before I sold my debut, A BLUE SO DARK, I thought swag and promo items were necessities of bands, not authors.

Yeah. I did. Stop laughing.

We all know the benefits of author swag, but figuring out where to obtain bookmarks, buttons, bookplates, posters, etc., can sometimes be a daunting process (especially for the not-quite-so-techie among us).

For those of you who have not yet visited Ninth Moon, you need to get over there pronto. Laron’s promotional items are reasonably priced and so beautifully, tastefully designed. Ninth Moon also offers additional graphic design services to spruce up your website / blog / social networking pages.

Ninth Moon has quickly become one of my all-time favorite sites for authors; I’m sure I’m one of many, many authors who’s bookmarked the site.

PLAYING HURT BLOG TOUR: THE LOCALS

…Now that I’ve got you all psyched up for the PLAYING HURT Tour, courtesy of Teen Book Scene, I’ve got another exciting announcement:

I’m launching a leg of my own PLAYING HURT Tour, which will take place the week before the Teen Scene tour!

Four bloggers from my own Missouri home base will be participating:

GreenBeanTeenQueen: Feb. 21
The Juniper Breeze: Feb. 22
One Sparkling Star: Feb 23
Another Book Junkie: Feb. 24

...as will fellow YA author, Sarah Ockler: Feb. 25 (Sarah's latest, FIXING DELILAH, is now available).

Get ready and revved for the tour, because a prize will be given at the end of the week.

A prize, you say? Yup, so get out there and post comments, tweet about the tour, post links to the posts from your own blog or Facebook page, because she (or he) who racks up the most comments, tweets, and links, will win the very first signed giveaway copy of PLAYING HURT!

(Though I ask you wait until the end of the tour to enter for the giveaway, you can go ahead and view it here.)

Good luck and thanks in advance to my Locals!

WRITING: THE WAITING GAME

Whether you’ve published ten books or are waiting to snag that first publishing deal, if you’ve ever submitted anything, you know writing is a waiting game.

You wait…and often wait…and wait…for response from an agent or editor after you send off that query. You wait for the thumbs-up to announce book deals or glowing reviews. You wait. You wait.

Right now, I’m waiting for the official release of my second novel, PLAYING HURT. The video below allows you a glimpse into my life as I await that release date…

All you writers out there: What are you waiting on? And how are you passing the time?

TEEN BOOK SCENE: THE PLAYING HURT TOUR

For those of you who might not be aware, Kari, the uber cool blogger at A Good Addiction, also runs a book tour site at The Teen Book Scene...

And I was so incredibly thrilled and flattered when she contacted me last fall about a tour for PLAYING HURT!

The tour will feature author interviews, guest posts, as well as character interviews, and giveaways of swag and signed copies of both PLAYING HURT and A BLUE SO DARK!

...You'll also get four—count 'em—four sneak peeks into PLAYING HURT.

The tour begins at the end of February, and will run throughout March. You can find the complete list of stops here.


Said it 1,895,097,954 times, I'll say it again: I don't know where I'd be without my incredible bloggers. Seriously.

ROMANCE WEEK: MY FIRST VLOG INTERVIEW

Haaaaaappy Valentine’s Day (a couple of days early)! With a romance about to release, needless to say, I’m knee-deep in candy hearts this year.

(Which is why I had to include one my brother’s pics as a Valentine to all my fantastic followers…)

…I’m also thrilled to be participating in Romance Week, an event hosted by Snowdrop Dreams of Books and Knit, Purl, Stitch…Read and Cook!

I’ve been itching to post this, my first vlog interview…And I’m excited to reveal a sneak-peek-ish little tidbit about PLAYING HURT.

As I explain in the video below, PLAYING HURT initially featured only one narrator. The story was, throughout the first few drafts, only told from Chelsea’s POV.

After selling A BLUE SO DARK, though, I had an epiphany about what was missing from PLAYING HURT…and an enormous part of that something was Clint.

It wasn’t the easiest revision in the world, bringing Clint in (my first male protagonist)! In fact, it was like writing a completely new book. I had to work on Clint’s own voice, his backstory…

But that just goes to show you what revision can bring, when you don’t shy away from the challenge…I can’t imagine PLAYING HURT without Clint’s voice in it…

NOVEL ANECDOTES ON THE KINDLE

Yes, you can now read my blog, Novel Anecdotes, on the Kindle!

This is an absolutely exciting new venture…in many ways. Because I’m offering Novel Anecdotes on the Kindle, I’m also going to be upping the ante as far as blog content is concerned. I’ll be posting two to five days a week, on developments in my own career, and on the books being released by my own fantastic fellow authors. I’ll also be offering tons of writing tips to keep you productive and growing as an artist, as well as practical tips on the business—whether you’re trying to break in and snag your first deal, or are looking to grow your readership. The ongoing conversation will explode here at Novel Anecdotes, as I’ll be featuring interviews with authors and publishing enthusiasts and highlighting new bloggers who continue to add to this incredible, incredible community.

…I’m committed to my vlog posts (to add to the content here on the web), but each vlog post will also include substantial supplemental text, to keep Kindle subscribers entertained and in-the-know.

So get in on the fun! Subscribe to Novel Anecdotes on the Kindle…

BREAKING IN: IS AN AGENT A MUST?

Truth time: I did permanent damage to my right foot trying to squeeze my toe into the tiny crack in the door of the publishing world. Took seven and a half years of full-time effort to get to that first publishing contract, after all.

…But how did I snag that deal? How did I manage to see my book on store shelves? Was it through the tireless efforts of an agent? Do you have to have an agent to get that toe in the door?

Okay—here’s the deal. When I got my master’s, in the spring of ’01, I decided to throw myself into my writing full-bore. I had no other job than to write and submit (thanks to financial support from my family). And write and submit I did…

Back then, the advice I was reading was that you really didn’t need to try for an agent until you’d published a novel…so my initial submissions were to editors only.

Over time, my rejections stopped being form letters and became long-winded explanations as to why my submitted novel was not quite ready to be published. Editors were inviting me to resubmit after revisions took place.

…As the years went by, the going advice to writers trying to break in was that you shouldn’t seek an agent unless you’d written a novel—far different advice than I’d read after first graduating.

Still, though, I was getting so close to publication with those editors—I could practically taste it!—that I continued submitting straight to them. And resubmitting. And submitting again.

…Around the beginning of 2008, I decided to take the leap and start submitting to agents as well. (I wondered if a push from an agent wouldn’t be the special-something that finally did seal a deal.)

But I didn’t quit submitting to editors, either. I sold A BLUE SO DARK myself, to Flux, in early 2009 (I also sold PLAYING HURT to Flux shortly thereafter).

And under the heading of, “When Your Luck Changes, Man, Does It Change,” I also signed with an agent in 2009. She sold my first middle grade to Dial (to be released in ’12).

Do I adore my agent? YES. 100%. But my debut novel proves that it’s still absolutely possible to sell a novel on your own. The thing is, the path to publication is as unique as the novel you write. No one can really tell you how to find the right path to publication, because your novel will have its own journey. That’s the gritch and the beauty of it.

…So the worst thing I think a burgeoning writer can do is explore only one avenue, one path to publication. Try anything and everything. The only thing that’s certain when you’re attempting to snag your first deal is that you never know where that first deal will come from.


…Today’s post comes from a question courtesy of Kate Higgins.

CALLING ALL QUESTIONS FOR BREAKING IN

As a supplement to my Writing Tips Blog Series, I'm going to be putting up additional posts for an ongoing series I'm going to refer to simply as Breaking In, which will focus more on the business aspects of publishing (as opposed to craft)...

I have a feeling the two series might intersect occasionally...But I think that might also make things really interesting...

Okay. Here's how it works: You shoot me questions. (In the comment box to this post, or, if you'd prefer to send questions privately, email them to writehollyschindler (at) yahoo (dot) com. You can remain anonymous, if you'd like, or allow me to link back to your own blog...) To answer, I'll write a post. As an author with one book on the shelf, one about to release, and yet another in development, I can provide personal experience tidbits...But I also won't hesitate to ask my fellow authors for input as well...

Basically, as I was starting out (and as the rejection slips started to pile up), I was just certain there was a trick to getting in...And I desperately wished that I'd had someone to tell me the straight skinny. The beautiful thing about this blogging community is that burgeoning writers in no way have to feel isolated in their attempts to break in...

So shoot me a question! I can't wait to start in on the first post...

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)!