LIFE BY COMMITTEE and More Giveaways Plus YA Pick & Mix 5/13 Edition

by Martina Boone

First, I’m beyond thrilled to announce that Wendy Higgin’s amazing Sweet Evil Trilogy made the USA Today and NYT’s coveted Bestselling Series lists. How fabulous is that?

For those of you who don’t know the story behind this series, it’s truly the little series that could. Wendy put the first book up on Inkpop, which was then owned by HarperCollins. Readers voted it into the top five favorites, so a HarperCollins editor read it and offered her a contract. It received television interest, and HarperCollins came back to ask for two more books, and it has grown by sheer fanpower ever since. Wendy and the series are both fabulous, so if you haven’t read it yet, go check it out. (I’m also giving away the full trilogy as one of the prize packs in my #PayItForward celebration giveaway, which ends in two days!)

BEA

If any of you are going to be at Book Expo America, I’d love to see you! I’m doing an autograph session on Friday from 2:00 to 2:30 at Table 17. Holly Black will be signing at the table after me, and there may be a slight delay for her fans while I drool on her and her books. I apologize in advance.

FOUR PICK ANY YA NOVEL GIVEAWAYS

Don’t forget my four Pick Any YA Novel giveaways this month! You can find a list of them right here.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

YA GIVEAWAY OF THE WEEK

Life by Committee
by Corey Ann Haydu
Hardcover
Katherine Tegen Books
Released 5/13/2014

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

What is your favourite thing about LIFE BY COMMITTEE?

My favorite part of my second novel is the character Sasha Cotton. I wanted to capture a very specific type of girl to be my main character, Tabitha’s foil. I didn’t want your average enemy– the kind that has hurt you and is mean to you and that you hate for those reasons. I wanted a character for Tabitha to be jealous of and pained by even though Sasha never actually does anything to her. I wanted to capture something more complicated and, in my experience at least, common. Obsessing about someone and hating someone who you desperately wish you could be more like. Mistaking truly deep envy for distaste or anger.

Sasha Cotton feels full and real to me, and I don’t feel that I’ve seen many characters like her in YA fiction. She’s spacey and sexy and unusual and sad and needy and dreamy. She’s everything Tabitha could never be. And she exposes something ugly in Tabitha, which makes her even more exciting to me. Some people are catalysts– not necessarily of actions, but of feelings. Some of them bring out the very best of us and some bring out our very worst. I wanted to write a character who would stir of the very worst in Tabitha. And I wanted her to be somewhat unassuming. Not cruel. Not flashy. Just quirky enough to drive someone crazy.

Purchase Life by Committee at Amazon
Purchase Life by Committee at IndieBound
View Life by Committee on Goodreads

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS

Did you see the post at Cuddlebuggery that posted the tweets of the convo between JK Rowling and George R. R. Martin on the 16th Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts? No? Go now.

The Indie’s Choice winners were announced a while ago, and I missed posting the news and congratulations. Congrats to:

Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell (WINNER)
Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers (HONOR)
The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater (HONOR)
More Than This, by Patrick Ness (HONOR)
Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Win (HONOR)
The Summer Prince, by Alaya Dawn Johnson (HONOR)

The #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign was so successful that ReedPop is adding a panel to BEA’s BookCon. Congrats, all! That’s a win.

Kiera Cass talked about ending the Selection series.

YA Highway is celebrating their Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers win by holding some YA Web Awards. Please go nominate your favorite sites!

John Green talked about why we’re never too old for YA to Cosmopolitan.

A first edition set of the Harry Potter Books sold at auction for $19,000. Yes, you read that right. And no, they weren’t signed, but there was one card included with her signature.

Lionsgate talked about why the Allegiant book is going to be split into two films.

Oh, and by the way, Divergent sold eight million copies the first quarter of 2014. Eight. Million.

I loved this letter from a young Eudora Welty to the New Yorker pitching herself for a job.

And this graphic on how to tell if you’re reading a Gothic novel? Awesome.

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK

Insecurity is just an ordinary hound tricked out with phosphorous to make him look scary. ~ Margo Berendsen

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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: May 13, 2014

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Martina Boone | YA Fiction Giveaways

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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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