"WORDS ARE, IN MY NOT-SO-HUMBLE OPINION, OUR MOST INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF MAGIC. CAPABLE OF BOTH INFLICTING INJURY, AND REMEDYING IT." ~ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
Vonna Carter created a list of 2011 Children's Writing Conferences including which agents will attend each con. It's not absolute of course, but I know she's been adding to it as she's learned of new cons/agent attendance. If you're considering going to a conference this year, or trying to figure out where to meet agents--Vonna's list is an excellent starting point!
The links are above, but if you ever forget and don't feel like scrolling through my posts to find it, I added it to my "Resources for Writers" tab at the top of the screen.
Today is Beth Revis's Across the Universe BOOK BIRTHDAY!
A love out of time.
A spaceship built
of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
I had the pleasure of reading an ARC of AtU a month or two ago. And this book? Well, it's frexing good, man!
Let me start by saying, I do enjoy some Sci-Fi. I mean, Ender's Game? One of my top favorite books of all time. But you already know that :P Needless to say, though, I was intrigued by Beth's book from the get-go, because like Ender's Game, it takes place in space. And I wasn't disappointed.
Plus, the cover. Oh, the cover. It. Is. So. Awesome. You must agree, yes? So even before flipping to the first page I took some time just to admire the cover. Then I flipped to the first page and didn't come back up for air for the next three hours.
I love dual narration, when it's done well--and Beth does it very, very well :) AtU switches POV between the two main characters, Amy and Elder.
Amy's struggling to understand/get used to the world she's woken to find herself in--while trying to figure out who unfroze her early, in an attempt to kill her. Elder's being prepared as the next ruler of the ship, but the world he's always known is beginning to unravel. Some things just aren't making sense--and he can't ignore them. (And poor, poor Elder, honestly. I couldn't help but feel for him from the very beginning. Can you imagine living your entire life on a spaceship? Never setting foot on land? I shudder just thinking about it.)
And let me tell you right now--Beth doesn't play favorites with her secondary characters. You have no clue who you can count on--to be good, or to be bad. It's frustrating in the BEST way :)
And the ship, Godspeed... Well, I don't want to give anything away but dang. Life on Godspeed is--I want to say unimaginable, but clearly Beth imagined it. She's got one amazingly creative imagination. Especially when it comes to worldbuilding. You'll see what I mean when you read it! The social structure of the world is absolutely fascinating, and extremely scary.
The plot bobs and weaves and pulls you down paths where you might not know exactly where you're going, but you know you want to get there--so you end up constantly flinging the next page over to see what happens.
So seriously, go out today and get Across the Universe! And then come back here to tell me how much you loved it.
If you're still not sold, why not try reading the first chapter here (http://www.bethrevis.com/books/) to see how hooked you'll get! Or how about watching her book trailer?
Plus, like the title of the post promises, I've got some swag to giveaway!!
Five signed bookmarks and a pin button!
To enter, just leave a comment with
your email address
a promise to read this book as soon as possible, because you soooo should and you soooo won't be disappointed
I'll close the entries next Monday (1/17). First winner will get the pin button and a bookmark. The next four will receive bookmarks!
First of all, let me just tell you how sorry I am! I got back from my vacation, picked up writing again, got back to life--but there's been something at the back of my mind... something I felt I was forgetting.
And, um, duh. The WINNERS of my Orson Scott Card Giveaway!
So if you've been waiting, I truly apologize. I feel awful! I promise to make it up to you with another fun signed book contest very soon--and I will not, under any circumstances, forget to tell you who wins!!
Congratulations to the winners!! You should find an email from me begging your forgiveness at the lateness of the post and asking for your mailing address!
I wanted to do this before 2011 started, but I wasn't able to because of forgetting my cord and all that other stuff from my previous post. Even though the new year's started, I read a ton of amazing books last year (so weird to call 2010 last year already...) that I couldn't NOT mention my ten favorites!
For the record, my goal was to read 150 books last year. I reached 125, which isn't too bad :)
Other new favorite authors that I discovered in 2010:
Sarah Ockler
Philip Pullman
Suzanne Young
Additionally, I had the privilege of reading two books coming out this year before their release dates--and I really enjoyed them both, so I have to mention them! (PS they BOTH come out this month, so GET THEM!)
I hope everyone brought the new year in with a kiss :) Or something just as happy!
See, I had all these awesome* posts planned for the last days of 2010. Best books of 2010**. Best blogs. Best cons. Favorite people. Best moments.
Except here's what happened: I went to North Captiva Island with my family over Christmas. Don't we look like a fun bunch? (We so are, I promise.)
I brought my laptop. I did not bring my laptop cord. I'm Einstein, what can I say? I wrote a few thousand words on the trip down, and then my battery died. So I closed my computer and didn't open it again until I was back in Virginia.
And here's my confession:
I didn't write for nine days straight. I didn't think about writing***. I didn't talk about writing. I did nothing writing related whatsoever.
I loved it.
I was too busy doing this:
And hanging with him:
And finding these:
And listening to this:
And taking these****:
And having girl time with my mom & sisters:
And watching these:
And playing cards and eating good food and adding bananas to pina coladas***** and going for long walks and enjoying how soft the tap water of the island made my hair and playing corn hole and taking excursions to surrounding islands for even better shells and... well, you get the point.
I'm telling you here and now: if you make writing your life? Take a freaking break sometimes! Stop rushing because you want to query or because you want to go on submission or because {insert any reason here}. Stop and enjoy the other parts of life. Family. Nature. Significant other. Take some YOU time. I did--and now I'm more inspired than ever.
I spent a huge part of 2010 with my fingers on laptop keys, clacking away. I made good progress and I plan to continue. But I also lost track of friends and spent less time with my husband than he would have liked and didn't keep in touch with my family the way I should have. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe taking myself seriously as a writer means that I'll have to make some sacrifices. But those should be more along the lines of cutting TV shows and giving up on as much sleep as I want (and naps) and really, really focusing on creating a writing career for myself. See the difference? So this year, I'm gonna find a better life/writing balance.
What about you? Any goals for 2011?
*In my mind anyway :)
**I'm totally still posting about the best books of 2010 this week. I can't help myself.
***Okay, you got me. Of course I thought about writing. How could I not? But it sounded cooler and more severe to say I didn't :)
**** I'm totally not holding the camera correctly, but I was just posing for the picture!
*****Holy crap, they are SO GOOD.
