Reader Habits

I was racking my brain for a clever blog when I came across this "meme" or questionaire on StoryWings.
Perfect!!!

Here are the questions and my answers...

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:
As a rule, I don't snack while reading. I have a cow if the pages get messed up so I pretty much save the snacking for in front of the T.V.

What is your favorite drink while reading?
Starbucks or Dr.Pepper.


Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Right...like that would ever happen! One time my husband tried to bend one of the pages and I about had a heart attack!


How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I have an overabundance of bookmarks in case I start more than one book. I try to avoid this but sometimes it just happens. There is no bending of the pages and I never remember the page I'm on.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
I'm fiction all the way. I only read non-fiction when we do a book study at work.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I like to read to the end of a chapter...but sometimes life gets in the way and I have to stop wherever. Hate it when that happens.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No-way! If I drop a book I feel bad. I don't like getting them messed up.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Usually I can read the context clues and get somewhat of an idea. But no I don't stop.

What are you currently reading?
Spells by Aprilynn Pike

What is the last book you bought?
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Just finished reading it and WOW!)

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I try to focus on one at a time but there are times for one reason or another that I start another book.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I read whenever I have time, whether it be morning, noon or night. I get very little time so when I do I take advantage of it.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I tend to gravitate toward series. When I like a book I hate for the story to end and like knowing there's more to come.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Usually titles...The Mortal Instruments, Hunger Games Vampire Academy, Night World.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)I have my book shelves organized with all the books in a series together with no particular order. Just however I think looks good. I know crazy right?

Want to join in? Take these questions and post on your own blog, leave a link here, then visit Storywings here and post your answers too. Enjoy!

Last day of school!!!!!

Short post today...I'm just so excited I can hardly stand myself!
Today is the last day of school! I have exacty three hours and fifteen minutes of teaching today and then I'll be living my dream! I'll get to stay home with my kiddos...write to my hearts content...and maybe, just maybe get some much needed sleep!!!! This will last approximately two months. (sigh)

Before I know it, August will roll around and I'll be right back to work. (BOO!) But I can enjoy it while it lasts right?

Have any celebrating going on in your world? Exciting new books? Please stop and share! Happy Thursday everyone!

Back to the Drawing Board....

Well maybe not quite all the way back...but, I have this work in progress (sigh) that I've been working on furiously. I'm certain there are a few of you out there who can relate. Anyway, I sent the first few chapters out to my first beta, she's the one who makes sure whats going on in my head makes sense. Huge job for her I know! Well, I've been so into the story that my MC is coming off as too nice! Nice! Not good!

The problem with this you ask? My MC is supposed to be this larger than life huntress of mythical creatures so nice does not quite fit in the mix. At least not all of the time. So...I'm combing over the first 45,000 words in order to add fire to her character. Or at least that's what I'm supposed to be doing.

Has this happened to any of you? Please say that I'm not alone!

The Next Top Title Blogfest

Slushpile Slut is having a title blogfest.
Oh yes! This is so up my alley!
I like so many of you have this little thing I like to call a work in progress.
And coming up with a title (among other things) has been an absolute nightmare!
Anyone else game for this little challenge?

Here's what you do:

1.Become a follower on Slushpile Slut Here
2.While you're there...sign up
3.Then on June 12th, post 3-5 Potential titles for your book. Don't give any backgroud knowledge, just the titles.

Complete rules and details are listed on her blog.
See you there!

Congrats Elana!

Just had to join the squeeeee fest for Elana!
Congrats go out to her for signing a book deal for her debut novel CONTROL ISSUES
Read her clever announcement here.


Here is the announcement from PM:
Elana Johnson's CONTROL ISSUES, set in a brainwashed society where those gifted with mind control best join the powers that be, but one rebel girl tries to beat them at their own game, to Anica Rissi at Simon Pulse, by Michelle Andelman at Lynn Franklin Associates (NA).

Be sure you follow her! if you get her newsletter, you know that she is celebrating on her blog with a contest with AWESOME prizes that will be announced Monday!

The 2010 Debut Author Reading Challenge

Need a challenge for your summer reading list?
Check this out...


I was visiting The Story Siren, one of my favorite blogs and discovered this great challenge that I just had to enter. The idea is to read at least 12 novels by debut authors limited to the year 2010.





So I'm a little late in submitting my entry to the challenge but summer is the time that I get most of my reading done anyway.
So why not?

Here is my list for the challenge.

1. Other by Karen Kincy
2. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
3. Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson
4. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
5. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
6. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
7. Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
8. Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
9. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
10. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
11. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
12. Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

Ready to take up the challenge for yourself? For complete details and all rules and guidelines, visit The Story Siren Here. Good Luck! And Happy Reading!

Today's The Day!

The highly anticipated fifth novel in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy Series hits store shelves today. So...I've got my Borders coupon in hand and plan to pick up my copy as soon as school gets out today. Goodreads description-

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong… After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and he's out there, somewhere. She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he's silenced her...forever.

For those of you who have yet to check out the series, I highly recommend that you do.

Happy Reading!

Fantasy Island Blog Fest

Okay, so I was doing a "Quick Check" of my favorite blogs this morning before work and stumbled upon this blog hop and couldn't resist.

Arlee Bird at Tossing it out started this blog fest. Participants have to choose 15 albums that are thier favorites, or have special meaning.

I can't survive without my music! So here is my list though I have had a hard time narrowing it down!

1. Daughtry-Leave This Town

2. Muse-The Resistance

3. Lifehouse -Smoke and Mirrors

4. Samhain-We Are The Fallen

5. Evanescence-The Open Door

6. Plum-Chaotic Resolve

7. Within Temptation-The Heart of Everything

8. One Republic-Dreaming Out Loud

9. Anya Marina-Slow and Steady Seduction

10. Paramore-Brand New Eyes

11. Nickelback-Dark Horse

12. Creed-Full Circle

13. Lady GaGa-The Fame Monster

14. Adam Lambert-For Your Entertainment

15. Bat For Lashes-Two Suns

So that's mine.

My Ever Growing Reading List

So, I keep adding books to my reading list. Every time I go to the store I pick up a new book. Of course my excuse is all of the wonderful coupons I get from my Borders Rewards membership. Who can pass up a good bargain? Then there's my Goodreads account. I can't log on without adding more, but I love that site! It keeps everything nice and organized. But in any event...I have this growing stack of wonderful books that more than likely won't be touched until school is out in about two weeks.

So far the new books sitting beautifully on my book shelves in no particular order are the following:

Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Burned by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Captivate by Carrie Jones

Radiant Shadows by Mellissa Marr

Spells by Aprilynn Pike

Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

You get the idea...it just grows and grows. And don't get me started on all the new releases coming out. We'll get to those at a later date!

So to all you avid readers and writers/readers. What's keeping you from sleeping? Please tell me I'm not alone!

New Contest!

I love contests! And love to spread the word.

Here is yet another good one.


In honor of having a full 150 followers, Lydia Kang will be giving out three prizes, a week from today.

The first is a $15 B&N gift card!

Second Prize is:A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly, a favorite of hers. she describes it as a fragile and beautifully written YA historical that melds fact and fiction. (I'll be adding this one to my reading list.)

And the third Prize is a $10 gift card to Starbucks. (I could not survive without my Starbucks!)

So head on over to her blog: The Word is my Oyster and enter!

Query Letters?

What on earth is a query letter?

This was my comment about two years ago when the idea to make an attempt at publication was put into my head. First order of business...find an agent. Okay, so how does one go about finding one of these elusive beings? Answer: A query letter.

Now I'm no expert...not even pretending to be. But for anyone who might possibly be in the same boat that I was in, here is my unsolicited teensy bit of help.

The bottom line is you want your letter to practically jump out of the slush pile. So start with a great hook and reel them in from there. The first part I was okay with. It was the rest of the letter that pretty much stunk. How do you sum up 100,000 words in one page and give a little snippet of yourself? Not a clue.

So.

After scouring the internet I found wonderful help on Nathan Bransford's blog post-
"Query Letter Mad Lib." Here and "Anatomy of a Good Query Letter." Here

Now, once you write and polish your letter to a beautiful shine. Click Here to head on over to the Query Tracker Forum where you can post your newly sparkling letter for the fantabulous members in the forum to critique. Scared? Dont be. This site is the gold mine that answered all my questions!

Why A? The Blog of Lisa Amowitz, young adult writer: Claire de Lune Contest Giveaway

This looks like a great read and fantastic opportunity to win a copy. Click below for instructions. Good Luck!
Claire-De-Lune-Giveaway

Cat's Out of the Bag Now!

Does anyone feel like they've answered the same question at least ten times? Twenty? More?

If you have your hand in the air waving it around like a maniac, then I'm right there with you. Somewhere around the area of two years ago, I needed some sort of way to relieve the craziness that is my life. So what did I do? Started writing. I didn't tell anyone at first. Then just my sister, she read a few chapters then asked for more. You get the idea.

I know, crazy way to relieve stress. Funny thing is...it works for me. I can plot and scheme in my head all day long and then when the kiddos go to bed, write to my little hearts content, creating a world where I'm in charge and can have free reign over what happens. What more can you ask for?

So I come to the question that everyone and I do mean everyone asks when they find out about the book. When do you have time?

My answer: I wake up at a ridiculous hour, get ready for work, then write until I have to get everyone else ready. Then at night after about one hundred other things are finished, I write some more. Some days it's one page, some a whole chapter...just depends on how wound up my mind is that particular day.

So now everyone knows the method to my madness. I'm not saying its pretty or even normal...but from what I've been told, writers aren't normal. I can live with that.

This Is So Me It's Scary!

So I was reading one of my favorite blogs today and found myself relating to this posting by Elana Johnson so closely that it was frightening. This explains so much!

Writers and non-writers alike should check it out.


Elana Johnson

Procrastination

I've never been one to procrastinate. Frankly the entire process drives me insane! Like when my twelve year old won't just go clean his room!

Alas, I must say I can now empathize, blogging is a foreign and scary concept for me. I've gone back and forth with the idea...yes, I have been procrastinating. But, since I've been told what a great idea it is and I love reading them myself, I finally decided, with a little encouragement to dive in head first and give it a try. So bear with me! I'm used to hiding out in my writing cave emerging only to go to work.

Renae