Wrapping up March Madness and Getting Ready for April #wipmadness

REWRITING- HAPPY MEDIUM from scratch. yes. not done though, because the from scratch also became re plotting, revisioning some of the characters, the town, the history, so very much still in the notebook and research stage again. 


BLOGGING

-carry on with Marvelous Middle Grade Monday's. Reading middle grade novels and writing posts to go up every monday. I'd like to try and get ahead of the game and have posts ready to go one or two weeks in advance. Yes on carrying on with MMGM's, getting lots of reading done. No on the 2-3 weeks in advance. Sunday before the post seems to be my go to day and that totally works for me!

-carry on reading and commenting on the blogs I follow. Up the time to one hour per day. I tried half hour and that was just not enough time Yep and sometimes, it is two hours--I know that is a lot of time, but it is part of my writing and blogging life!

-start new feature called YA ROUNDTABLE. Inspired by a group of writer friends I lunch with. We talk books, exchange books. I can't go as often but I can still share the books I would tell them about if I could go. When possible we'd try to get the round table at one of the restaurants we go to. Most of the ladies I hang with a YA writers (mix of published and not). Hence...YA ROUNDTABLE for a feature. Yes, got post one up and running last week (Just Deb: YA Roundtable-13 to Life by Shannon Delany and Mighty Fine Use of Backstory) and have the ideas and books for the next few. 

-get to scheduling more OH MG YA CANADA posts for March and April in preparation for my OH MG YA CANADA week long reading challenge, Just Deb: Oh MG/YA Canada Mini Reading Challenge-Sunday April 29- Sunday May 6, 2012 . Love for you to check it out, sign up? know of an author (Canadian) who might like to be featured? This will be an April Goal as well, I do have some blog guest posters and features lined up already but need to grow those participating in the reading week.

-get blog re-designed in terms of content and for gorsh durn sakes get tags organized and consistent (I mean really!) AND...this has been moved to April!

READING

-ARC's get caught up with the back log, especially NET GALLEY.the backlog mostly done-now am building a new to read list
-books authors provided for review (have a couple) yep yep yep

Realistically some of this will spill into April, but I shooting for the stars so I can land on the moon! SO, I landed on the moon in March, heading for the stars in April!

March Madness Day 30 Check-In and another Giveaway Winner

Well, friends we are almost ready to bring all this March Madness to an end. It's been a great time sharing the hosting duties. I loved reading what you all have been up to as the month progressed and must say I am going to miss it! But--now's not the time for goodbyes. We have today and tomorrow left to bring it all home, cheer each other to the finish line. Some of us will be sitting back, sighs of relieve, goals reached and ready to start thinking into April. Others of us (like me) will be writing like mad (ness) to achieve the goal before month's end or at least take another good chunk out of it before April hits. So. Where are all of you at? Sitting back, relaxing some, thinking about April? Going in for a last dig of revisions, reading, blogging before the end of March?

AND! We've got another winner for the draws. GIRL PARKER, step on up and let Denise Jaden (d @ denisejaden . com) know which prize you would like. Congrats to you! Here are your choices:

UNRAVELING ISOBEL by Eileen Cook (Courtesy of Shari Green)

OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL by K.M. Weiland (2 e-copies up for grabs!) (Courtesy of Deb Marshall)

And our awesome Kim Baccellia has donated another ARC: THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer Smith(US mailing only)

Wishing you all the best with the rest of your March Madness and the upcoming month as we carry on reading, writing, blogging! It's been an absolute pleasure. Tomorrow's check-in is over on Jaye Robin Brown's Hanging on to Wonder.

YA Roundtable-13 to Life by Shannon Delany and Mighty Fine Use of Backstory

Introducing....YA ROUNDTABLE!

Up until I moved in fall of 2011 I had the great (great!) pleasure of heading out to monthly lunch dates with some fabulous friends. All writers. All talented. And all readers of MG and YA. Eventually those luncheons expanded into us bringing books to exchange. We'd show and share the books around the table and each of us would pick the books we wanted to take home and read. Next month (or so) we'd return with the books we borrowed and new books to lend. Needless to say the table was often filled with piles of books! It. was. wonderful. As were some of the lunches (er, yeah, we have some lunch horror stories otherwise I would have said all). As was the company (talking about family, writing, the craft, the business). Now I don't get to do that so much anymore. BUT. Decided that in the spirit of those lunches I'd start a new blog feature. I talk about MG on Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays, but have yet to get going on YA. That's why YA Roundtable was born. Today I am going to feature only one book. Sometimes it be more than one, but never less (ha ha!).

I recently read 13 to Life by Shannon Delany. It's been out for some time now, it just took me this long to get to it. AND-there are more in the series so I am one happy carry on reader!

I'd recommend it to my writer buds (some of whom have probably already read, lol!) and all of you.  And I'd say read it for the great story but also to see how you can use back story to create mystery and tension. The kind of mystery and tension that keeps you turning the page. The best part for me was also the timing...that is, how the author pulled you along to almost the middle of the book, but then finally revealed the whole story behind the back story. If she'd gone on any longer with it, it would have been too much, frustrating the reader (er, me). The main story line was compelling in its own right and had to be. If it had not been only being given hints at the backstory, the what happened would not have worked. The balance the author had worked. And as I writer I TOTALLY admired how she did it. A bit of take away on how to use backstory for aspiring author me. So. Would ya like to know about the book in case you don't already? Of course you would!

The trailer:

From IndieBound.org
Everything about Jessie Gillmansen's life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing.  Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she's about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent--he's a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie's small town.  It seems change is the one thing Jessie can't avoid...

That be it from me. Hope to see you soon for another YA Roundtable where I'll share my YA reading and what books I think you can learn a lot from as a writer. Or something along those lines. I imagine this feature will grow and change as the year moves along. If there is anything in particular you'd like to see (maybe to soon to ask) do let me know!  Plus...any books you know of that make particular good use of back story?

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Favorite day of the week is here again. You guessed it, it is:

And naturally I give a shout out to the fabulous Shannon Messenger who has her own Marvelous Middle Grade, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, coming out in the fall.

Today I'm sharing the love of a few recent reads as a means of helping celebrate Jill's (The O.W.L.) month long celebration of middle grade called MARCH OF MIDDLE GRADE. Reading it, writing it, interviewing authors, guests posts and...giveaways! Lots of giveaway. Hope you have time to head on over and check. it. out. 

Let's begin shall we? And I am thinking I have something for everyone. All descriptions are from Indiebound.org.

CHOMP by Carl Hiaasen Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!", Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . . It's anyone's guess who will actually survive "Expedition Survival". . . .

I am here to say I think the author is a master at multiple pov storytelling in middle grade. Gives you this larger than life feel for the whole story and really builds tension as you see all the players and storylines on a collision course...and not in a way you expect. You have fun guessing as you read along, but being the great storyteller the author is, you never quite get it right. There was humour, real life scary situations and our young hero rose to the challenge, not only of taking care of his dad, but taking care of those around him--animals and humans included. Loved it, including loving to hate (okay, maybe I should say it was more a dislike) Derek Badger of the over bloated ego driven fake star of "Expedition Survival". Copy from the publisher via Net Galley

STORYBOUND by Marrissa Burt When Una Fairchild stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, she thinks nothing of opening the cover and diving in. But instead of paging through a regular novel, Una suddenly finds herself Written In to the land of Story--a world filled with Heroes and Villains and fairy-tale characters.

But not everything in Story is as magical as it seems. Una must figure out "why" she has been Written In--and fast--before anyone else discovers her secret. Together with her new friend Peter and a talking cat named Sam, Una digs deep into Story's shadowy past. She quickly realizes that she is tied to the world in ways she never could have imagined--and it might be up to her to save it.


Whoa on the premise behind this one. A land of story with a mysterious past filled with nasty Muses, Heroes, Villians. One lonely girl falls into that world from ours and becomes the key to unravelling the mystery and saving the world. I now await the arrival of book two. Patiently. Or, I might stalk the author's website and blog. You know, for my future book club kids.  Won the ARC (eek!) in a contest. It's signed and everything!

THE HOP by Sharelle Byars Moranville A small toad named Tad is in grave danger.  Rumbler, a monstrous earth-eating machine, is poised to destroy his home, Toadville-by-Tumbledown. The green grass, the blue pond—everything Tad knows might disappear.  It is foretold that one brave young toad can help—but at a terrible price. Only if a toad kisses a human girl will Toadville be saved. Tad is called to rise to the challenge, disgusting though it seems. In the company of his best friend Buuurk, he sets off into the unknown. Meanwhile, a girl named Taylor is determined to stop her grandmother’s pond from being turned into a strip mall. Perhaps, somewhere along the way, she will cross paths with a small, brave toad. Little does she know that his quest is the same as hers. ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

I cannot express how much I loved this one. Alternating points of view between, Tad (the toad) and Taylor (the girl). Both have a quest, one to save his family (Tad) and the other save the pond she loves (Taylor). The author weaves together both quests with magic, both real and figurative, and leaves you satisfied at the end. (and teary eyed--okay, I cried, not from sadness but from sad, happy and whoa...awesome end). I could totally see this as a movie...the larger than life heroes (Tad and Taylor) could carry it and the power of Mother Earth/Nature (aka, the magic) would make it a hit. Imo :)

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday check out the following:

Shannon Whitney Messenger (a.k.a. Fearless Leader)-Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe
Jennifer Rumberger-Children's Author
Joanne Fritz-My Brain on Books
Danika Dinsmore-The Accidental Novelist 
Shannon O'Donnell-Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster-The Night Writer
Natalie Aguirre-Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero-Somewhere in the Middle
Ally Beecher- Kid Lit Frenzy
Barbara Watson-Novel and Nouveau
Anita Laydon Miller-her middle grade blog
Michael G-G-Middle Grade Mafioso
Jessica Lei-her blog  
Pam Torres-So I'm Fifty
Akoss-Nye Louwon – My Spirit | a search for the writer in me
Gabrielle Prendergast-Angelhorn
Gina Carey
T.L. Conway
Laurisa White Reyes

Enjoy the day all!

#WipMadness March-Day 23 Check-In!

Day 23?

Really?

Wow.

The month seems to be flying by. Hope you are all reaching those goals or taking deep breaths and revamping them as needed. It's all good and it all works AND having this incredible team of readers, writer and bloggers cheering and offering support and understanding is made of AWESOME. I know I appreciate it. BTW---"and" is one of my words I have to watch out for in wips. Apparently the same holds true for my blog posts?

And (heh heh) with that said I have an announcement. Fearless leader Denise Jaden decided it was time to announce the next person to pick from the March Madness prize packs! That person is:

Linda Jackson!

Linda, you can email  Denise (d AT denisejaden DOT com)  with your pick. Speaking of that, your prize choices are listed in red. CONGRATS!!!

First page critique by agent Katie Grimm from Don Congdon Associates

(Courtesy of Angelina Hansen)

Advance copy of ARTICLE FIVE by Kristen Simmons
(Courtesy of Jaye Robin Brown)

UNRAVELING ISOBEL by Eileen Cook
  (Courtesy of Shari Green)

Query and 10-page critique (Courtesy of Anne Hale)

Copyedit critique of 50 pages (Courtesy of Laura Taylor)

OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL by K.M. Weiland
(2 e-copies up for grabs!) (Courtesy of Deb Marshall)

DARWEN ARKWRIGHT AND THE PEREGRINE PACT by A.J. Hartley
(Courtesy of Laura Taylor)

Wishing you all the best today and into the weekend. Way to go with all the work done this week and looking forward to hearing how today is going!

Tomorrow's check-in is over on Jaye Robin Brown's Hanging on to Wonder.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with The Emerald Casket by Richard Newsome

Welcome to:

Today I am going to share the love of EMERALD CASKET.Happy to say I have my own copy of this as I won my pick of a book from Walden Pond Press, who put out consistently good middle grade books. A big thanks to them!

BILLIONAIRE'S CURSE by Richard Newsome started it off.  I talked about book one over on Shannon Whitney's blog.  (As many of you know, Shannon is the brain mother of MMGM.)

Next in line is EMERALD CASKET and coming out in May is THE MASK OF DESTINY! Love this series oh yes I do.

To get us started here is THE EMERALD CASKET short description from Indiebound.org:

Thirteen-year-old billionaire Gerald Archer and his friends Ruby and Sam Valentine go on vacation to India, hoping to forget about Mason Green and his diabolical quest, but secrets from Gerald's family history and Green's minions have the trio in trouble again.


Now, doesn't 13 year old _billionaire_ catch your eye? Vacation in India? Diabolical quests? Tie that all in with a writer who knows how to weave a middle grade novel and you have winner number two in this series. 


I have it on good authority that his third book, THE MASK OF DESTINY, is his best yet. You gotta love it when a series just gets better and better. And if you have fans of the GREY GRIFFIN series and 39 Clues,  to name a couple, I'd say Richard Newsome books are well worth suggesting.

Speaking of middle grade and series I wanted to point you all over to Jill @ The O.W.L. where there is a MONTH LONG (yay!) celebration of middle grade. And, on Thursday, I did a guest post on middle grade fantasy series and shared a handful of my favorites. I'd love for you to stop by there, share some of yours (you'll be entered in a giveaway for a MG fantasy of your choice!) and if you have some time to look around, check out some interviews and other posts. What Jill is doing for MG this month is FABULOUS!

Enjoy your Monday, all. See you next week and for more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday check out some of these guys:

Shannon Whitney Messenger (a.k.a. Fearless Leader)-Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe
Jennifer Rumberger-Children's Author
Joanne Fritz-My Brain on Books
Danika Dinsmore-The Accidental Novelist 
Shannon O'Donnell-Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster-The Night Writer
Natalie Aguirre-Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero-Somewhere in the Middle
Ally Beecher- Kid Lit Frenzy
Barbara Watson-Novel and Nouveau
Anita Laydon Miller-her middle grade blog
Michael G-G-Middle Grade Mafioso
Jessica Lei-her blog  
Pam Torres-So I'm Fifty
Akoss-Nye Louwon – My Spirit | a search for the writer in me
Gabrielle Prendergast-Angelhorn
Gina Carey
T.L. Conway

March #wipmadness Check-In Day 16

I swear, there is nothing like a community of writers offering support to each other. We really do spend much of our time alone in front of the computer, with the notebook, researching etc. and etc. I am loving March for this reason. We "get" each other, which is awesome. That's why I loved this video. It was so funny and on point! Plus, it's darn good to have a laugh or ten every now and then! Many of you may have already seen, but just in case you have not here it is.



So, with all that said, here is too some laughter and writerly companionship this weekend. Oh-my fave part of this vid ('cause I know you want to know, lol) is the desperate writer trying to get an internet connection. Yep. That would be me!

Enjoy your weekend all. I am officially on the road to B.C. to visit my daughter and family. Tomorrow's check-in is over on Jaye Robin Brown's Hanging on to Wonder.

By the way, there is still time to sign up, oh yes there is! Head over to Denise Jaden's blog, check out the prizes and giveaways, then join us to finish up the latter half of March!

EDIT TO ADD:  Didn't make it to B.C. Hit an ice patch and landed in the ditch after a few truck rolls. Tiny bit shook up, bruising, sore hand, but man oh man I will take that. That was one heck of a scary moment (or two). Just at hotel, got mug of coffee, wrapping head around what I walked out of and my poor truck is totalled. BUT and anyhow. Shall be hanging with you all and once I've processed this all---you can bet...fodder for the writing well. All best everyone!


Edit edited to add-and my precious new macbook air has a couple of dints like me, but still up and running. Can you believe it was the first thing I looked for after I realized I was pretty okay? Yup.