Review: The Pack by LM. Preston

The Pack by LM Preston
Publisher: Phenomenal One Press
Publication Date: 8/10
Author Website
Source: Review copy provided by publisher.

Summary:
Shamira is considered an outcast by most, but little do they know that Shamira is on a mission. Kids on Mars are disappearing, but Shamira decides to use the criminals most unlikely weapons against them, the very kids of which they have captured. In order to succeed, she is forced to trust another, something she is afraid to do. However, Valens her connection to the underworld of her enemy, proves to be a useful ally. Time is slipping, and so is her control on the power that resides within her. Yet, in order to save her brother's life she is willing to risk it all.

This review contains mild spoilers. Reading will not take away from your enjoyment of the book. 

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for a strong female protagonist. I tend to grow very weary of the "oh man, please save me!" protags I see sometimes in YA fiction, so when The Pack came to my attention, it caught it, mainly because of Shamira. She is a strong-willed, butt kicking female that I would be very proud to have my (as yet imaginary) daughter look up to.

Shamira is blind, and that is what appealed to me about her character even more. That said, I was pretty disappointed when Shamira regained her sight pretty early on in the book. During the operation her eyesight was enhanced to make her stronger, so that made it less upsetting, I guess.  Shamira is strong, so strong that she can be a bit off-putting at times. She is very distrustful of others, but when she lets her guard down, we see just how likable she is.

There are a lot of great familial element in The Pack, Shamira's best friend is her brother, and when he is kidnapped, she will do anything  to get her brother back, even if that means risking her life. There is also a bit of romance between Shamira and Valens, who like Shamira is fighting to take down Monev, the dastardly organization who is responsible for all the missing children on Mars. The love element is nice, but it's not so ooey-gooey that it would put off young male readers.

Even though this book is marketed towards the YA market and Shamira is a teenager, I think this book would appeal to younger readers (10+-depending on their maturity/reading level) most of all. There is a very high "kid power!" factor in this book that I think younger readers will really enjoy. There is also lot of action and neat sci-fi elements to the book.

 This book would be a great summer read if you're a teen or tween, or for the younger people in your in your life!

In My Mailbox (1)

I decided to start participating in In My Mailbox on those weeks I get books in the mail or from the library. 

Anyway! In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie.

I had a lot of goodies arriving in the mail this week! I already talked about the great prizes I won in Joelle Anthony's contest, but here is the link for any new folks stopping by.

I purchased: The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. I can't wait to crack these two open.

 

For review: Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure & Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Schickman. I've already started the first Zan-Gah book and while it's not what I would normally read, I'm really enjoying it! It's good to step outside your comfort zone every once in awhile.

That's it for me this week! Have a great week everyone.

Wannabe Writers #18

Wannabe Writers is a writing group for the un-published and anyone is welcome to join. It's a place where future authors can ask questions, share stories, and get feedback. Click (here) to find more about how it works.

Where I am in the writing process: Last week a brilliant idea came to me for the conclusion of my novel. Right now I'm writing the last action-filled chapters and soon after that I'll be done my first draft. I'm hoping to be done by mid-July.

My current problems: Maintaining momentum. I'm easily distracted by the internet, and planning for ALA next month.

My question this week:  Sarah didn't have a question this week, but I do. How do you deal with writer's jealousy?

I haven't had to deal with this personally yet, as most of my writing buddies are in similar places as myself. I believe only one of them is anywhere near the query stage. That said, I do find myself feeling slight twinges of jealousy, not when I see a well-deserving aspiring author finally reach their goal, but when I see that first time novel sky-rocket into the stratosphere. I think it's only natural to read a book that is merely okay and think to yourself, 'How the hell did this land on the best seller's list?' Instead of letting it bring me down, I use writer's jealousy to move forward. If after reading a so-so book, I'll tell myself, "You can do better than this!" and I use that to push me towards reaching my goal. It doesn't always work, but I do try not to get depressed. Not all published books are good, but hopefully mine will be one of the good ones that gets published. 

Arm Chair BEA BBC Roundtable Post: Marketing

I'm taking part in Arm Chair BEA. which was organized by some brilliant bloggers for those of us who aren't attending BEA this week to feel like we're part of the action.

Today's post is in regards to the Book Blogger Convention. There are a few key topics being discussed at the convention, and I've decided to talk about one of them, which is marketing your blog.

I've been a blogger since 2000, way before most people even knew what a blog was. I've blogged on blogger, Livejournal, and Wordpress. It wasn't until I started this blog that I really began to care about stats and getting my name out there. My other blogs were personal, and I wasn't appealing to a broader reader group.

I've had this blog for about two months, and I have about 100 followers. I think I've amassed this many followers so quickly because I participate in weekly memes in the book blogging community, like the Book Blogger Hop, and so on. I like to think I keep readers by making an active effort to blog, and to include original content. Memes are fine in moderation (I participate in three every week) and are a great way to add content to your blog, especially on those days where you're not sure what to blog about. But nothing but memes should not a blog make. You don't have to blog every day, but if you want to have a blog that attracts a large group of readers, you should carve out time in your week to write posts, and if you're a review blog, to read books, obviously!

I personally like the blogs best where I know a bit about the blogger, even if it's information gleaned from their profile. You should never talk about more than you're comfortable with sharing on the internet, but even if you add some information in your profile about yourself, it's a start. Like I know blogger A is married with kids and lives in New Orleans, or blogger C is a single girl in London. It gives me some perspective when I'm reading their posts, and I feel like I can connect with the blogger a bit more than someone I know absolutely nothing about. 

Good old fashioned commenting is another great way to get new readers.  But there are two ways to comment. The good way (or some variation of the following):

Hi there book blogger! I discovered your blog via x. I've taken a look around and I really like your blog! I'm your newest follower.  I really liked your review of x book, or what you had to say about y topic. Have a great day!

and then there's the way that irritates me to high heaven:

Hi! Stopping by via x! I like your blog! Please visit my blog, and enter my contest! 

This is wrong on a couple levels.
 1. Don't just cut and paste comments into blog after blog. People will notice. If you want to C&P, make an effort to at least include the name of the blogger or their blog in your comment if nothing else.
2. There is a big difference between self-promotion and SPAM. Don't leave comments about contests or other special events on blogs you don't follow, or have no intention of following. If you have a relationship with the blogger, ask if they wouldn't mind talking about your contest either in a post or in their sidebar. Also, it's up to you whether you want to include an additional link in your comment directing towards your blog. I've heard differing opinions on this, some people think it's no big deal, while others see it as a hare spammy. I generally just comment and figure that if the blogger is interested, they will click my profile name to learn more about me.

One last piece of advice: you really should be on Twitter if you're not already. I admit I was way late to the game in joining Twitter, mainly because for a long time I didn't really see the point. Twitter is a great way to connect with other book bloggers, authors and to keep up with the publishing industry. The latter is especially interesting if you're an aspiring author. You can also tweet when you have a new blog post, so people can click over right away instead of reading it in their reader. I follow all my  favorite bloggers, and when they say they have an update in their blog, I click right on over!

I do have to admit I'm no guru when it comes to blogging, and this advice is what works for me, not everyone may agree with it. I've gotten several pieces of advice from Parajunkee and The Story Siren that have been very helpful to me along the way.

Do you have any blogging tips? What are your blogging pet peeves?

Book Blogger Hop May 28th

It's time for another Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books.com. If you're stopping by for the first time, welcome! I hope you take a look around and like what you see. I review books (mostly YA), talk about the writing process, talk a bit about my personal life and assorted miscellany. If you've never been here before, leave a comment so I can check out your blog!

It Runs in the Family

I think I've mentioned previously that I come from a family of readers. I loved reading before I even knew what reading was. What I didn't  mention is that reviewing books also runs in my family.

My mom is more internet savvy than most people her age (somewhere past middle age, but not quite collecting social security) she listens to podcasts, reads blogs, etc. In her early days of the internet, she met some women that all loved books. She's still friends with one of them (some 13 years later) and still participates in a lot of online book groups. One has seriously the best premise ever: it's a small group of 12 ladies. Each has a birthday in one of the 12 months of the year, so they all send books to each other on their birthdays. So, when it's your birthday, you can count on getting at least twelve new books.

But I digress. Because of my mom's involvement in a lot of online book groups, she was invited to join some reviewer groups by a few of the big name publishers. Shortly after she did that, there was a period when there would be a package arriving several times a week from this publisher or that publisher with ARCs. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous! The publishers merely asked that my mother read and reviewed the books in order to keep getting them. She got books for a few months before they started to dry up, but it was a really exciting time for her and for me!

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that while it was so exciting to get books from publishers-it wasn't why mom was part of an online community with fellow book lovers, and the same can be said for me. It's just the icing on the cake to get free books for review-but it's not my raison d'être for keeping a book blog. The main thing that keeps me passionate about blogging nearly every day is the book blogging community. I have only had a book blog for a couple months, but I'm so happy to have met the wonderful community of writers & readers-probably the nicest of all the communities I've had the pleasure to be in in my nearly 15 years on the internet.

Long story short? Book bloggers are generally pretty damn awesome.  :pats you all on the back:

I Love Winning Contests!

A few weeks ago I entered a contest on Joelle Anthony's blog. She is the author of the recent release Restoring Harmony. I mentioned this book a few weeks ago in an In My Wishlist post. I am in love with the cover:

Isn't it beautiful? So, when I saw the contest on her blog, I entered it right away, figuring I'd never win, because honestly, I never win anything. Well, I can't say that anymore, because I was the grand prize winner in Joelle's contest, and yesterday I won a Arm Chair BEA  giveaway too! Anyway, Joelle's package arrived today and not a moment too soon, as I had just returned from the dentist with woeful, expensive news.

Check out my haul!

What I got:

-Beautiful Restoring Harmony tote, signed by Joelle.
-ARCs of the following books: A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend, Mockingbird, Leaving Gee's Bend & Magic Under Glass.
-A CD of Joelle's husband's music.
-Earrings
-A collection of seeds and a chocolate bar
-Restoring Harmony swag (some will be included in an upcoming contest) and some swag for some neat looking books: Take Flight, The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams (signed by the author!) Mockingbird & Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

-A $20 credit at Mercer Island Books.
 
So, the message of this post? Enter contests, even if you have rotten luck like me. You'll get lucky eventually!

ETA: I meant to include the trailer for Restoring Harmony, here it is:

Arm Chair BEA: My Favorite Signed Books

I'm taking part in Arm Chair BEA. which was organized by some brilliant bloggers for those of us who aren't attending BEA this week to feel like we're part of the action.

Today I'll be talking about my favorite signed books. I'll be honest, I don't have that many! I have been pretty lucky over the course of my life to meet a lot of celebrities, but I'm sorely lacking in authors I've met! I went through my book shelves to see to stir my memory to find any signed books, and I found too, and you know what? Neither person lists author as their profession!

I met the first person at a talk/book signing at American University in Washington, DC. He is known firstly as a chef, secondly as a television presenter, and lastly as an author of non-fiction, and a few fiction books as well. Any guesses?

It's Anthony Bourdain, of course! I was a super fangirl of his for years. I count myself less so now, mainly because of the less than glowing portrayal of my hometown, Baltimore, on his show No Reservations. I had him sign a copy for me, and my mother as well. She had called me a "brat" for meeting him, but I surprised her on Christmas morning with a signed copy of his latest book!

 Moving on to my next signed book. 

I met this second person at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square in New York City. He is the lead singer for one of the most influential rock bands that came out of the UK in the 2000's. His pre-fame credentials include a fair amount of time spent in the kitchen, so he was asked to pen a column in a UK paper chronicling his food adventures while on tour.

Any guesses?

It's Alex Kapranos, lead singer of Franz Ferdinand. I actually have two signed copies of this book. I'd found  a copy in a London bookshop where he'd done a signing, so I have the English copy signed (which is hardback and far nicer) and the American copy signed to me personally.

Have you been to an author signing? Who did you meet?

This & That on a Tuesday- A Day Early

I'm doing my This & That a day early today because I'm in a bullet point kind of mood.

-For every person that 'likes' them on Facebook, Scholastic will donate a book to K.I.D.S (Kids in Distressed Situations).  Go here to take part.
-An adorable little girl called Jessica starts her day with positive affirmation. Hey, when your WIP, work or life in general is getting you down, do what Jessica does!
-Elana Johnson has a one day only contest at her blog to celebrate her recent book deal. Kudos to her, yay for the contest (two dystopian prize packs, and additional goodies for writers!)
-BEA is this week! I can't wait to start getting reports via twitter and my blog reader from all the bloggers, authors and book industry professionals I follow! 
-Did you know that every Thursday Bookworming in the 21st Century has a link round-up for contests? It's a great way to promote your own contest or find others.
-I have made some serious progress in the Page a Day Challenge, I wrote 15 pages this past week, and I hope to double that this week.
-The husband and I have decided that ALA is way too epic to go for only one day. We're planning on going on Sunday and Monday, which works for me, because there are more authors signing on Monday that I wanted to see than are going to be there on Saturday! Those authors being Bree Despain, Tricia Rayburn and Jennifer Hubbard. I also read that in previous years a lot more authors show up for signings than are listed in the official guide! I'm going to have to bring a lot of books to get signed, and some cash because I read that publishers are also selling books in their booths. I have been doing the OMG I'M SO EXCITED!! happy dance for the last two days. June 27th can't get here soon enough!

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start.

I'm going to ALA!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed I'm not taking part in all the fun in NYC at BEA this week, since it seems like every other book blogger is. I'm taking part in Armchair BEA which should be fun. But to get to the point, through the wonders of Twitter, I found out that the ALA Conference is taking place in DC this year. It's different than BEA as its' main purpose is to serve librarians, BUT, there are a lot of neat happenings there too.

Main thing? Author signings. Here are just a few of the authors that will be signing.

Kami Garcia
Margaret Stohl
Carrie Jones
Simone Elkeles
Ellen Hopkins
Melissa Marr
John Green
Elizabeth Scott
Holly Black
Bree Despain
Libba Bray

Seriously...that list is just the tip of the iceberg. Because of my husband's work schedule, I'll be attending only on Sunday, but luckily for me, that's when most of the authors I want to see will be signing (except for Kami and Margaret-woe!) There is also swag, ARCs and other neat experiences to be had, so you can imagine that I'll be having some neat contests after I get back! I was waffling on whether I should attend or not until while doing a google search about bloggers attending ALA, I discovered Kristi of The Story Siren went last year. Her posts about her experiences (do a search for ALA on her site to see for yourself) were the final push into purchasing exhibit passes for my husband and I. The price is really reasonable at $25, too!

I'm really excited, and nervous to go. I'm pretty shy, so when I've attended conferences or conventions in the past it's always been a bit difficult for me, but I'm going to try my best. I'm also going to make up some business cards with my blog info on it.

Is anyone else planning on attending ALA? I hope to see some other book bloggers there! :D

Wannabe Writers #17

Wannabe Writers is a writing group for the un-published and anyone is welcome to join. It's a place where future authors can ask questions, share stories, and get feedback. Click (here) to find more about how it works.

Where I am in the writing process: I am just shy of the 67k word mark in the novel I began in January 2010. When all is said and done, I expect it to be around 80k, so I'm nearly to the finish line! I've also began going through older chapters to make notes, so when I start revisions, I have a starting point.

My current problems: Maintaining momentum. I'd been turning out page after page of drivel, and yesterday I hit my stride. A wonderful new idea came to me out of nowhere that I can't wait to work on, I'm just hoping when I sit down today, I won't be back to writing drivel. I can never tell until I sit down to write how things are going to be.

My question this week:  Do you recommend finishing (and polishing) a novel, even if you know the story would never be strong enough for publication?  To finish just for the sake of finishing or to focus your energies on a better project? 


My initial instinctual answer is YES! I plan on doing a mighty jig when I finish my first novel, and while I do intend on polishing it for publication, I think it is so important to finish the draft, if for nothing more than to say you finished it. That said, to be practical, it may make more sense to know exactly where you are in the story. If you're only a quarter of the way in, it may not make much sense to continue if you're not feeling passionate about it anymore. But if you feel the need to complete the story, I'd say go for it!

Book Clubs: Yay or Nay?

No, I'm not talking about those book clubs where you gather with friends and talk about a good book. I'm talking about this kind of book club:

I've been or am a current member of several book clubs. I've been joining them since I was a teenager. There are good and bad things about all these clubs (a lot of them are run by the same company) so I thought I'd talk about my experiences.

First off, the good. If you're like me and you're a member of point earning websites like My Points or Swagbucks (and seriously, why aren't you-a few minutes of your time for free money? I just cashed in enough points for $25 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks and a $10 Lowes gift card from My Points), there are often point earning opportunities. So if you join Bookclub X, you not only get books at a low price, but you'll get points to trade in for gift cards later via the site you signed up with. They lure you with that initial deal: so many books for the low, low price of Y! It's hard to resist. BUT, there are caveats that I'll get to in a minute.

I have gotten a lot of great books through these book clubs for a fraction of their retail price. Books like:
                    

all in hardback, although they are usually "book club editions" that differ slightly from the retail versions. The books generally ship pretty quickly, not like in the old days where it would take weeks. Ah, the internet!

The clubs' retail prices can vary between higher and lower than retail, depending on the book and what sale they've got going on. Several times a year they put on promotions where you can snag so many books at a lower price, or with free or reduced shipping.

By getting the books at a low price, you are agreeing to buy so many books at the regular club price (usually below retail most of the time, but not always) within a given time period, usually a year.The amount of books you purchase differs by club, but usually it's about four. This time period is usually a year. So, don't sign up if you don't think you can do this, because if you don't buy the books? They will charge your credit card for the amount of those books if you haven't purchased them by the date-and that amount is ALWAYS higher than if you'd just bought the books yourself. They will of course, give you ample warning before they do this.

That brings me to the downside of these clubs.

• Limited selection. If you're looking for a best-seller at a great price, book clubs are for you. That said, QPB and SFBC usually have the best selections. Most clubs have really limited YA selections. I've been able to snag some more well-known titles through clubs, but they have to be best sellers like Hush Hush or Beautiful Creatures to be considered for the clubs.
• Featured selections. Some clubs are moving away from these, and it's not a moment too soon. If you don't reply to that featured selection, guess what? Your credit card will be charged and those books will be shipped to you. You will be refunded if you return the books unopened, (just write 'Refused-Return to Sender' on the box) but it's still a hassle.
• Spam. If you sign up for these clubs, be aware that they will be sending you e-mail every week or so. So, if you don't already have a spam e-mail account, set one up. That said, make sure you check said spam e-mail account, because you will need to reply to your featured selections to avoid having them sent to you. 

So, that pretty much covers it.  I would say that it would be worth joining a club if they have several books that you're interested in, but to just be careful to respond to your featured selections to avoid any unwanted charges on your credit card. Do any of you belong to any of these clubs?

Book Blogger Hop May 21st

It's time for another Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books.com. If you're stopping by for the first time, welcome! I hope you take a look around and like what you see. I review books (mostly YA), talk about the writing process, talk a bit about my personal life and assorted miscellany. If you've never been here before, leave a comment so I can check out your blog!

On My Wishlist: May 21st

On My Wishlist is a weekly feature ran by the great book blog Book Chick City. To learn more about this meme, get the details here.

One of the best things about becoming a Domestic Engineer is that I have a lot more time to read books and to read blogs, so my wish list is looking mighty long! Here's what I added this week:

Sleepless-Cyn Balog

Eron DeMarchelle isn't supposed to feel this connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce his human charges to sleep. Though he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn't encouraged to do so. After all, becoming too involved in one human's life could prevent him from helping others get their needed rest.


But he can't deny that he feels something for Julia, a lonely girl with fiery red hair and sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. In the past, Eron has broken rules to protect Julia, but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can't reach her. Eron's time as a Sandman is coming to a close, and his replacement doesn't seem to care about his charges. Worse, Julia is facing dangers she doesn't recognize, and Eron, as he transitions back to being human, may be the only one who can save her. . . .


Even once they've become human again, Sandmen are forbidden to communicate with their charges. But Eron knows he won't be able to forget Julia. Will he risk everything for a chance to be with the girl he loves?\
(Amazon description)

This book appealed to me firstly because of the beautiful cover, but once I read the description I was hooked. It sounds darkly romantic and dreamy.

Keys to the Repository-Melissa De La Cruz

Lavish parties. Passionate meetings in the night. Bone-chilling murders. Midterms. The day-to-day life of Schuyler Van Alen and her Blue Bloods friends (and enemies) is never boring. But there's oh-so-much more to know about these beautiful and powerful teens. Below the streets of Manhattan, within the walls of the Repository, exists a wealth of revealing information about the vampire elite that dates back before the Mayflower. In a series of short stories, journal entries, and never-before-seen letters, New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz gives her hungry fans the keys to the Repository and an even more in-depth look into the secret world of the Blue Bloods.
(Amazon description)

I devoured the first three Blue Bloods books. The last book has been sitting on my bookshelf since December. I've tried to get into it, but it just wasn't holding my attention the way the previous books had. That said, I'm still interested in the series, so I can't wait to get my hands on this book, which is a companion book to the series.

 The Splendor Falls-Rosemary Clement-Moore

Can love last beyond the grave?

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well? 
(Amazon description)

 Do I really need to add anything here? If the description of this book doesn't leave you salivating for more, I don't know what will!

Why YA is what I Read and Write

I have been a reader since before I could read. When I was small, my parents would take me and my older sister to the library. My sister could read, but I couldn't yet. I remember holding books in my hands and making up stories for them based on the pictures. When I was older, my mother would enter us into summer reading challenges at the library, and my parents would try to buy me and my sister as many books as they could afford. I may not have had every toy I wanted, but it was pretty rare if I didn't get a book I wanted. I don't think it's a coincidence that 30 some odd years later, I'm still reading books similar to those that I was reading in my younger years.

I've never stopped reading throughout my life, but it's only been within the last two years or so that I've gotten more into YA fiction. Oh, don't get me wrong. Like most people, I read and fell in love with Harry Potter back in 2000 and was zoomed through all the previous books and pre-ordered each book before it came out. But back then, most of what I read was more "grown-up" stuff. I got more into YA books when I started watching Gossip Girl on the CW, and decided to start reading the books. This was in early 2008, right before the height of Twilight mania. I kept seeing the books at my local Borders, and I couldn't help it. I thought the covers were beautiful, so I bought the first book. It ignited the fire in me to start writing again, but not for the reason most would think.

I spent a Saturday cooped up in my apartment reading Twilight. I really liked the story-but I couldn't help thinking as I was reading it that I wished it was well, better. Bella irritated me, and I just felt like the writing was a bit off. I read all the books in the Twilight series, and felt that some were better than others. By the time I reached Breaking Dawn, I was ready to throw it out of the window, but I wanted to see how the series concluded.

It was by this time that I decided to start writing, mainly because something clicked into place for me. Writing didn't have to be this horribly pretentious thing.  Stephenie Meyer's writing may be a tad simplistic (at least to me, I'm really not trying to insult any Twilight fans) but it made me think that instead of focusing on writing an adult novel, perhaps I should give young adult a try, because it was a better fit for my writing style.

Since reading the Twilight series, I started peppering in more YA into my reading. Once I started writing my current WIP, I've reached the point where it's pretty much all I read. I still peruse the adult section in the bookstore and library, but I find myself spending more time in the young adult section just because it's where I feel more at home. I've also started seeing more adults there lately. On one recent trip to Borders, I saw only adults in the YA section, so that made me feel less out of place. There are a lot of us!

So, as much as I hate to admit it, I do owe a least a bit of my current inspiration to Twilight. Without it, I wonder if it would have sparked that old love of young adult books, and if I would have started writing again.

And now for a question if any of you would like to answer: Why do you write YA? Were you inspired by your children, (or children you know) your own childhood memories, or did a book inspire you to write for the genre?

This & That on a Tuesday

It's time for my weekly brain dump!

-Have you seen Writers' Blok by Jackson Pearce? It's hilarious, and oh so true. If I had a dollar for every  minute I spent blogging, tweeting or on Facebook instead of writing, I'd be a very, very rich woman by now.
-Speaking of time management, Maggie Stiefvater posted her tips on time management.  I'm a big believer in #1. Now that I'm a Domestic Engineer, I get all of my unpleasant household chores out of the way before I can get to the job I'm not paid for but enjoy a lot more: writing!
-Now that I'm pondering work on my 1920's time travel novel once again, I've been spending a lot of time at Shorpy. It is such a great resource for vintage photos-and there are a ton of Washington, DC which is helpful since that's where my story takes place.
-I've earned enough Swagbucks to put a whole lotta dollars into my Amazon account so I can buy a laser printer next month. This will make going through the revision process a lot easier for me! If you're not into Swagbucks, I'd give it a go. It's a pretty easy way to make free money. I've gotten a few friends into it, and at least one uses it to support her book habit!
-Speaking of revisions, I'm going through my WIP and making chapter notes that I can refer back to when I'm ready to start revising. I figure it will help me stay organized and not have to refer to the manuscript a million times. Some notes are simple, like "mention more info about the setting" and others are more complicated. There are a few chapters that are going to need total revision, probably nothing will stay. So, I worked through about eight chapters last night. My WIP has forty-one chapters so far, so it's going to take some time. What's your revision process like?

Review: Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 8/09
Source: Library
Author Website

First things first, unlike a lot of my other reviews, this one contains mild spoilers because I figure most everyone else has read it. If you haven't read it, proceed with caution!

I am woefully behind on reading and reviewing this book. This is one of those books that I hadn't heard of until I started following YA book blogs late last year. Then I heard varying things about it. A lot of people LOVED it. A fair amount seemed to HATE it too. So, because of that, and because of my overwhelming ambivalence towards most werewolves (with the notable exception of Gail Carriger's Lord Maccon of course) this book went on my back burner. Then I started reading Maggie's blog, and following her on Twitter. She's funny, helpful, and approachable, so I figured I'd add the book to my list at the library. The same library she's appearing at today, but unless my husband arrives home in the next forty or so odd minutes, it looks like I won't be attending. Oh well. Hopefully she'll do another appearance in the area soon. Besides, I'm pretty awful at talking to people whose work I admire.

Getting to the point, I really enjoyed Shiver. I'd heard that this story was like Twilight except with werewolves (um, doesn't Twilight have werewolves?) and I didn't find that to be the case. Granted, I read Twilight about two and a half years ago, so perhaps my memory is foggy. There is an intense love story, but where in Twilight I had to find myself wondering WTH an interesting fellow like Edward found so appealing in ever so  emo Bella (no offense to the Twilight fans), this was not the case with Grace & Sam.

Grace was bitten by wolves when she was younger and Sam, "her wolf" kept her from death. Over the course of the next few years, she keeps a watchful eye on the wolves that occupy the woods behind her house, until one night she discovers that her wolf is not only a wolf, but a werewolf. Their love is instant, and unlike Twilight, it made sense to me, and it rang true. What didn't make sense to me was Grace's absent parents. I get it, it's easy in YA to write horrible, or in this case, horribly inept parents. My parents gave me a fair amount of space in my teenage years, but I still think they would have noticed that a boy was living in my bedroom. That was one major plot element that I really couldn't recover from, and it bugged the heck out of me the entire time I read the book. I do think that there are parents like this in real life, but for me, it would have been more believable if she was being raised by a single parent, but I don't know. You'd think of of them would have at least a lick of sense. Apparently in the sequel, Linger, her parents pull their heads out of their butts, but we'll see.

I enjoyed the interesting take on werewolf folklore: that they change not according to the phases of the moon but according to the temperature, and that Sam only has so many years before he'll turn into a wolf for good. This lends itself to a certain tragic romantic element which I can't help it, I'm a sucker for.

I felt there was a certain lack of character development in some of the lesser characters, but not with Grace and Sam. I'd read one review where the reviewer had said that all Grace did was cook food and watch for her wolf. I found that to ring a bit false. While I tend to prefer a stronger female protagonist, Grace isn't a damsel in distress.

 I thought Shiver was beautifully written, and I can't wait to return to Mercy Falls in July when Linger hits shelves.