Tag: Books

Secret project revealed!

Pretty excited about this! Here’s the press release for the 2009 Debutantes e-anthology:

New York Times bestselling author Jessica Verday announces an e-anthology featuring 25 authors from the writers group 2009 Debutantes

The bestselling author of THE HOLLOW Trilogy, Jessica Verday, has gathered 24 other authors for a kind of Young Adult sampler featuring a theme of “Firsts.” The eBook will be published by Verday herself and she will be co-editing with Rhonda Stapleton author of the STUPID CUPID series.

This eBook will give readers a chance to sample the stories of 25 different authors exploring what it’s like to experience something for the first time. From first kiss to first love, there’s no time like the first time.

“This is an innovative way for authors to reach out to readers in a single book that anyone can afford. Readers get the chance to find a new story from some of their favorite authors, and while they’re at it, be introduced to other authors they may not have been able to get to know yet,” says Verday.

The e-anthology will be available on Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. The tentative release date is October 4, 2011.

Contributing authors are: Jessica Verday, Carrie Ryan, Rhonda Stapleton, Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Teri Hall, Stacey Jay, C. Lee McKenzie, Janet Gurtler, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Kristina Springer, Charity Tahmaseb, Jon Skovron, Heidi Kling, Saundra Mitchell, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Lara Zielin, Shani Petroff, Kurtis Scaletta, J.A. Yang, Jennifer Brown, and Sydney Salter.

Cover to be revealed May 2011.

You can read a bit more over at Jessica’s blog.

You know what this means, of course. I am writing under contract. So, I guess I better get busy and do just that.

More updates to come, I’m sure.

WWW Wednesday: the post-Rita edition

It’s WWW Wednesday!

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

On Monday evening, I entered the last score for the Rita books I’ve been reading and heaved a sigh of relief. Not that reading for the contest is a bad thing. It’s the pressure, the list of books waiting for their score. They look so sad, sitting there, scoreless. But no more!

So, now, back to talking about books!

Currently reading:

On the nightstand: The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell ~ the new release from the wonderfully talented Saundra, one of the 2009 Debs.

In the car: Matched by Ally Condie ~ this is a great book–and audio book–so far. Really enjoying my commute this week.

 Just finished reading:

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby ~ Wow, this one was … intense, but I got a lot out of it.

Reading next:

For the nightstand: Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer ~ Sara’s debut and I can’t wait to read it.

For the car: The Girl Who Played with Fire by StiegLarsson ~ the first one was a great commute read, minus scratches on the CDs. I have high hopes for this one.

Peeking out …

Peeking out from behind my stack of Rita Award books*. Just one more to go! So … clearly I’ve been reading. And I’ve been writing, too. I just haven’t been writing in my blog (again, clearly).

So what better way to illustrate that than posting a  picture of a kitten and some books! Who doesn’t love kittens? Or books? Plus, Googling “stack of books” + kitten is like gold. Ah, internets, I love you.

I hope to return to a more reliable (oh, who am I kidding, I won’t be that reliable) or more frequent, at least, blogging schedule soon.

Until then, I have books to read.

*Books pictured do not resemble actual Rita books. Any similarity is purely coincidental.

Book through Thursday, on Wednesday, with a contest

Look! A book giveaway over at Booking Through Thursday! The author is offering  signed, personalized hardcover copy, and all you need to do is leave a comment on this post over at Booking Through Thursday.

About the book:

From Amazon: When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. Harrowing moments later, she bobs to the surface, pulling a terrified little boy with her. As the ferry disappears into the distance, she begins a bone-chilling swim nearly a mile to shore with a tiny passenger on her back.

Surprisingly, he speaks only French. He’ll acknowledge that his name is Paul; otherwise, he’s resolutely mute.

Troy assumes that Paul’s frantic parents will be in touch with the police or the press. But what follows is a shocking and deafening silence. And Troy, a freelance writer, finds herself as fiercely determined to protect Paul as she is to find out what happened to him. What she uncovers will take her into a world of wealth and privilege and heedless self-indulgence—a world in which the murder of a child is not unthinkable. She’ll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself.

Sara J. Henry’s powerful and compelling Learning to Swim will move and disturb readers right up to its shattering conclusion.

Wow! Sounds great. I’d say, “Good luck!” to anyone who enters except I want to win.

BTT: Is this the real life

From Booking Through Thursday this week:

I am paraphrasing from a friend’s Facebook wall her question:
“How would a teen-age boy who is going to work with his hands ever use Literature of England in his work?”
The age-old “How am I going to use this in real life?” question. How would you answer it?

Participants this week are writing some wonderful answers. For the sake of time, I’m going steal mine. From one of the writing craft books I’m working through (yes, it’s true, the answer to the question about reading is in … a book):

From The Anatomy of Story by John Truby:

Stories don’t show the audience* the “real world”; they show the story world. The story world isn’t a copy of life as it is. It’s life as human beings imagine it could be. It is human life condensed and heightened so that the audience can gain a better understanding of how life itself works.

*Note: The book is billed as a screenwriting book (hence the use of audience), but it applies to all types of stories.

Books, literature, stories teach us empathy. What’s that old saying? You never really know someone until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. Literature lets us do that. Never mind cultural literacy, I believe reading can make us better people.

Plus, having a passing familiarity with the Western Canon means you don’t have to have people explain song lyrics to you.

Happy Book Release Day: The Locket by Stacey Jay

2009 Deb Stacey Jay has a new YA novel out today:

 The Locket

What if you got a second chance to fix your worst mistake?

What if you found out miracles could happen?

What if you found out that sometimes, miracles are curses in disguise…

One girl, two boys, and one very scary piece of jewelry.

Read the prologue here. Congrats to Stacey! This looks like a fabulous book!

BTT: Booking it heavy

Booking through Thursday this week:

What’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?

Well, I’ve read both War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Anna I’ve read twice, and I think I would like to read again at some point. And yes, it was for school. I did an entire semester of Tolstoy and one of Gogol. I’m pretty well-versed in Tolstoy and Gogol (in fact, my senior paper was on The Church versus the Devil in Gogol’s Ukrainian stories, which is something everyone wants to know about).

I’ve also read Gone With the Wind, which is also pretty hefty. Oh, and let’s throw in some Dickens (Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities). There’s also Leon Uris (Mila 18 and Exodus) not to mention James A. Michener (although, at the moment, I can’t remember what I read, but it probably had a lot of setting).

And, of course, Jane Eyre. Who could forget Jane?

In other words, big, fat books? Bring. Them. On.

WWW Wednesday: it’s here again!

Again, courtesy of Should Be Reading, comes WWW Wednesday:

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next? 

Currently reading:

  • Leaving A Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson (Taking a cue from Oh! and going through some of the many writing craft books I own. This one is very low key.)
  • The Hollow by Jessica Verday (commute book on audio)
  • An awesome manuscript written by a friend (on the Kindle. Man, I love my Kindle.)

Recently Read:

  • Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Why hadn’t I read this before? It’s utterly charming.)
  • Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (I just finished this … OMG. I. Loved. It. It’s incredible. I’m going to have to do a fangirl post/review of this one.)

Up next:

  • Rita books. The box has not yet arrived, but I expect it any day now.
  • Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Teaser Tuesday: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“History is a Rorschach test, people,” she said. “What you see when you look at it tells you as much about yourself as it does about the past.”

~ p. 300, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

L. K. Madigan’s feast of awesome giveaway

The 2009 Debs are celebrating L.K. Madigan’s wonderful books to support her fight against cancer. This past week Lisa shared her very difficult news on her blog.

To show our love and support for her, we’re giving away 40 sets of her two novels over on the 2009 Debs website. Each winner will receive both Flash Burnout and The Mermaid’s Mirror. To enter, simply help spread the love.

Lisa’s first novel, FLASH BURNOUT, won the Morris Award in 2009. Her second novel, THE MERMAID’S MIRROR received a starred review from Booklist.

The contest runs through Monday, January 31st. Click through to the 2009 Debs website for all the information.