The Best YA Book of All Time

I have to admit that I read more YA books now than I did when I was a YA, so when I saw this advertised I found my interest peaked.

Entertainment Weekly is running a bracket game that asks the question: “What is the best young adult novel of all time."

They've lumped series of books together, so Harry Potter would be one entry and Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird are included even though they were written before YA was considered a category.

It should be an interesting contest: The Book Thief, The Fault in Our Stars, A Wrinkle in Time, Holes, so many to choose from both classics and more current.

The most interesting thing for me will be to see how many I've read.

The bracket starts today and runs until November 22, so take some time to vote.

How about you? Do you have an opinion about the best YA book of all time?

A Blank Page

We've all been there, staring at a blank page and drawing a complete blank. But sometimes opening up a blank page is exactly what I need, especially when I'm knee deep in revisions. I get all blurry eyed and can't find my way out of a scene that's just not working.

So, lots of times I open up a new document try to put those other words out of my mind and start from scratch. I figure if the words are important then they'll come back to me.

It really helps to have a fresh look.

How about you? What do you do when you're having problems fixing a a scene?

If you haven't already heard - Writers Helping Writers

I wanted to have this up yesterday, but was struck with a terrible head cold. Better late than never and since this goes all week, I'm not too late.

To celebrate their release of their books, The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes and The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi at Writers Helping Writers (formerly The Bookshelf Muse) are hosting a race. An amazing race to see how many writers we can get helping writers.

From October 21st until October 27th, Writers Helping Writers is having an OPEN CALL for all writers who need help. You can fill out a form, requesting help with anything they need. From critiques of queries, first 250 words to helping promote their books, and blogs. There's something for everyone.

A large group of Writers are waiting to help you with your submissions to see how many people they can help in a week. 

There's also giveaways every day. So go to Angela and Becca's new Writers Helping Writers website for all the details and take part this amazing opportunity.

Thanksgiving

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving. Yes, it's a whole month and a half before the American one. This just means that we get Christmas decorations in the stores a lot sooner.

So, today I'll be eating turkey and will be around tomorrow to visit blogs. In the meantime here is a small list of what I'm grateful for:

Family
Yes, I know it's a cliche, but really it should be everyone's number one thing they're grateful for. I'm especially grateful for my son who has left the nest this year to find his wings. Thankfully he lands at home once in a while.

Soccer
It might not be my number two, but it's right up there. I didn't play all summer (knee injury), and I missed it tremendously. Not just the game, but the ladies I play with. I'm glad to be back.

Audible Books
This September I started working 4 days a week and audible books are the only thing that seem to cure my, at times, road rageness.

Critique People
I'm grateful for anyone who is willing to read my words and give me feedback. And I'm also grateful for those willing for me to read their words so I can learn more.

Speaking of people who have helped my writing. Angela Ackerman has been a big help to me over the past couple of years and this month, along with her writing partner Becca Puglisi, are launching two new Thesaurus books. I love my Emotion Thesaurus and use it all the time.

So go visit their new website

to learn more about how they are helping writers.

The One Thing I Wish Agents Would Do

Okay there are probably many things that I don't know about since I don't have an agent, but there is one thing I wish agents would do during the query process.

Ready. . .

When you send a query by email, I wish they would send an automatic email back saying they received the query.

Not so hard.

There's actually a few that already do. But for those who don't this would save a lot of wondering. Lots of times you read on an agent's website. "If you don't hear from us within three months, you can safely assume we are not interested in your project."

If they sent an email back, this thought would never cross my mind. I haven't heard back yet, how do I know if the agent even got the email or if they just weren't interested.

Note: Some agents do say if you don't hear from us, then resend, but see insecure writer feeling above.

But wouldn't all of these problems be solved with an automatic reply that says: "Thank you for your interested in PN Literary, we take every query seriously and will get back to you as soon as we can."

Maybe I'm just being crazy and there's a reason most agents don't do this. If you know, please share.

How about you? Is there any one thing you wish agents would do?

Letting it Soak

I am the queen of letting pots, pans, and sticky bowls soak. I get most of the dishes done, but then I reach the dirtiest pot I decide it will be easier to clean later. Lots of times it is, the hot water pulls the caked on grease off the sides, but sometimes it would have been easy just to wipe it clean right away and more often than not letting it soak makes it harder, especially if you don't cover all of it in hot water.

I feel this way with writing sometimes. I reach a hard part and instead of just writing it, I leave it soak thinking it will be easier when I go back to it. Sometimes it is, but lots of times I've lost momentum and it's a lot harder to get it back.

Tonight I washed all of the dishes, even the caked on pots and it was nice to have a clean kitchen when I went to bed. I think I need to apply this to my writing. Just keep going and don't put it off until tomorrow.

How about you? Do you leave your writing to soak?

The Age of the PVR

First of all I have to admit I'm not a huge football fan but last November my family went over to my a friend's house to watch the Canadian version of the Super Bowl. It's called the Grey Cup. Don't laugh, we did have Justin Beiber and Carly Rae Jepsen perform the half time show.

Anyway we got there expecting the game to be on, but instead our friend was PVRing it, so we could fast forward through the commercials. We don't have great commercials for the Grey Cup, so I thought okay, that's not a bad idea, but then we started watching the game. He'd fast forward the commercials, all the commentary, then eventually everything except the actually plays. So if you think about it, we watched the game in about twenty minutes. We went home and decided we didn't really like watching the game that way.

I don't like the commercials, but I like the commentary, I like the set up, the anticipation of the play. That's part of the game.

I have to admit I have skimmed a few books in my day. It's usually badly written books where I'm in a hurry to reach the end. But I've also skimmed popular books, because I'm so anxious to get to the end. I did this with the last Harry Potter book. Big mistake. I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.  I've learned my lesson. If the book is good, I read every word, enjoy the build up, the anticipation. I've stopped reading my books, like I'm watching a show I've PVR'd.

How about you? Are you guilty of being a skimmer? Did you ever regret it?