KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES: EXILE Giveaway

If you loved Shannon Messenger's KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES and have been worried about whether or not the sequel will live up to your expectations, EXILE is even better than the first book. This is not a floppy sort of sequel or even an EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (if you know what I mean) kind of sequel. I love it.

I especially love the friendship that develops between Sophie and Keefe and the alicorn. But for me, the most brilliant part of the novel is the way guilt cripples elves. I can't say more without spoiling.

If you haven't read KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, it's a series that would appeal to fans of FABLEHAVEN, HARRY POTTER, and PERCY JACKSON, a world within our world. It's fabulous.

And now, if you'd like to win a brand new hardcover copy of EXILE, tell me which character from the first book was your favorite (animals count). Or if you haven't read it, tell me which character most interests you. This contest is open internationally (as long as Book Depository ships to your address), but it closes tomorrow night, 10:00 PM (PDT).

There are a lot of great books coming out next month. Which ones are you most excited about?

My First Interlibrary Loan

I picked up my first interlibrary loan yesterday. It's a translation of THE ORACLES OF LEO & THE TALE OF THE TRUE EMPEROR, including illustrated poetry from the original, which was written over a thousand years ago. I am totally geeking out.

This is a photo of the cover. (I can't believe my library district put that big sticker on the cover, and I hope it comes off.)

This is a photo of Gratitude (a poem written in Leo's hand and illustrated with a fox). If I were to take a stab at interpretation, I'd say the fox is Basil the Macedonian. Both are characters in the story I'm writing. :o)

This poem is more obscure, almost an assigned role play, but hey, it's a unicorn. Right?

Whether I pull anything from this book or not, I'm enjoying it. I wish I could read the original Greek, though.

Are you reading anything interesting right now?

Adding Straws

Yesterday was my first day of teaching preschool for the year, and I have a ton of boys this year. In my most disproportionate class, the ratio is 12:4. They all seem like nice boys, though, so hopefully we'll get through the year without too many bumps and bruises. I like boys.

And over the last couple of days, my manuscripts have been returned with lots of notes to help me figure out my next revision. I think it's funny that Jen and Q were nearly within 24 hours of sending them back. I'm hoping to read through both of their notes this week.

But before I get started on my revision, I need to send out a batch of picture book submissions. Time runs out on the exclusive I sent within the next week. That's okay, though. I have a list of over 20 children's publishers who look like they'd be a good fit (who are open to unsolicited manuscripts from writers).

As for the writing challenge I've been participating in, so far we're all reaching our goals, and I don't want to be the one who messes that up. My new story is coming right along.

What have you been working on lately? 

My Writing Habit

Happy Labor Day!

Longtime readers of this blog know that the first two months of school and the last two months of school are my busiest times. So, when one of my critique partners said she was setting a daily word count goal to finish the draft she's working on and asked for motivational nudges, I said I should do something similar. We decided to nudge each other. Then she invited her FB friends to join in. So far, there are three of us who made our goals every day last week.

My goal is small and specific. I just started something new, and Q's challenge just happened to coincide with my first day of writing it. When I start something new, I write in a notebook. This may seem archaic, but it works for me. I think differently with a notebook than I do with a computer, so first drafts, picture books, and poems are usually conceived therein. My goal is to write at least two pages per day, Monday through Saturday, and those pages have to be Nightingale pages. It's a goal I can meet, even when my day is filled with teaching and my afternoons and evenings with soccer. It's something I can do while I'm revising TBW or submitting PBs to editors. One of the days last week, I wrote a brand new picture book and still made my writing goal. Most days, I exceeded my goal. Even with all of the interruptions that this time of year brings, I feel like I'm making great progress on Nightingale.

I can do this. (Thanks, Q!)

Starting Anew

I always have mixed feelings about sending my kids off to school at the beginning of the new year. I want them to be excited, but I know too well that life doesn't always work out the way we plan it. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. So, on their first day of school today, I hope the surprises are good ones (or at least something that they already have the problem-solving skills to deal with).

I've already seen two of the three off to school. After I drop off the third, I'm going to start the beginning of a new series. It's something I've been dreaming about and making notes on for years, but I just found the setting last week. The setting is historical, and while I was researching it, a librarian introduced me to Interlibrary Loans (ILL). Through my local library, I can borrow books from libraries all over the world. Specifically, when I was looking up a certain historical figure, I found a book written by him that has been translated into English. This guy lived in the ninth century! That book is currently in Amsterdam, but I can request it and have access to it through my local library. Isn't that awesome?

But it could be months before the books I request arrive, and I already have story that I need to get down. I'm excited (and a bit nervous) to get started.

But I have a third child to get off to school first. :o)

TBW 9 Finished!

Thank you for your kind words on my last couple of posts. I appreciate your support.

I've been working on the ninth draft of TBW since January--over seven months--which is longer than it took me to write the first draft. Granted, the last five months have been rough for personal reasons. But in revising both this novel and SS, it felt like I hit a point where it was impossible to revise the story into what I wanted it to be. More than that, I wasn't even sure what I wanted the story to be anymore.  Earlier this month, I punched through that.

I remember when I was writing my first draft of SS, I hit a similar wall, and I just had to keep working at it until I found where the story was supposed to go again. Often I have to go back to move forward.

I'm not saying that TBW is perfect now or that I'm ready to send it off to agents, but I am ready to let critique partners read it again. I don't need to fix anything because it isn't broken anymore. And that is a wonderful feeling.

Life Update

It's been a long time.

Thank you for your kind words after Ben's accident. His shoulder is still recovering, and he has one area that still blisters from being burned so badly. But he's still here.

Two of my friends aren't. In April, one of them went into a diabetic coma and didn't come out of it, leaving behind a pregnant wife (who delivered a healthy baby girl the next day) and three children who loved and depended on him. In May, the other committed suicide. I've written posts and not posted them. I have to write my way through stuff like this, and yet some things are not only gut-wrenchingly personal; there's also the possibility that my observations will hurt someone who's already hurting. Family is especially touchy. The neighbor who committed suicide was my sister's brother-in-law, and suicides always make people question whether there was something they could have done to prevent it.

I may revisit what I've written for later posts, but today, I want to share what George Saunders had to say about kindness. It's beautiful.