18 YA Fiction Pick and Mix 9/21/13 Plus MORE THAN THIS by Patrick Ness Giveaway

My bit of celebration and "time off" was short-lived after turning in my edits. I drove down to Virginia Beach to attend the Donald Maass Breakout Novel Intensive. Holy wow. Mind. Blown. (Seriously, it's in pieces and I am picking them up off the floor.) I also have line-edits. These are painful. Necessary though. Editing at this deep a level is really teaching me a lot about my bad writing habits and how much more careful I need to be with clarity. While working on building Book 2 in a bigger way for the workshop, working on Book 1 simultaneously makes me want to curl up in a corner and suck my thumb. I am not going to lie, there have been a few tears. The great thing about being at a workshop like this is there are lots of people who have been where I am. It's even better that they are willing to share their expertise and offer a hankie to the newbie.

Bottom line? Writers rock.

Have a great week, everyone!

Happy reading and writing,

Martina

Thought for the Week

via Pinterest

Young Adult Novel Giveaway This Week

MORE THAN THIS by Patrick Ness

From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.

A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .

Purchase on Amazon | Purchase on IndieBound | View on Goodreads

Young Adult Novel Giveaway Last Week -- Winner

Heather Raglin

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. 

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back. 

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch

Purchase Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea at Amazon
Purchase Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea at IndieBound
View Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea on Goodreads

Young Adult Reader of the Week:

Marie Hemphill

* Want to be the reader of the week next week? Leave a comment on our Thursday, Friday, or Saturday posts! 

   

Young Adult Writer/Blogger of the Week: 

Marcy Hatch

Marcy's a contributor over at Unicorn Bell, but also blogs on her own at Maine Words. She's endlessly fun and supportive, so hop on over to both those blogs and wave hello!

* Want to be the blogger of the week next week? To be honest, this is pretty much the only way I have time to discover new blogs, so it's a great way to get into my twitter feed and into these round-up posts if you have great content to share. Leave a comment. I'll pick from among the bloggers who leave comments here on the blog today through Wednesday.

Writing Tip of the Week

To create a page-turner, create tension by giving your POV character unexpected emotions, think sideways or opposite of the emotions readers expect.

~ Donald Maass  

Another Writing Tip

Highly emotional high intensity scenes--violence, romance, anything that means a lot to your character--should take slow page time. But low temperature, low-emotion scenes should go by fast.

~ Lorin Oberweger

Writing Brain Fuel     

See more George R.R. Martin quotes here