German Shepard sitting
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Young Adult Fiction Pick and Mix 7/27/13 Edition Plus PARADOX by A.J. Paquette Giveaway

by Martina Boone

 Thought for the Week


Young Adult Novel of the Week


Buy From Amazon | Buy from IndieBound | View on Goodreads

I love Gothics. Love em. Pair a creepy gothic with the sass, vivid characters, and all out humor Sarah Rees Brennan brings to all her books? Count me IN. And this one doesn’t disappoint!



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I also LOVED:




Pre-Order from Amazon | Pre-Order IndieBound | View on Goodreads
OMG. Holly Black! This beginning! As always her characters are layered, real, alive. Okay, maybe not strictly this time, but you know what I mean. If you had told me someone could come up with a totally new spin on vampires, one I WANTED to read, one I couldn’t put down, I would have been skeptical had it been almost any other author. As it was? Read this. You won’t be disappointed.



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Young Adult Giveaway  

Complete the form below to win a copy of PARADOX by A.J. Paquette




 Fans of James Dashner’s Maze Runner series will love this postapocalyptic adventure about a girl who must survive an alien planet in order to save the Earth.


   Ana only knows her name because of the tag she finds pinned to her jumpsuit. Waking in the featureless compartment of a rocket ship, she opens the hatch to discover that she has landed on a barren alien world. Instructions in her pocket tell her to observe and to survive, no doubt with help from the wicked-looking knives she carries on her belt. But to what purpose?


   Meeting up with three other teens–one boy seems strangely familiar–Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They’re working on some sort of problem, and the situation is critical. What is the connection between Ana’s mission on this planet and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure out the answer when she can’t remember anything?


Buy on Amazon | Buy on IndieBound | View on Goodreads



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And Here Is the Winner

for last week’s A MATTER OF DAYS by Amber Kizer:  Rana Dabagh


On Day 56 of the pandemic called BluStar, sixteen-year-old Nadia’s mother dies, leaving her responsible for her younger brother Rabbit. They secretly received antivirus vaccines from their uncle, but most people weren’t as lucky. Their deceased father taught them to adapt and survive whatever comes their way. That’s their plan as they trek from Seattle to their grandfather’s survivalist compound in West Virginia. Using practical survival techniques, they make their way through a world of death and destruction until they encounter an injured dog; Zack, a street kid from Los Angeles; and other survivors who are seldom what they seem. Illness, infections, fatigue, and meager supplies have become a way of life. Still, it will be worth it once they arrive at the designated place on the map they have memorized. But what if no one is there to meet them?

 Buy on Amazon | Buy on IndieBound | View on Goodreads

          

Young Adult Reader of the Week:   

Marie Hemphill

Avid reader. Cookbook collector. Creative cook. Daring baker. Local/organic advocate. Farmer’s Market goer. Cat owner (servant?). Loving (most of the time) wife 🙂 
 Follow Marie on Google+

        
* Want to be the reader of the week next week? Leave a comment on our Thursday or Friday posts! 


  

Young Adult Writer/Blogger of the Week: 


Avalon Jaedra of Writeability 


Avalon writes YA paranormal, Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels because she loves writing about self-discovery and the complicated worlds of young people. Then she likes to take their emotionally-ridden lives and make them even more difficult.

She also has an addiction to movies, but that’s another matter entirely.

Most importantly! She’s having a half-million page views celebration this week! HUGE congrats to her! Her blog is a great resource for writers.

Here are a few of her posts:

Writing a Novel in 15 Steps from Idea to Querying
How to Edit in Passes
5 Ways to Support Your Favorite Authors
Character Development: Write Gray Characters

Head over to Writeability
Follow @Ava_Jae on Twitter 

* Want to be the blogger of the week next week? Leave a comment. I’ll pick from among the bloggers who leave comments here on the blog today through Wednesday.

Writing Tip of the Week
   
                   

    

            

Writing Inspiration     
         

                       
More Writing Inspiration



Publishing News and Trends                         

Just for Smiles

              
What About You?                     


What are you reading? Writing? Have any quotes or thoughts you’d like to share? Did you find or write any book reviews or blog posts you want to let people know about?

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: Jul 27, 2013
Category: Imported from AYAP
Tags:

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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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