Friday Five

I haven't blogged in what feels like FOREVER. At least not here.:)

But yesterday over at All The Write Notes I talked about pacing, and how to know when you've hit the sweet spot in your novel.:) Thanks go to the a capella group Walk Off The Earth for the inspiration!

Anyway, I realized I hadn't posted in almost a month, because I've been super busy. So here's a quick Friday Five explaining what's happening with me, and with NIL . . .

5. Craft.

Yesterday I blogged about pacing perfection. Go here if you have a minute. Or 4 minutes...:)

4. Beta-reading.

I've been blessed to read for some amazing YA writers, who are all as sweet as they are talented. You're in for a treat from Becky Wallace, Trisha Leaver, and Lindsay Currie. I've read manuscripts from all three lovelies in the past few weeks, and all were exceptional.:) Way to go girls! *fist bump*

3. Chasing boys.

Mine, in particular.:) Lacrosse, soccer, golf, tennis, and swimming all spread among the four. Lately my writing time has felt pinched, which I hope to remedy soon!

2. NIL

My big edits are done! Woot! I'm not sure of the process, but I think copy edits or line edits are next. :) I bit the bullet and took the dreaded author photo yesterday. I don't know why, but photo shoots are always so intimidating. But it's done...new pic soon! And coming soon to the blog will be a NIL playlist...pics that inspired NIL...and more.:)

1. Music.

This weekend I'm going to see AWOLNATION with my sweet husband. Blondfire and Mother Mother are opening, and I CAN'T WAIT. I listened to AWOLNATION when I was revising NIL, especially the opening scenes from Thad's POV. And I discovered Blondfire during the same time. Their song "waves" is one of my absolute faves. I'm a huge fan, and since I found them when I was still fully involved in the NIL world, I think Blondfire will always remind me of NIL. :)

Here's my favorite Blondfire song right now....

Where The Kids Are

Blondfire

So what's your weekend plans? And what have you been up to lately? :)

Monday Madness

Hi everyone! Happy President's Day!

My boys are home from school, it's cold out (well, cold for us here in Jacksonville. It's 32 degrees outside and the frost has made our grass crunchy.:D) and with clear skies, I can feel it's going to be a great day.

A quick post today, about tunes and Valentines and NIL and my morning epiphany.:)

Top five things on my mind this morning:

5. My first post over at All The Write Notes. I blogged about fresh new artist finds, featuring a British singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell. I LOVE HER. Go check out the post. It's worth it, I promise, just to hear her voice.

4. Tomorrow is my first post over the The Valentines! I'm interviewing the awesome Anita Grace Howard, the authored of the epically cool novel, SPLINTERED. There will be goodness and giveaways, because Anita is that amazing.

3. I am freezing.

Which leads me to the revelation that...

2. I am a wimp. I should go running yet I can't bring myself to go out when it's still under 40 degrees, which is ridiculous.:)

1. NIL. I woke up thinking about it's cover. Or what it's cover might look like. I've had a million different ideas, and I can't wait to see what Henry Holt does with it, because they are AWESOME with covers.

I don't know when the cover reveal will be, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. :) In the meantime, I'm, going to start sharing my NIL playlist soon. Some songs are for Thad, and some are for Charley. And the songs, like the two characters, are very different, but hopefully equally awesome.:)

Happy day! What's on your mind today?

A Sweet Treat

Tomorrow is going to be full of AWESOME.

Why, you ask?

I know what you're thinking... It's Valentine's Day, the same day flowers inexplicably shoot up to 10x their usual price, chocolate is guzzled like water and people are suddenly overcome by the desire to write sappy haikus.

All true. (And I have homemade hearts and goofy stuff all over my house to prove it, which I totally love.:D) But the main reason I'm stoked for tomorrow is that The Valentines blog goes live!

Woohoo! It's a sweet site to find cool YA books debuting in 2014.  Fourteen cool YA authors Valentines with books dropping in 2014. You can find out their sweetest/goofiest/most memorable Valentine's Day memory, and enter to win heaps of our very favorite YA books.

Pop on over today if you have a minute. But definitely pop over tomorrow and in the days to come. We'll be talking books, interviewing authors and agents, engaging in shenanigans and possibly definitely embarrassing ourselves. :)

And it will be AWESOME.

So happy almost February 14th! And get ready to share the YA book love...

Friday Five Linkapalooza!

Happy Friday, y'all!

For today's Friday Five, I'm doing a quick blog-post-shout-out to my faves of the week.

5. On craft.

Killer post on how to add tension during revisions by talented (and sweet!) author Janice Hardy. This post is so awesome that I'm bookmarking it.

4. On books.

More interview goodness about YA debuts dropping in 2013 and more 2014 MG/YA book love to come! If you haven't checked out One Four Kid Lit yet, it's definitely worth a visit.

3. On music.

Who says music isn't educational?! A fun post by the cool music writer Jennifer Carney. On a related note, the All The Write Notes blog is up and running, and you still have time to enter and win a CD by The Rural Alberta Advantage. So pop over and enter; you've got time. :)

2. Just because it's hysterical and I don't want you to miss it. :)

Ok, so this post by the hilarious Tracey Neithercott had been up for a few weeks, but thanks to living in a cave full of NIL edits and tortilla chips, I didn't discover it until this week. :) And oh my land, IT'S HYSTERICAL. Tracey tells a story in YA book covers, and it's classic. YOU HAVE TO READ IT. And as a bonus, you might even discover a book to add to your TBR list. Tracey, you rock.

1. In which I leave Number One up to you.:)

Do you have a favorite post of the week? Let me know what I missed.:)

Until then, here's my favorite track of the week:

Mother Mother's Simply Simple. Enjoy! :)

Music Monday

Today I'm talking tunes. And if you haven't heard . . .

All The Write Notes is live! *cheers*

ATWN is a  blog for people who love tunes. Started by writers who love and live music, it's going to be heaps of fun. And I'm honored to be a part of it! Today is the first post. The cool Jay C. Spencer is talking about the band The Rural Alberta Advantage, a band that inspired his current WIP, and there's a giveaway!

So go check it out! You might win--or just find some cool tunes.:)

Since ATWN today is talking about bands that have influenced us--and our writing--I'll share some of my faves. It's really hard to pick just one, but Snow Patrol tops my list. The lyrics, the melodies--I love it all. And having seen them in concert (twice), they're even more amazing live.

Other huge artists for me? It tends to change, but rounding out my top 5 of bands/artists I never tire of are: Jack Johnson, Silversun Pick-ups, 30 Seconds to Mars, and The XX.

The next timeless five? David Gray, Jack's Mannequin, The Smiths, and Depeche Mode. (I know, Depeche Mode screams ancient, but I still love them. Good times.:D)

Other artists I'm loving right now? Kasabian, Natalie Walker, Sia, Lana Del Ray, The Joy Formidable, and My Chemical Romance.

And the track playing on my iPod right now: Mirrorball by Elbow. Another great tune.

What have you been listening to lately?

And curious . . . *cue informal blog poll*  . . . I can't write without music. Seriously. It's like all that silence weirds me out and stops my mind from going to that creative place. What about you? If you're a writer, do you like music, or do you need silence?

**Okay, since posting, I realized my "next top five of timeless songs" only contained four...*doh* Nice. Math was never my strong point...LOL.:) So here's a 5th: Florence +The Machine. Happy Monday & thanks for stopping by!:)

Friday Five

It's FRIDAYYYYYYYYYY!

*breathes*

Here's my week wrap-up...a fast and furious Friday Five. The top five things on my radar this week:

5. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here's my all-time favorite MLK, Jr. quote:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Just--awesome.

4. Beta-reading for Lindsay Currie and Jay C. Spencer. Totally different manuscripts, each individually wonderful. And I can't wait to read Tonya Kuper's revisions on HAUTE MESS, which is a hilarious rom-com close to my heart.

3 & 2. Blogs!

Check out One Four Kid Lit, full of 2013 MG and YA debuts, and get to meet MG and YA authors debuting in 2014. So many great books ahead!

Coming next Monday...All The Write Notes, a blog for writers who love, and live, music. The first post is about The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Jay C. Spencer is giving away cool stuff. (I'd tell you but I'm sworn to secrecy. Well, not really, but it's SO COOL. You want it, trust me.)

I'm so stoked to be part of both of these blogs I can barely stand it.

1. NIL edits.

BOOM. Done. And it feels so good. I turned them in, on time, and I feel really, really good about them. I can't wait to see my cover...and to hold an ARC...and for 2014!

Soon I'll post a NIL playlist, but in the meantime, I leave you with this: Willie Moon's Yeah Yeah. I cranked this song when I finished, feeling it for me and for my manuscript. And if you haven't seen this video, then you're in for a treat. It rocks.

Enjoy.:)

The One Four Kid Lit Blog is LIVE!

Yay! The One Four Kid Lit blog is up and running, and it's packed with MG and YA authors debuting in 2014. I'm so honored to be a part of this talented group that I find myself smiling every single time I see the blog header.

Why? Because it's packed with AWESOME.

Like the GETTIN' LUCKY series, where One Fours interview MG & YA authors launching books in 2013, the Lucky '13's. First up? The talented Ellen Oh, author of PROPHECY, which debuted on January 2nd. Ellen's interview (way to go Natalie!) was fun and informative and made me want to read Ellen's novel RIGHT THIS MINUTE. :) (And when I finish my NIL edits, I will reward myself with a 2013 debut read-a-thon, beginning with PROPHECY. :D)

And there's more awesomeness to come!

More interviews, more book birthday celebrations . . . an entire year of book goodness as we gear up to 2014. Over the next few months, you'll find all the OneFours introducing themselves and their upcoming debuts.

Like . . . if you pop over right now, you can meet the amazing Corinne Duyvis, author of next year's OTHERBOUND. I love reading about how books are born, and OTHERBOUND is no exception. Go peek; I'll wait. :)

Hey, while you were there, did you meet Natalie C. Parker, author of the upcoming BEWARE THE WILD? Like Corinne's, Natalie's book belongs on everyone's TBR pile for sure. If you didn't meet Natalie, go back! You'll love her. And if you missed it, the One Fours kicked off the year with an introduction of the talented Annie Cardi, author of QUEEN OF THE AIR, another must-read. If you missed meeting Annie, no worries. Click here and say hello. She's another amazing, sweet author who has been really good to me when I joined the One Fours.

So go check out the One Fours, say hello, and join us in cheering on the Lucky 13's! Aren't new books the best? :)