Poking my head out of revisions to say Hey! I joined the Bookanistas!  So excited to spread the word on books we love to the blogosphere, WOOT!

See what the Bookanistas are highlighting today:

Happy reading!

First off–a cover reveal! Check out fellow Apocalypsie Jessica Spotwood’s cover for BORN WICKED–isn’t it STUNNING???

Check out her celebratory contest here.

So, some news. My blog posting time is going to be limited this summer as I dive into revisions for MILA 2.0.

I’ll try to not to disappear completely, but instead continue with updates, photos, and little bits of randomness.  In fact,  I’m going to kick off my revision-mania with an ARC giveaway!

This giveaway is for Andrea Cremer’s WOLFSBANE, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to NIGHTSHADE.

Summary:

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended–Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she’s certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer–one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack–and the man–she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive

If you’re a Nightshade fan then I know you must be panting after this book (cough, couldn’t resist), which comes at the end of July!

To win, we’re going to  play a little game called Name That Musk.  Tell me in the comments what you’d name a designer werewolf cologne or perfume.  You get an extra entry for tweeting about the contest, and entries close on Monday, June 20^th, at noon PST.

Good luck!

Based on my looming deadline, this post will be superbrief.  Just a quick announcement to say it’s week three of the DIVERGENT Faction Challenge, and by request, the faction we’ll be trying to embody is…

CANDOR.

Based on the Facebook quiz, this would be my faction. Personally, I’m  thinking the combination of sleep deprivation and honesty should require me to wear a warning sign.

Tune in Friday to find out how all the bloggers fared by telling it how it is.

Week Two in the Faction Challenge (inspired by Veronica Roth’s debut novel DIVERGENT) has finally ended. How did I do during Amity Week?

Well, I ATE apples. So there’s that. Oh, and I sang! Katy Perry’s E.T., and One Potato Two Potato Three Potato Four. Which should really earn me extra points because it’s a song about farm-y stuff.

My 3-yr-old struggled with Amity this week as well.  Example?  How about the time she walked down the stairs, eyed her older brother’s elaborate Lincoln Log creation, and then kicked it over for no apparent reason…and she did it with a song in her heart.

My money's on the 3-yr-old

I’m pegging her for a Dauntless.

Also, I was hyper-aware of my non-Amity-like thoughts this week, even when I didn’t act on them. I’m still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Overall, I guess I’d say that while Amity wasn’t an unqualified fail like Abnegation, it also wasn’t as simple an undertaking as I’d hoped.

But enough about me—how did everyone else do? Check the (continuously updated) links below and find out!

Kathleen Peacock

Katharine Owens

Lora 

Kaitlin Ward

Jamie Blair/GotYA

Sarah Enni

Nikki Katz

Lori Tays Eastep

Kate Hart

Dana Alison Levy

This week’s YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday:

How do you reward yourself when you meet your writing goals? Answer for big goals (i.e. I will buy a Lear jet when I get published) and/or small goals (I eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s in one sitting when I finish each chapter).

For me, the best rewards after a big writing spree are the ones that allow me to shut down my brain and recharge. Often, I’ll head for the movie theater and lose myself in someone else’s fictional world for awhile.

Or, when I hit a bigger writing goal, like finish a draft or a revision, I might spend the next day vegging in front of the TV.  Often, this will involve cramming as many episodes of a particular series into 24 hours as possible. Or curling up with books all day long.

Don't ask how many times I've watched this.

Being Human

If I’ve been particularly hermity, like before a deadline, I’ll spend the weekend with my family. Or go out to dinner with friends. Or go for a run to lose one of the five pounds I probably just gained from prolonged sitting and chocolate eating.

Nothing fancy, and nothing pre-planned. Basically, just whatever sounds good at the time.

We’re on week two of our DIVERGENT Faction Challenge, where participants tackle Veronica Roth’s factions from her amazing YA debut, DIVERGENT-–one faction at a time.  Last week we tried Abnegation.  Now, let’s be honest.  Abnegation week did not go so well. In fact, based on the blog posts I read, Abnegation was kicking un-selfless butt all across the country.

This week, I’m choosing an easier faction. Something…fun. Something…banjo-y.

(No, NOT the Deliverance type of banjo. Which is totally stuck in my head now. Awesome.)

Meep!

Those of you who’ve read the Divergent know I’m taking about AMITY, The Peaceful. The faction that got to ride around in farm clothes in the back of a truck, eating apples and strumming tunes while everyone else tried not to croak.

From the DIVERGENT fansite:

AMITY:

1. friendship; peaceful harmony.

2. mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations; peace; accord.

3. cordiality

It’s not just about banjos and apple-picking.* It’s about cultivating strong relationships and trying to understand each other.

*Whoa, wait a second.  This faction isn’t just about banjos?  CURSES.

Here’s what else Veronica says about Amity:

–Dresses in Red or Yellow

–Seem Kind, Loving and Free

–Understanding counselors and caretakers

What do you think?  Will this faction be easier than the last one?  Check back on Friday to find out!

Amity Cat

It’s Friday!  Which means…I get to tell you all how Abnegation kicked my butt  in the DIVERGENT Faction-of-the-week Challenge, inspired by Veronica Roth’s amazing book!  (Don’t know what the challenge is? Read about it here.)

(FYI–Blogger’s been super wonky, so I expect many participants will be late with their posts.  Just keep checking back in!)

So, I don’t know about you, but I definitely learned something this week.

I’m not cut out for Abnegation.

It’s not that I didn’t like doing nice things for other people. It’s that I liked it too much.  Every time I did something nice, I actually felt a sense of gratification. Whether I donated items for a charity auction, added a dollar to my grocery bill to benefit a good cause, gave extra time to my kids instead of working, or even performed the common courtesy acts I try to do on a daily basis—hold open doors, let people in while driving—they all served the same purpose. They made ME feel good.  And since Abnegation is sort of like the anti-me faction, I’m not sure I can consider any of that a success. This past week really made me think hard on the nature of selflessness, and if there IS a truly selfless act.

Oh, and the vanity thing. HOLY COW. If you’d asked me prior to this challenge how I rated on a vanity scale, I probably would have said on most days, low to moderate. I mean, I almost always pull my hair back in a ponytail, spend about three minutes slopping on some make-up, rarely bother with lipstick, and throw on whatever clothes are convenient (i.e. easy to find in my disaster zone of a closet).

So yesterday, thinking it would be no big deal, I went without make-up.   And for the first hour afterwards, THAT’S ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT.  It got better as the day wore on—I’d forget for stretches—but OMG, every time I passed a mirror, I stared. And fretted. Will everyone see the circles under my eyes?  Do my eyebrows look freakish?

Is this my color?

You know what was REALLY weird?  In a way, going without make-up made me vainer than actually wearing it.   Because on a typical day, I spend my fifteen minutes getting dressed and then I don’t think about my appearance again. Whereas yesterday, I thought about it. A LOT.   I guess that either makes me:  a) vainer than I thought (eyebrow pencil! EYEBROW PENCIL!  MY KINGDOM FOR AN EYEBROW PENCIL!) or b) very comfortable with my usual appearance and very uncomfortable with change.

And I was. Very. Uncomfortable. At least, when I remembered to think about it.  Which made me pause to consider how utterly miserable it must feel to be uncomfortable with how you look on a daily basis.

But that’s another story.

(We won’t even talk about how I also gave up flat-ironing my bangs. Which I only bother with when they’re overgrown. Only—they’re seriously, seriously overgrown. So they were basically sticking out from the side of my head about two inches, waiting to stab the dude in line next to me at Starbucks in the eye. But we won’t talk about that. Meep.)

So, sadly, I’m a giant Abnegation Fail. How did others fare?  Read about their experiences here (I’ll keep updating the list as posts pop up!):

Kaitlin

Sarah Enni

Dawn Rae Miller

Lori Tays Eastep

Lyn Almodovar

Jenn Wood

Jamie Blair/GotYA

Dana Alison Levy

Ashelynn

Nikki Katz

Katharine Owens

Kathleen Peacock

Kathy Bradey

Let’s kick off Wednesday with a cover reveal—fellow Apocalypsie Leanna Renee Hieber just got her cover. Isn’t is AWESOME???

YAY Leanna–can’t wait until it comes out!

Next–let’s finish the post by tagging along with YA Highway on Road Trip Wednesday! This week’s question is:

If you could have any celebrity read the audio version of your WIP or favorite book, who would it be?

My books: For Demon Guard, I think it would be Kristen Bell. Summer just has this sort of chip on her shoulder, and it often comes out via snark.  I think the voice of Veronica Mars would be perfect.

MILA…wow, that’s a tough one. It’s a totally different book.  In my head, I hear someone a little more precise in her speaking, someone a little less humorous.  And even though Blair Waldorf is nothing at all like my MC, I think Leighton Meester’s voice could really suit the story.

Favorite books: You know, I think I’d listen to Chris Hemsworth narrate just about anything. *sighs*

I’m curious—what do you think is the biggest key to getting published?  Talent?  Timing?  Luck?

Early on, I probably would have said talent.  I mean, it makes sense, right? You write a good book, you get published. Simple.

Except…that’s where timing comes in.  Because as most struggling writers know by now, you can write a good book, but if your timing is off, you still might not get published.  For example—you might have recently written a vampire book. And your vampire book might be darn good. But, the timing is such that vampire books are a tough sell these days, especially those featuring bloodsuckers of the sparkly variety. So yes, bad timing can definitely throw a bump in the road to publication. Or even a mountain.

As for luck, well…I think it’s basically just a matter of talent and timing coming together. Like, you might call it lucky if you happened to write a fabulous dystopian book and got it on sub at the very beginning of the big dystopian craze.

And while I still think all of these things are important, I’m going to argue that a fourth quality crushes the first three when it comes to predicting who will get published and who won’t.  And that quality is…

…PERSEVERANCE.

Nobody ever said perseverance was easy...

Yep, good old-fashioned stick-with-it-ness.  Think about it.

The more you write, the better your writing gets, and the more likely you are to write an outstanding book.  And not only your writing improves; your craft improves—things like your ability to plot, to up the stakes, to create three-dimensional characters. Also, the longer you write, the more likely you are to eventually hit that perfect timing.

What this boils down to?  Basically, if you keep writing, you radically increase your chances of getting published.

But don’t just take my word for it. Every Tuesday for the next several weeks, read the stories of many Apocalypsies—debut 2012 YA and MG writers—who did not just whip out their very first books and get publishing contracts on the spot.. No, these authors ended up with publishing deals because of their perseverance.  Hopefully, they will inspire you and remind you that, no matter how many rejections come your way, there is one key element to being a successful writer that trumps all the others:  You Never, EVER Give Up.

Kicking off the series is the amazing Jennifer Rush, whose YA book ALTERED debuts from Little, Brown in Fall 2012:

Author Jenn Rush

I’ve been writing my entire life. I wrote my first book in the fourth grade for one of the young author’s contests and won second place. My prize was a Mickey Mouse pencil. I was hooked. That was 1993. Fast forward twelve years. I sent out my first official query letter in 2005-2006. It was for a contemporary YA called Sherbet Skies. I got a lot of great feedback from agents and editors, but no offers. I felt like I was moving in the right direction. So I worked on something new. That book bombed with beta readers. I cried ate a lot of chocolate. Nearly two years after Sherbet Skies, I finally went out with something new—a paranormal YA called Possession.

My request rate was good. Partials were turning into fulls. This was it!

But then it wasn’t.

Just one more book, I told myself. I’m this close. Writer friends were landing agents and getting book deals. My turn was coming. But then I had a baby. And my husband went back to school full-time. Unsurprisingly, writing got pushed to the back burner, which was probably for the best. Looking back, I know I wasn’t ready. I still cringe when I read Sherbet Skies. And Possession had its hokey plot moments. I’m so very glad they weren’t published, but at the time, I was devastated.

Spring of 2010, when my daughter was a year old, the writing bug hit again. I wrote a younger YA I called The Loom and when the rough draft was completed, I set it aside for the recommended couple of weeks. I had planned on taking a writing break while that book sat, but I couldn’t stay away from the computer. So I started playing around with some ideas. And suddenly this book—this new kickass book!—consumed me. I wrote like crazy. I lived, breathed, dreamed New Book. I finished the rough draft in six or seven weeks. I took another six weeks for revisions. And finally, in October, I sent ALTERED out into the world.

That first week, I received five requests. All the partial requests turned into full requests. And my agent, Joanna, read and offered rep within two days. A part of me couldn’t believe it. To have an agent read that fast and offer representation after so many years seemed like a dream. Like if I poked it too hard it’d pop.

I accepted Joanna’s offer that following week and we immediately started revisions. Because of the holidays, we waited to submit to editors. Altered went out January 17^th and we had our first offer February 11^th.

It took five years and fourteen books to get an agent. And only a few months to get a book deal. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I’d survived the journey! What if I would have given up after the first book? Or the fifth? Or the thirteenth? That’s why you can’t quit. Ever. If you love it enough, if you can’t imagine doing anything else with your life, keep writing. Or making music. Or whittling wood. Whatever your talent/passion is!

Because you never know when this close will turn into a YES.

Thanks so much, Jenn, for sharing your story! If you get a chance, check out Jenn’s blog and her amazing book ALTERED (Dollhouse meets Prison Break? I’m all over it!)  Make sure to tune in next week, when another Apocalypsie will share her inspirational road to publication tale!

And remember, no matter what you do:  Don’t. Give. Up.

OMG! OMG! OMG!  DIVERGENT IS FINALLY IN STORES!!!

Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to say that about this book?  NOW EVERYONE CAN SHARE IN THE BRILLIANCE THAT IS VERONICA ROTH’S BRAIN! (Only, you know, in a non-creepy, non-brain eating way.)

DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth is a book that makes you think, a book that stays with you long after you finish reading. A book that makes you question:  which faction would YOU choose?

DAUNTLESS—The Brave

CANDOR—The Honest

ERUDITE—The Intellectual/Knowledgeable

AMITY—The Peaceful

ABNEGATION—The Selfless

One of the many things I took away from the book is that while sticking to one virtue might sound simple, ultimately, it’s probably better to branch out a little bit.  So guess what?  I created the DIVERGENT FACTION-OF-THE-WEEK CHALLENGE, where some of my writer friends and I are going to take on all five of them!

THE CHALLENGE:

Every Monday for the next 5 weeks, I’ll announce the faction/virtue of the week. Over the next four days, we’ll be trying to perform at least ONE ACT that embodies that virtue/faction. It doesn’t have to be fancy; just something in everyday life, something we might not usually do.  Then, each Friday, we’ll all blog about our act.

THE GOAL:

TO SPREAD THE DIVERGENT LOVE–and maybe find out a little something about ourselves in the process. Tell your friends, get them involved—the more, the merrier!! If you plan to join us, leave a link in the comments section each week, and I’ll make sure to add them to the bottom of the posts.

And, in honor of the main character Tris’s upbringing, our kick-off virtue is…..

WEEK ONE:  ABNEGATION!

According to the Divergent fansite, Abnegation means:

1. To refuse or deny oneself (some rights, conveniences, etc.); reject, renounce.
2. To relinquish, give up

Basically, Veronica says the faction is about selflessness; stripping unnecessary things from life in order to help people forget themselves and do away with vanity, greed, and envy.

So, this week–GO FORTH! Step outside of your “you” zone and perform your selfless act in the wild. If you like, tweet about your trials and tribulations with an #abnegation hashtag. Then, on Friday, blog about your experience and share your Abnegation-ness with the rest of us!

Participants:

Kate Hart

Sarah Enni

Dawn Rae Miller

Jenn Wood

Lori Tays Eastep

Kathy Bradey

Jess Byam

Ashelynn Hetland

Katharine Owens

Dana Alison Levy

Sarah Nicolas

Marilyn Almodovar

Antimony

Kaitlin Ward

Cass

Adam

Nikki Katz

(Pssst! If you haven’t read DIVERGENT yet, you can still join us. Plus, what are you waiting for?  DIVERGENT is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound)