Friday Five (or More): Royal Edition

1. I got up at 5AM to watch the Royal Wedding!

2. So you know my ability to count to 5 will be SUPER off.

3. I LOVED Kate's Dress! I love Posh and Beckham! I LOVED the look on Wills and Kate's faces whenever they looked at each other and smiled.

4.Oh thank you, thank you, thank you for this, Beatrice! I now know exactly what to be for Halloween this year.

5. What was UP with that lame-o kiss on the balcony.

6. Bonus points for kissing 2xs!

7. Extra bonus points for the beyond affectionate smiles you had before, during and after said kisses.

8. But I personally think after being awake for 5 hours of my normal sleeping time, I deserved some serious smooches.

9. I bet Harry is a really good kisser. Just saying....

10. I can't wait to do this all over again for his wedding!

11. Did you know you still have time to enter my international POSSESSION arc contest?

12. Because you do.

13. Ok. Hope you all have a FAB weekend!

Possession Arc Giveaway (International)



Guys, what's up with today?



It's Rex Manning Day!



No. That's not it...



What's with today, today?



That was MY question, Lucas!



Marc SUCKS! Right? Right?



NO! You guys are all wrong! There's something else about today. But what...



Frankie's having another contest?



She's ALWAYS having another contest. Is that really it?



Are you SURE it's not Rex Manning Day?



Definitely a contest!



CONTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTT!!!!



I LOVE contests!! Drinks all around!

 So in case you can't tell...I'm having an international contest! You can win an arc of....POSSESSION!

If you've been living under a rock and don't know all about Elana Johnson's awesome debut, here's the summary from GoodReads.

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.


This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Contest Rules
1. Follow my blog. Trust me, it's the cool thing to do. +1
2. Leave a comment below.  +1 Bonus...tell me your favorite Empire Records quote +2
3. Write your email address in your comment!

And that's it! Feel free to tweet, blog, link, facebook, bribe, beg others to come follow me. Just let me know what you've done and I'll give you extra points. +1,2,3,4....

Contest ends Friday, April 29th at 11:59PM.

Creative Writing Exercise From Me To You

This week in my writing classes I decided to try an exercise first introduced to me in grad school. It's one of my favorites, because it can really lead you in unexpected directions.

I grabbed a ton of random things from home, laid the objects in a circle in the middle of the classroom and told my students to write a short story incorporating every single object.

The rules:

You cannot have all of the objects in one place--no stories about packing up your things in boxes.

You cannot go to the store and buy all of the items.

Every object must show up as organically as possible.

You can turn anything you want into a simile or metaphor or concept.


Ok here are the objects:

1. Hanger
2. Notepad
3. A copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales
4. Three Quarters
5. Two Batteries
6. A black shawl
7. A candle
8. A golf ball
9. An envelope
10. A flower
11. A badminton racket
12. A box of tissues
13. A guitar magnet (this could be used as a guitar or a magnet)
14. Plastic fork
15. Tape dispenser
16. Gold mardi gras beads
17. A pair of scissors

So there you have it. If anyone tries this out let me know how it goes or feel free to post your object story in the comments. Enjoy!

Divergent by Veronica Roth Review

I admit, I was holding onto this one for awhile and it took me a little while to get into, but once I did...WHOA!!!

Goodreads says, "One choice. One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs, and determines your loyalties . . . forever. Or, one choice can transform you. In Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, a perfect society unfolds into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals, and unexpected romance."

Here are the top 10 reasons I was blown away by Divergent

1. Four!  Ok, I had to start here--with the hot boy--and his name is Four. Well his nickname is Four. You have to read to learn his real name, but trust me, you want to! The romance in Divergent was just perfect--not too much, not too little. Just enough to keep you wanting more without overpowering the plot. Trust me, after you read this, you'll be wanting more....of Four!

2. Hard Choices! Tris makes some SERIOUSLY tough decisions. Her choices were often unpredictable and often just barely the lesser of two evils and sometimes not. It really left me wondering what I might do if placed in ANY of the situations she faces.

3. Awesome Action! The main premise for Divergent is on Tris's 16th birthday she has to choose one of 5 factions to belong to--for the rest of her life. Her choice will define everything about her. And she chooses Dauntless--the brave. The moment she makes her choice, the book literally runs away with itself and you have to run behind to keep up. And maybe jump off a building or two in the process...

4. Romance! Ok, so I kind of covered this in number one with Four. But this is Four and I LOVED Four! There is a little bit of a student/mentor thing happening here and let's just say I'm a bit partial to that. It was sooooo well done. Probably my favorite aspect was the respect that existed between these two and the fact that they strengthened each other rather than trying to control or protect. And though Four had the upper hand in a lot of ways, there was a wonderful sense of equality between them.

5. Emotion! Tris really runs the gamut here. She goes through a lot, she sees a lot, she grows a lot. It's incredibly taxing on her and on the reader. But its all handled really well.

6. Insecurities! Ok, this is kind of a weird one, but I love it when a character has little insecurities--non epic insecurities, just normal ones that slow them down, make them real and relatable. Tris was very easy to relate to even if she was doing all kinds of crazy things that I don't think I'd ever do!

7. Kick-Butt Heroine! Nuff said. She kicks butt. Literally. I like that.

8. Un-put-down-ability! Trust me on this, once you pass the choosing ceremony you will not be able to stop reading. The suspense is out of this world!

9. I would have never thought of that! There were so many situations and tests that Veronica put Tris in that just made me pause and go--WOW! Really? The creativity level here is intense. I was seriously impressed with just the ideas presented in the tests. Everything felt so fresh and so original there.

10. Sympathetic Characters! Veronica created a tough world. One where you never really felt like any character was safe, and one where you kind of wanted everyone to be safe, even the liminal characters who you weren't so sure you could trust. There was a lot of gray here, which partly led to Tris's tough choices and the un-put-downable factor.

So there you have it! I didn't want to get overly specific and spoil any of the plot for you guys. But I hope this is enough to convince you.

If You Had A Theme Song

One of my favorite things to do when I'm starting a new project or visualizing or dreaming about it is creating the playlist. And I love coming up with a theme song for my main character. And a love theme for my romantic couple.

But I always wonder what people's theme songs might be in real life. 

You know, like if when you walked into a room, a song just started playing and everyone stopped and stared and heard your theme song playing. Or when you were walking down the street...

So just in case you were wondering...if this could be true, my theme song would be this:

Mostly I think this is one of the most adorable songs ever and I can't help but be in a good mood every time I hear it--especially when it's playing in a store I'm *going* into.

So what about you guys?

What's your theme song?

Do your character's have theme songs?

Where She Won!

I have fasted for three days. I have been to the ends of the world. And I have spoken to the gods.

Ok.

SO actually I went to randomizer.org.

But thy internet oracle has proclaimed a winner for my Signed Where She Went Contest.

And the gods randomizer has decreed, that we have a winner in one...

Shannon O'Donnell

Congrats!!!!!!

*tosses confetti*

*gets some in eye*

*wishes I hadn't swallowed*

You have an email from me in your inbox and we'll talk deets about getting that book into your hands!

Thank you everyone for participating! I think I have another giveaway coming VERY soon!

Where She Went Launch Recap + Signed Giveaway!!!!

Ready to walk in my shoes for a few hours? Here we go. Hope you like boots!

2:30 Throw Janine in my car and head for NJ train station

3:45 Hop on train--spend next hour brainstorming every past tense verb EVER and record it in a notebook. Why? Just...because...

5:00 Arrive in NYC!

5:30 Snacks, bathrooms, head for subway to Brooklyn

5:45 Congratulate self on being totally the bomb at navigating us to Brooklyn all by me onsey.

5:46 Wonder if people still say things like "the bomb"

6:00 Miss our stop

6:01 Realize I may have congratulated myself too soon.... Am not the bomb.

6:10 Get off train, attempt to go back.

6:15 We CANNOT go back, the platform for trains going the other way is closed!

6:30 WTF? Why did we miss our stop and get off at a station that doesn't let you turn around!?!!?!?

6:31 Read sign that explains how to turn around.

6:32 Oooooh

6:40 Back on subway, heading in right direction!

6:45 Get off at the right stop! We are still totally awesome at the subway!

6:50 Arrive at the Bookstore! EEEEH!

6:55 Meet and hug Gayle. Am fed vegan carrot cake. Propose.

6:58 Track down forks for me and fellow blogger-vegan Mitali. Vegans unite! With forks!

7:00 Gayle reads the subway scene. HOLY MOLEY! And she read it amazing! Gayle then reads the "Adam becomes a guy" chapter. 

7:15 Q+A Learn that when writing the male POV do not use the word "lovely." Also Gayle didn't listen to any music writing Adam until Adam started to find meaning in it again. So cool!

7:30 Meet Lacey from Sisters in Scribe.

7:40 Catch up with The Book Muncher

8:00 Get books signed by Gayle. Love her even more!

8:30 Return to subway. Decide to make it my bitc--well you know...

9:20 Get back to original subway station perfectly on the first try. Am SO the bomb.

9:30 Exit in the most ridiculous way ever and realize we are above ground and NOT at Pennstation like we should be.

9:50 Grumble, grumble, we're at the station. 

10--1:00AM Ride train, cuddle books, fall asleep, get lost in NJ, Janine's birthday at midnight, drive Janine home, sing along to songs on ipod replacing lyrics to make songs about Janine.

2:00AM OMG it's 2 in the morning. OMG it's 2 in the MORNING!

2:01 Am the bomb

2:02 Am asleep

And THERE you have it guys! So besides getting a whole lot of books signed for ourselves, and some other people, but mostly for ourselves, I got one for you!

Which leads us to the...

Contest!

SEE! She signed it! You could win! Then read it! And love it!

Simple. Comment below (and leave your email). Follow my blog. Tell someone else to follow me.* Because I like you. Also I'm giving away a copy of Where She Went signed by Gayle Forman!

Contest Ends Monday, April 11 at 12am! And....this IS international.

* I will give extra entries for everything you do--tweeting, linking, blogging, bribing. Just let me know you did it!

Where I'm Going

You guys! It's here! Where She Went is out in stores!

You can buy it, borrow it, download it (legally!!!!!), listen to it, read it, hug it, and love it over and over and over again.

And if you're me and Janine....you're going to see Gayle Forman tonight at her launch! That's where I'm going!!!!!

AAAAAAHHHHHH!

To say we are excited is an understatement.

We Are EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Happy Release Day, Gayle! We are so happy for you.

Also check out her hilarious blog post today about her crazy schedule leading up to tonight's launch party.

BTW--What she chose to do at 11:30 has me squeeing from inside out.

So stay tuned--we'll be tweeting live from her launch and bringing you a post of recapping goodness!

AND....I'll be picking up some signed things to giveaway here.... ooooh la la!