B: Beyond The Blog
I will admit to a case of the TGIFs this week–it was a looong one! Still, it had many fabulous parts to it. The crew I’ve been sailing with won the series we’ve been taking part in since last October, and there was a trophy and all, and we are not a little proud of ourselves. Celebratory dinner to come!
Speaking of dinner, Meg and I had dinner with the lovely Laura Hughes (yes, in addition to our original lunch), because she was fab and we needed to see more of her. There was food and loud and dorky writer-jokes and gelato and more.
There has been mad writing at our house this week, with revisions and deadlines and moments of inspiration flying in every direction. I have also attacked the blog a little more. If a few of you would be so kind as to try the RSS subscribe and Subscribe By Email options and let me know if they actually work, I would be most grateful! I am not so much with the technological expertise. I have also introduced a widget that shows up under the ‘Regulars’ title to the right hand side–it lists my most frequent commenters. Much love to you all!
T: Things I Like
Why the fireworks up above, you ask? They are for the very lovely Kat Zhang, who just signed a major (yes, major!) three book deal with HarperCollins.
This cool article from Kate Hart, breaking down YA deals over the last year, showing the number of debut deals, deals by dollars and single vs. multi-book deals.
Crits For Water is now live! Donate a dollar to get a critique of 250 words, bid on auctions or donate to enter random drawings from fabulous guests!
W: What I’m Reading
THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. I’m sure most of you have read this before, so I won’t go on. In the midst of all the dystopian books around right now, I’ve been thinking back to the first one I remember reading. We read THE GIVER at school when I was about thirteen, and although that means I now haven’t read it in some seventeen years, there were still some scenes I remembered with utter clarity–though I don’t want to say too much about them, as I hate spoilers. I think the lessons Jonas learns from The Giver stick with a lot of readers long after the book’s finished. THE GIVER is an incredible example of the types of issues middle grade books can tackle.
What are you up to this weekend? Hope it’s a good one!
Thanks, hope you have a great weekend too. We actually have a warmish sunny day is our part of the world. Hurray!
I love The Giver, as well as every other book I’ve read by Lowry. Sounds like you’ve been busy and having fun
I want to get my house clean this weekend. Really, really clean. And more outlining done.
We’ll see!
Yay for Kat! Fantastic news, definitely worthy of fireworks. This weekend I am wrapping up final edits on my latest manuscript and getting ready to start querying agents. *bites nails*
The RSS feed works fine. I’m following you in Google Reader, though I must confess, I tend to follow those who leave comments on my blog first since time is limited.
I am working on a short story, a novella and the sequel to my epic fantasy. The short story is finished, back from my editor and now off to my proof reader to be sure I didn’t accidentally do some silly thing while making corrections. The novella is almost done after which I will send it off to my critique partner. The sequel to my epic fantasy has 6 chapters done. After the novella is done I will write another six chapters and then work on the sequel to my novella which is another novella. Now if you are confused, rest assured, I have a plan that only I can understand. Hehehe.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium.
Had a lovely weekend. Sounds like you had a lovely time too!
I love Louis Lowry! I still want to be Anastasia Krupnik. Her books are classics that can be read many, many times.
Sounds like you had a busy but productive week.
I think I’m the only person alive who hasn’t read The Giver, but it is on my to-read list after my son recommended it. He does that all the time which is wonderful because he always has a book in his hands.
Well congrats to you! And thanks for the nice links.
I remember reading The Giver for the first time in middle school and totally loved it.
And best of luck with deadlines and revisions…YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
Thanks so much for following my blog.
If you’re interested, come sign up for my 100-Followers Blogfest, titled “Inanimation,” it’s going to be great!
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com/2011/04/100-followers-blogfest-inanimation.html
~TRA
Congratulations on the sailing award! What a thrill for you!
Looking forward to checking out some of those links!
Congratulations on the win! I want to see pictures
I haven’t read THE GIVER yet. Isn’t that terrible?
Oh I’ve never read The Giver I really must!
Kat Zhang’s book sounds wonderful The Golden Compass meets Girl Interrupted! It’s on my TBR list
Glad the inspiration is flying
Oh I’ve never read The Giver I really must!
Kat Zhang’s book sounds wonderful The Golden Compass meets Girl Interrupted! It’s on my TBR list
Glad the inspiration is flying
congrats on your sailing win!
I’ve not read the Giver. Sounds like I should though
The Giver is a great book.
Congrats on the trophy.
I wasn’t able to finish THE GIVER. I wanted to give it a try, but couldn’t get into it.
Love the new look of your blog… your header is fantastic!
The Giver is amazing. It was required reading back when I was a fifth grade teacher, and I still like to reread it every few years. If I ever have a baby boy, I have this weird urge to name him Asher, specifically because of this book. My husband says NO WAY!
Sorry, I’m not good with the whole RSS feed thingy.
xx