Book Review: Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

Image: Goodreads

Nantucket Blue
Leila Howland
YA Contemporary
Published: May 2013

More summery YA contemporaries! Cricket vows to have a great summer with her best friend Jules on Nantucket island, a place she's yet to go herself though Jules spends every summer there. But when Jules' family befalls tragedy, plans change. Jules takes off for the island with her family decides without Cricket, which deeply affects her given spending time with Jules' family beats solving her own family's issues--a lonely mom and dad who's moved on to a new family. Cricket knows Jules needs her, so she finds summer work on the island, and shows up to surprise Jules.

The flavor of elite vacationers in Nantucket serves as a theme for Cricket's experience. Class issues are explored, as well as family loyalties, and self preservation. Cricket finds her family's hurts follow her to the island, as does Jules'. Cricket's other motivation for a Nantucket summer relates to a boy she knows back home who is also there for summer. But, love has other plans for her....

This is a solid summer contemporary, and a second book Nantucket Red is also available.

Book Review: Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Image: Goodreads

Open Road Summer
Emery Lord
YA Contemporary
Published: April 2014

Open Road Summer is summer wish fulfillment: school's out, road trip, celebrity culture, romance. Reagan hops on a tour bus with her best friend Lilah, who happens to be country music's next rising star. Reagan has a lot she's running from: a bad-boy ex, a broken family, general rebelliousness and restlessness now that her bestie no longer attends public school. Of course, there's a guy. Another country music star making his solo comeback after a stint with  a Hanson-like family kids group years earlier.

This is the perfect book to breeze through on a warm day, and the characters have enough depth to keep the story from floating away entirely. Reagan's family troubles are realistic and her reactions similarly real, in both her mistakes and her loyalties. Each main character has a deeper story, with a lot of fun moments thrown in.

Ready. Set. Write! #8

Welcome to Ready. Set. WRITE! A summer writing intensive with the purpose of writing, revising, planning, and keeping each other accountable.

We will share goals on Mondays. You can sign up at any of the host blogs (Jaime, Alison, Katy, Erin). Don't forget to hop around to encourage other participants!

Last week's goals:

• ALL FOCUS ON THE PROJECT THAT NEEDS ALL MY ATTENTION.

I had a tough week writing. I mainly wrote over the weekend, and labored through my edits. At one point I stared at the screen for an hour. I've been re-arranging scenes, streamlining, and making sure every scene and character needs to be there. This was not a weekend where words flowed and I saw magic happy rainbows.

What kept me going: all of your support. Checking in. Determination. RWA's RITA and Golden Heart awards--those writers didn't give up. Laura Drake, this year's RITA winner for best first book, has been working toward publication for almost 15 years. I really hope it doesn't take that long for me, but her determination is inspiring.

Another bright spot: I received my writer's care package from Erin & the Ready Set Write crew! This meant so much to me, thank you again.

This week's goals:

• Finish my edits
• If I'm lucky, add some more plot brainstorming to the Camp Nanowrimo project I've mostly abandoned this month :/ (I managed to write a few random scenes which I think helped me get back in the swing with my revision edits).

A favorite line from my story: 

• An antagonist in my story sends a message to my main character that karma's a bitch. Only she spells karma with a C, which fits her personality.

The biggest challenge I faced this week:

• There is no one right way to write a story. I wish there was sometimes.

Something I love about my WIP:

• The voice and characters. My critique group, bless them, pointed out some of my edits had lost the voice. That means the voice IS strong in the story, and I need to watch for those lulls and where I compressed scenes to make sure the voice isn't also compressed.

I'm open to hugs this week. How did your writing goals go for you?

Book Review: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

This is my 100th book review posted to this blog!

The Truth About Alice
By: Jennifer Mathieu
YA Contemporary
Published: June 2014

The book begins with the assertion that Alice Franklin is a slut. The story is told from four different points of view, people who know Alice Franklin, but not Alice herself until the very last chapter. A cool concept that reminded me of Siobhan Vivian's The List.

What the book does brilliantly is shows how quickly rumors spread, and how toxic our culture can be to young women. A credit to the author, each character point of view has value and nuance, even the "bad" people, because we  are shown through their voice why they say and do the things they are doing. Alice is shown at times as a victim, a bully, a mystery, a cool girl, a loner. We see the history of her current friendships and the aftermath of the party that changes everything. And there are a few twists. This reads almost like a mystery, with the mystery being what truly happened to Alice Franklin.

Pre-Pitch Wars Critique

Head over to Brenda Drake's blog for my first page critique of a potential Pitch Wars mentee!

For more about the Pitch Wars contest, click here for details.

Ready. Set. Write! #7

Welcome to Ready. Set. WRITE! A summer writing intensive with the purpose of writing, revising, planning, and keeping each other accountable.

We will share goals on Mondays. You can sign up at any of the host blogs (Jaime, Alison, Katy, Erin). Don't forget to hop around to encourage other participants!

First of all, welcome to my new site design! Thanks goes to Sweetie Baby's Designs for revamping my style. And additional thanks to Leah Simonek Photography for the headshots (another new pic in the About Me page link above).

Last week's goals:

• Revise 4-6 more chapters of PROJECT THAT NEEDS ALL MY ATTENTION! Yes, about 4 full chapters, but tons of other micro edits that shape this as a stronger story.
• Read through critique group submissions.Complete
• Incorporate feedback from critique group Complete (thankful for their comments!)
• Critique the query and first page I received as a Pitch Wars mentor Complete--check out Brenda Drake's blog this Wednesday for my post

Goals for this week:

• ALL FOCUS ON THE PROJECT THAT NEEDS ALL MY ATTENTION. These edits need to be done. This is my only writing focus. Re-shape the remaining chapters for consistency with the new edits. Maybe it's a good thing I'm not headed to RWA nationals this week. I'm home writing (and working). My free time will be spent revising.

One phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised:

• The word "it." No, really. The whole dang manuscript. I've identified a bad writing habit and now know when and when not to use this filler word. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week:

• Which existing scenes work, which do not. How to re-shape them into the best story.

Something I love about my WIP:

• My character, the "hero," Liam. Everybody loves Liam. My goal right now is to Add More Liam. But still keep Liam awesome. 

All right, writers. How did you do on your goals?

Book Review: Blue Notes by Carrie Lofty

Blue Notes
Carrie Lofty
New Adult Romance
Published: May 2014

This New Adult title hits a lot of the expected genre targets: college setting, a first person narrative, heavy on the romantic tension. If you're a fan of this genre, Blue Notes is a great example.

I have to admit for me though, New Adult is not really my thing. I keep trying out different books in this category, and I tend to like those that straddle the YA line rather than those that read more adult market contemporary romance. Though I do read some contemporary romance, but I feel like those books are structured a little differently, or a little more is going on subplot-wise in those books.




Here's what I really liked:

• The main character Keeley has a rich backstory that blends well with the current story. It's not one traumatic incident but effects of her childhood in general.
• Foster parents are shown in a positive light. Having worked in this industry, it was cool to see foster parents and "the system" not as the bad guys. Instead, Keeley has a supportive adoptive family who continues to be present in her life when she's off to college.
• Genre stereotypes are explored/bent. New Adult tends to have brooding, larger-than-life romantic interests. He's here, but that convention is picked apart a bit by the characters themselves. Keeley and her roommate feel like real people navigating these experiences.
• The guy isn't the only one who understands Keeley or can help her through things. Her foster mom and roommate play integral roles in her life.
• The setting: New Orleans and the music scene. Very cool.

If you like New Adult, Lofty is a strong writer. I will definitely check out her other books!

Ready. Set. Write! #6

Welcome to Ready. Set. WRITE! A summer writing intensive with the purpose of writing, revising, planning, and keeping each other accountable.

We will share goals on Mondays. You can sign up at any of the host blogs (Jaime, Alison, Katy, Erin). Don't forget to hop around to encourage other participants!

Last week's goals:

• Work through several more chapters of edits. Write one new scene. COMPLETE!
• Prep a chapter submission for critique group next week COMPLETE!
• Possibly spend an hour or so plotting Camp Nano novel (the plotting is part of my goal)
• Finish reading the book I started this weekend NO
• Have fun with high school and college friends I'll see this coming weekend! COMPLETE!
• Start strong with the exercise and healthy eating challenge I'm doing with my fitness coach friend YES, I'M ON THE FITNESS TRAIN!

Goals for this week:

• Revise 4-6 more chapters of PROJECT THAT NEEDS ALL MY ATTENTION! It would be lovely if I finished edits this weekend but let's be real here.
• Read through critique group submissions.
• Incorporate feedback from critique group (related to revision project)
• Critique the query and first page I received as a Pitch Wars mentor (prepping for August's Pitch Wars! See Brenda Drake's blog for query workshops and Pitch Wars details).

After my lovely few days off, I am back to work as soon as I can shake off this pesky day job :)

How are you all doing with your goals this week?

Ready. Set. Write! #5

Welcome to Ready. Set. WRITE! A summer writing intensive with the purpose of writing, revising, planning, and keeping each other accountable.

We will share goals on Mondays. You can sign up at any of the host blogs (Jaime, Alison, Katy, Erin). Don't forget to hop around to encourage other participants!

Last week's goals:

• Tackle re-organization and edits for a different manuscript. I would like to re-craft previously edited-out scenes to add back into the novel (fun, huh?) and check for overall flow and themes related to specific feedback. STARTED AND SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS MADE!
• Provide feedback on another writer's manuscript excerpt COMPLETE
• Finish reading 2 current books and start/finish another over the long weekend FINISHED ONE BOOK, READ ANOTHER (Nantucket Blue, so good!), STARTED NEW BOOK

Goals for this week:

• Work through several more chapters of edits. Write one new scene.
• Prep a chapter submission for critique group next week
• Possibly spend an hour or so plotting Camp Nano novel (the plotting is part of my goal)
• Finish reading the book I started this weekend
• Have fun with high school and college friends I'll see this coming weekend!
• Start strong with the exercise and healthy eating challenge I'm doing with my fitness coach friend

Biggest challenge this week:

• Re-organizing my current project. It's not a full rewrite, it's tweaking and adding back some of what was cut. All of it has a domino effect, so I need to be mindful of every change, that it flows with the rest of the story. Which leads me to this conclusion: any form of rewriting, small or large, is still a lot of work.

How did you do on your goals? OR, did you do anything fun over Fourth of July?

YouTube Friday: Happy 4th of July and Beach Beauty Essentials

Happy Independence Day, Americans! 

To everyone else, happy Friday! (And to the British, we still love you though we rejected your king).

You all know I love Michelle Phan and her make-up tutorials. Here's one of her latests about some new products and taking care of your skin at the beach.

Insecure Writers Support Group IWSG

Insecure Writer's Support Group is a network of bloggers supporting one another through encouraging posts. The group posts the first Wednesday of every month, and is a place where writers can express doubts and concerns without fear. A safe haven for writers.

Research

I like to write what interests me, but I'm realizing this often ties to things I WANT to know about, not necessarily what I do. Meaning, I have to research. A lot.

For example, the first completed polished novel I wrote was set in the early 1960s with the NASA space program as a backdrop. Also the civil rights movement. I read tons of stuff that interested me, tons more stuff that would never make it into the book but were necessary to get a feel and expertise for the timeframe, and then even more research about things I could care less about but needed to fact check (such as did automatic doors in grocery stores exist in 1963 (yes, but barely)).

In planning a new project, I'm making some intentional choices to write more of what I know, but I'm also finding, again, what interests me is going to require some major research, both in reading related books, to more technical, fact-driven stuff.

Oh my.

Do you ever hold off on a fiction project because the research seems overwhelming? Or you're afraid you might not get the facts right? Have you ever changed your story's direction to avoid misrepresenting facts or a genre known for specific expertise?

I'd love to hear from you!