Character Bucket List: C.J. Skuse, Jody, and Mackenzie from ROCKOHOLIC

by Martina Boone

Please welcome today’s guest, C.J. Skuse, author of ROCKOHOLIC.

In Rockoholic, 17-year-old Jody goes to a concert and accidentally kidnaps the lead singer of her favourite band, The Regulators. Jody has been through a lot in her short life and in kidnapping her hero, the world-famous sex symbol and drug addict Jackson Gatlin, she thinks her life will finally, after the bereavements and failures of recent years, get better. In fact it gets a whole lot worse. Jackson is a hot-headed despicable mess of a man and just as Jody decides she absolutely can’t live with him, Jackson decides he absolutely can’t go back to his old life. In short, she’s stuck with him. Luckily Jody’s best friend, the level-headed, musical theatre-loving, guyliner-wearing Mac is on hand with support when the going gets really tough. Because little does Jody know, the hero she really needs has never been far away.

Jody Flook Bucket List
1. Buy Kerrang! Magazine this week for the Jackson Gatlin life size door poster
2. Save up for the Limited Edition box set of Regulators South American concerts
3. Meet Jackson Gatlin
4. Have babies with Jackson Gatlin
5. Make my granddad proud of me

Mackenzie Lawless Bucket List
1. Leave town
2. See my baby sister Cree grow up well
3. Play Marius or Jean Valjean in Les Miserables
4. Study musical theatre/drama professionally
5. Tell her how I feel

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.J. Skuse is the author of PRETTY BAD THINGS, ROCKOHOLIC and
DEAD ROMANTIC. She was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England. She
loves: graphic novels, sitcoms, Gummy Bears and My Chemical Romance. She
hates: hard-boiled eggs, carnivals and coughing. The movies Titanic, My
Best Friend’s Wedding and Twilight were all based on her ideas, she
just didn’t get to write them down in time. Before she dies, she would
like to go to Japan, try clay-pigeon shooting and own a malamute. C.J.
has First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children
and, aside from writing novels, works as a freelance children’s fiction
consultant and lectures in writing fiction for teens at Bath Spa
University.
C.J’s Tumblr page
Twitter @CeejaytheAuthor
C.J’s Facebook

ABOUT THE BOOK

ROCKOHOLIC, available now

She’s
got it bad, and he ain’t good — he’s in her garage? Gonna have to face
it: Jody’s addicted to Jackson Gatlin, front man of The Regulators, and
after her best bud Mac scores tickets, she’s front and center at his
sold-out concert. But when she gets mashed in the mosh pit, loses her
precious moon rock, and bodysurfs backstage, she ends up with more than a
mild concussion to deal with. By the next morning, the strung-out rock
star is coming down in her garage. Jody — oops — kind of kidnapped
him. By accident. And now he doesn’t want to leave.

It’s a rock-star abduction worthy of an MTV reality series . . . but who
got punk’d?!

ROCKOHOLIC on Amazon

ROCKOHOLIC on Goodreads

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Jan 10, 2013

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Character Bucket List

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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