Cover Reveal: This is Sarah by Ally Malinenko (+Guest Post)

Ally Malinenko is here today, revealing the cover for her YA novel, THIS IS SARAH, and sharing some writing advice.

Writing Advice 

Here are my top five bits of writing advice from some really great writers all of whom know a heck of a lot more than I do about this writing game. Read and be wiser!

5. Garret Freyman-Weir – Author of My Heartbeat, Stay With Me, When I was Older and The Kings are Already Here.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Read. Really, I cannot begin to describe all the times I’ve met people who tell me that they would love to write, if only they could find the time (as if writing were a hobby, although given the quality of much of what is published, I sometimes think it is!), but if I talk to them at length it quickly becomes clear they do not read. That’s like wanting to run a marathon, but not wanting to run. Reading is the only way to learn how to write. It can’t be taught, exactly. It has to be absorbed.

4. Rebecca Stead – Author of When You Reach Me and Liar and Spy

What tips or advice can you share with young students who hope to start writing?

First: Read. It’s been said over and over, but reading is the most important thing an aspiring writer can do. Read what you love. Read something you think you won’t like at all. Experiment with your reading, but don’t stop reading.

Second: Don’t be discouraged by your first draft. For many writers, the first draft is a pretty terrible translation of what might be a terrific idea. Don’t stop and think, “this is awful.” It doesn’t help. Revision is just as much a part of the job as the first draft. If you aren’t willing to revise, you can’t be a writer.

3. Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) – Author of The Series of Unfortunate Events, When We Broke Up and All The Wrong Questions Series.

What’s the greatest or most memorable piece of advice on writing that you have ever received?
“Read everything out loud.”

2. Laini Taylor – Author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight

“Be an unstoppable force. Write with an imaginary machete strapped to your thigh. This is not wishy-washy, polite, drinking-tea-with-your-pinkie-sticking-out stuff. It’s who you want to be, your most powerful self. Write your books. Finish them, then make them better. Find the way. No one will make this dream come true for you but you.”

1.Neil Gaiman – Author of (tons of other stuff but also) Coraline, The Sandman Series, The Graveyard Book

Be wise

Make amazing mistakes

Break rules

Leave the world a more interesting place, and

Make good art

And he said it all quite well here in a now pretty famous commencement speech. 

So there you guy. Easy right? Read. Write. Believe. Don’t give up. Read more. Write more. Believe more. Don’t give up more.

I don’t think there’s much that I could add to this. I mean, let’s be honest – these are all big fish writers and I’m a bottom feeder – happily and joyfully – but still a bottom feeder. But I will say this:

When you do start writing don’t give up. Just write. Keep writing. When it’s good keep writing. When it’s bad keep writing. When someone tells you it’s terrible and you should stop, keep writing. When someone tells you it’s perfect don’t change it, keep writing. You know in your heart what you are striving for. One day you’ll wake up and you’ll have found your voice. But it takes work. Be ready to do the work.

About the author:

Ally Malinenko is the author of the poetry collection, The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press), and the children’s novel Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb (Antenna Books). This Is Sarah is her first YA book. Ally lives in Brooklyn with her husband and a very ridiculous tabby cat. She blogs at allymalinenko.com and you can follow her on twitter at @allymalinenko

About the book:

When Colin Leventhal leaned out his bedroom window on the night of May 12th and said goodbye to his girlfriend, he never expected it would be forever. But when Sarah Evans goes missing that night, Colin's world unravels as he is transformed from the boyfriend next door to the main police suspect. Then one year later, at her memorial service, Colin makes a phone call that could change everything. Is it possible that Sarah is still alive? And if so, what is Colin willing to do to bring her back?

And as Colin struggles with this possibility, across the street, Sarah’s little sister Claire learns how to navigate the strange new landscape that is life without her sister. Even as her parent’s fall apart, Claire is determined to keep on going. Even if it kills her.

THIS IS SARAH is a meditation on loss, love, and what it means to say goodbye.

Cover design by Anita B. Carroll at Race-Point.com

Dance Appreciation Week: Wrap Up

Well, this is a day late. So sorry! Everything's been messed up because I've been so busy with school. I'm still in a pretty big reading and blogging slump, and I don't have many scheduled posts, so the next few weeks will be a bit tough and posts will be scarce. I'm sorry for that, but I'm a Junior in high school with APs, finals, Regents, and a dance recital. Bear with me, please. :)

Anyway! I wanted to do something special to wrap-up Dance Appreciation Week, but school has clearly messed that up!

First, I would like to thank Kaitlin and Sonia for their wonderful guest posts and for being so excited to be a part of this week long celebration.
Second, I would like to thank anyone that took the time to check out even one of the posts from this week. It means a lot to me, even if you're not a dancer!
Third, I don't know how many people have actually read these posts, but I really enjoyed celebrating dance, so I hope you've all gained something from it to. If not, well, it made me happy, so! :)

Here's a list of all the posts! (Please note that as of 5/7, the Movies and TV shows post is being updated and fixed. Thanks!)

International Dance Day and What Dance Means to Me

Sonia Fuderer's Guest Post on Why Dancers Dance

My Favorite Dance-Related Poem

Kaitlin @ Reading Is My Treasure's Guest Post on Her Favorite SYTYCD Routines

Dance and Books (A List of Dance-Related/Centered Books)

Dance on the Big and Small Screen (Dance in Movies and TV Shows)

One last note: I'm currently researching some stuff for my WIP. It's dance-related, but I need all the help I can from dancers and non-dancers alike. It's a quick form that you can fill out that just asks for your opinion. You can fill out as little or as much as you want, and you can remain anonymous or give me your name. Everything helps as long as you don't troll me. This is just helping me to see how other people would react, as it's something that's hard to research in a book or something. If you fill this out or have already, THANK YOU SO MUCH! The answers I've received have already been extremely insightful and interesting.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FORM.

Fiction Friction (#7): Historical Fiction

These posts are meant to bring about some conversation, discussion, and perhaps even a debate. These discussion posts can occur at varying days of the week, mostly depending upon what's scheduled on the blog and what I feel like discussing.

Today's discussion is inspired by a conversation I had on Twitter with Jessica @ Just Another Teen Reading (if I remember correctly) about historical fiction a while back, the possible stigma against the genre, and the difference that seems to exist between YA historical fiction and MG historical fiction.

I love historical fiction. I don't read many historical fiction novels for various reasons, but it remains, to this day, one of my favorite genres. I would venture to say that my love stemmed from one book in particular, as well as being in 4th grade. The book that I would credit to my intense love for historical fiction is Midnight Rider. It's a MG book, and I haven't read it in forever, but it still fondly remains in my memory as being the reason I love history and historical fiction so much. That book, as well as the social studies curriculum in 4th grade, sparked my interest and love for history, particularly the American Revolution. To this day, it remains one of my favorite units in history. Since then, my love has only grown.

But I know that many people aren't fans of historical fiction/history. That's fine. I'm okay with that. I don't like certain genres too. Some people just can't get into historical fiction novels. But I think there's also starting to become some trends in YA fiction, starting with the fact that there aren't many historical fiction books, at least compared to other genres. And the historical fiction novels that are published, tend to cover roughly the same time periods in history. In YA fiction, it's the World Wars, the Civil War, historical England and Europe (Regency England and the French Revolution, for example), etc. In MG fiction there's more of the American Revolution, the Civil War, etc. Some of this I can understand. The American Revolution is easier to explain and set up to a young reader than World War I or World War II is. But then, what about in YA? I'd love to read books about the American Revolution. Sure, I love books covering the Civil War or the World Wars or anything similar, but what about the time periods that aren't covered as much.

Even the American Revolution is not enough. What about the other wars? The French and Indian War? The Cultural Revolution? The Vietnam War? The Rape of Nanking? What about other countries? What about books about historical China or Japan or Egypt (not mythology) or Turkey or South Africa or Australia? Where's the diversity in YA historical fiction? What about looking at the events we don't talk about as much? Those are important too. Those are interesting too. So why isn't there more diversity in historical fiction?

Do publishers think there isn't interest for it? Even starting off small such as publishing more books about other wars and time periods would be something. Is it because authors aren't writing about other time periods and other countries? Why is that? Learning history in the US may be Euro-centric, but the world isn't just filled with Europeans and Americans and Canadians. There are other people, other cultures, other conflicts, other historical events to explore.

If I could, I'd write a historical fiction novel set during the American Revolution. I'd write a historical fiction novel set in Brazil or the Philippines or Portugal or Belgium or Turkey or South Africa. I might not be able to write those stories well, but I think someone should. I would try, and I want others to try too. I want publishers to take a leap of faith. I want authors to take a leap of faith if it interests them. I want to see diversity not only in YA fiction in general but also YA historical fiction.

Do you read historical fiction? Do you like it? What do you think about diversity in the genre? Why do you think there's such a lack of diversity?

Dance Appreciation Week: Dance on the Big and Small Screen

POST IS BEING UPDATED. SORRY!

Welp! I'm so sorry about this post being late and about not posting at all yesterday. The past few weeks have been crazy, and then I was studying for my AP, so I couldn't get my post up yesterday. Anyway, today's post is a combination of yesterday's and today's. I'll be sharing a few movies and TV shows that feature dance!

MOVIES

(And subsequent Step Up movies)

TV SHOWS

(Dance Academy Photo Source)                    (Breaking Pointe Photo Source)

                                                             (SYTYCD Photo Source)

(Bring It! Photo Source)

So there you have it! It's a bit of everything, and I hope there's a mix of shows/movies you've heard of and a healthy dose of those that you haven't. Enjoy!

Challenge: "Real" Book Challenge April Wrap-Up

Intro Post

Book Goal: 25

January: 0

February: 4

March: 5

April: 4

Tour: Impervious by Heather Letto (+Giveaway)

The residents of Impervious are the remnant—survivors of the War of Annihilation. And though the city is chockfull of pleasures to tantalize and entertain, a beast lurks in its corners haunting the residents with its presence. The Beast—a mysterious and terminal illness―has killed off most of Generations One, Two and Three. And as Gen-Four prepares to take the stage a provocative, yet questionable, new method to avoid an untimely death becomes a cultural rage.

But Fran is counter-cultural. And living off the grid in true rebel fashion, her life is far from opulent. Scurrying through dark tunnels, searching for hot meals and ditching the holographic security team encompass most of her day. However, she views it as a healthy trade-off. Unaccountability means The Council can’t steal her sliver of hope―a belief that she’ll see The Epoch arrive before the beast can pull her into its fetid embrace.

After losing her mother and then her Rebel mentor, however, she grasps painfully onto the splintered sliver, until a new hope is born. First through Pete. And then through a miraculous discovery.

But the question still haunts her…

Can she outrun The Beast?

~~Excerpt~~

An (Almost) Agora Tour with Pete

“Hey, thanks, Pete, for agreeing to take us on a tour of the Agora. What an interesting place this is, can you tell me where we’re standing, and thus where our tour begins?”

“No problem-o. My old stomping grounds, right?” Pete waggles a brow before opening his arms in a grand gesture. “Welcome to The Agora, where the food is plenty and the entertainment never sleeps!”

“Wow, this certainly is fascinating.”

I laugh at his grandeur and then turn in a slow circle to pan the landscape. Gaming stands are dotted here and there and crowds of teens in spandex and glitter cheer on various avatars. The air is charged with techy-sounding music (with way too much bass in my humble opinion.)

“Wow, and loud! How do you hear anything over the music and all the craziness?”

Pete shrugs. “I’dunno. I just do. Come on, follow me.”

He pushes his way through a small crowd and I follow--although rather tentatively, as I notice several pairs of thick-lined-eyes scanning me up and down. Apparently, this crowd isn’t too impressed by my mom-jeans. Pete sidles up to a low counter and places his elbows on the smooth acrylic surface. A holograph pixelates behind the bar and greets us – the first welcoming face besides Pete’s I’ve since arriving in the Agora.

“Welcome to the lunch hut! What can I serve you today?!”

While recoiling from the extreme-pleasantness oozing from the eyes and mouth of the ghostly figure, I gaze up at a translucent screen with menu items scrolling past. Unfortunately, it moves too fast and all I catch is ‘coffee’… which works just for me.

“I would like a coffee pl--.”

Before I finish my sentence, a bright light flashes, nearly blinding me, followed by a computer- sounding voice.

“Unidentified resident.”

“Oh, Man. I hadn’t thought of that. Come on.” Pete grabs my hand. We plow through a throng of residents and get caught up in a people- current. I squeal and then hold my breath as I feel a prickly sensation move up and down my body. Pete gives me a yank and finally we’re spit from the flow of pedestrians into an area lined with potted palm- trees.

“Come on, we’re going to have hit the air vents.”

My heart screeches to a halt. I designed these vents. I know what awaits. And I’m sure they’re no place for my fresh mani/pedi. I back up a little.

“Hey, I think I’ll just go now.” I smile and a small twitch erupts on the upper left side of my mouth.

Pete scrambles inside the vent. “Are you sure? I could show you The Ranch.”

I place a hand over my twitchy lip.

“No that’s fine. But thank you, Pete. I think I’ll just hang out on the other side of this story.”

Pete gives me a thumbs-up. “Suit yourself and Sayonara!”

I stand up a little straighter and step back out of Impervious.

~~~

About Heather Letto:

Heather considers herself but a worker in the field with a desire to share truth through the art of good story. In real life, she’s the proud mother of two grown sons and lives part-time in Northern Illinois with her husband, but scurries off to warmer climates when the mercury takes a dive on the thermometer. As well as The Ascension Series, Heather contributes to WHOAwomen magazine, The Fit Christian, Tween Girls and God, Devotion Magazine as well as Swagga for Christ Ministry.

Impervious is available in e-book and paperback at:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

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Dance Appreciation Week: Dance and Books

Today's post is all about books with a focus on dance! (Tomorrow will be a focus on movies, and the day after will be a focus on TV shows.)