Websites, Blogs, and . . .My Husband

When I think of my favorite writing resources, I think of it two different ways. First are the resources that help me actually get the book written, finished and readable, and second are the resources that helped/help me learn about and understand the business of publishing.

When it comes to the first set of resources, my most valuable resources are my early readers. My first reader is always my husband, which is interesting because he’s not generally a reader at all, and I could probably count all the books he’s read (aside from mine) in the last five years on one hand. But in some ways this makes him the best resource. He’s not looking for trends or comparing me to other books. And he’s unflinchingly honest. He’ll freely point out any dialogue that doesn’t sound real or any characters that don’t ring true, and he’s looking at it with a totally different eye than I ever would. I should also mention here that my husband is a great writing resource because he gives me the time to write by watching the kids, and constantly reminding me that it is more important for me to write than clean the house/cook dinner/sleep/grade papers/or a variety of other things that I probably should be doing instead.

My second reader is my mom. She’s read more books than anyone else I’ve known. Ever. And she reads fast. She’ll read a draft of mine in a few hours, then call me to tell me which parts she likes and which ones she doesn’t, though, she generally has no idea why. Which is okay, because then I take a new look at the parts of the book she doesn’t like. I also know she’s read so much that she can compare it to other things out in the world, and she’ll tell me honestly whether or not she thinks my book is readable by other people.

But as we writers know, getting the book written is only half (or maybe something like 1/8) of the battle. And like Maureen, I turn to the Internet for all my publishing business resources. My favorite place when querying agents, as I’ve mentioned here before, was agentquery.com. I also found a lot of useful information on Miss Snark and on agent Kristin Nelson’s blog. I still read Kristin’s blog just because I think she always has something fresh and interesting to say about the publishing business.

Publisher’s Marketplace is my favorite place to find out about deals/agents/editors. It’s a great tool to see what’s selling, who’s selling what, and who’s buying what. Publisher’s Weekly is another great (and free) resource for reading reviews, publishing news, and deals. I’m just going to stop myself here for a second to add in that the sale of my adult novel made it into Publisher’s Weekly yesterday – something I was so, so excited about! You can click here to read it.

I also think book reviewer’s blogs are a great resource because you can get a sense of what people are reading and enjoying and what’s getting buzz in the publishing industry. The Story Siren’s blog and Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Cynsations are two of my favorites. Both are great, always informative, and honest.

I probably could go on and on. In fact one of my new favorite procrastinating tools since becoming a published author are reading blogs, checking publishing sites, and checking out other author’s websites. But it’s not really procrastinating if it’s writing related, right?!

PS. Another great resource for all things YA, YA Fresh, is doing a giveaway for three copies of THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS this week! Click here to enter.

Novel Girls News!

THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS got a terrific review in Publishers Weekly! They called it a "memorable debut novel" and called "the story startlingly real." Click here to read the whole review!

THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS is also nominated for a few Reader's Choice Awards over at YA Reads. Click here to check out all the nominees and to vote!

Cheers!
The Novel Girls

The End of Release Week & The Last Chance to Win

Here's one last little interview with Tracy and Jillian as they answer Carolyn's questions:

How has your family (husband, children, parents) reacted to the publication of your book?

Tracy: Everyone has been incredibly supportive and excited for me! My two older kids are reading it, and my two younger ones think it's "really cool I wrote so many words."

Jillian: They're all super-excited! I let my husband read an early copy I got from my editor, even though he'd already read it, because he was so excited about reading "the real thing." My parents each ordered their own copy from Amazon because they didn't want to share!

Have any of them marched into a bookstore and bought all the copies?

Tracy: Not into physical bookstores, but my aunt ordered several copies and has since passed them out to all of her friends. She's had a great time reading the story at the same time her friends are.

Jillian: No -- but everyone's been ordering them on Amazon and then e-mailing me when it ships, and then when it arrives. My sister even sent me a picture of herself getting the book (although she made me promise not to post it anywhere!)

Are they telling all their friends, neighbors and distant relatives to go out and buy your book?

Tracy: LOL! Everyone is telling everyone, which is wonderful. I definitely have my family's support.

Jillian: Yes! My husband works in a middle school, so he's been spreading the word to all his students. And my dad sent out an e-mail to everyone in his address book -- a few hundred people!

Have you gotten any surprising reactions from people when you have told them that you are a published author?

Tracy: People tend to think it's really cool, and while I haven't had any surprising reactions, they've all been terrific! This past week I've reconnected with several friends from my high school days and in all cases, none of them were surprised to discover that I spend my days writing.

Jillian: Everyone I know has been really excited for me and excited to read the book, which is awesome. And I do mean everyone -- even my doctor was gushing about it and wanted me to display some books in the waiting room!

What one person were you looking forward to telling the most?

Tracy: Hmm, really...everyone I wanted to know found out when I made the sale. I couldn't wait to tell my husband, naturally, and then my best friend, and then my parents. It's been a lot of fun!

Jillian: I told everyone when I made the sale, too. But, of course, then, the absolute first person I wanted to tell was my husband!

Today's your last chance to enter our contest. We're giving away signed copies of A TASTE OF MAGIC and THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS. Just leave a comment on this post or any of the other ones from this week. Each comment gets you one entry into the contest.

Lights... camera...

Now, you all know I come from an acting background, so for my question to our Lovely Launching Novel Girls, I thought it might be fun to take a little trip to the casting couch! I asked Jillian and Tracy to fantasy “cast” four of the characters from their debut novels, The September Sisters and A Taste of Magic, with real live actors!

Don’t forget, all you have to do to be entered in the draw to win is leave a comment in the comment trail!

Let’s see what Jillian has to say about her characters – and who she’d like to see play them on the silver screen:

Lesley, I have to say I love your question because it combines my two favorite things, books and movies. It also gave me permission to spend lots of time on one of my favorite websites, IMdB, and still say that I was “working.”

Since you asked for four, I decided to cast the family in my book, the main character Abigail Reed, her younger sister Becky, (who disappears), her mother Elaine, and her father Jim.
First Abigail – For her I would choose Abigail Breslin, who is not only one of my favorite child actresses right now, but who also shares the same first name with Abigail Reed. Perfect! I loved her in Little Miss Sunshine, but I also recently saw her in Definitely, Maybe. As I was watching that I may have even mentioned to my husband that she would be perfect for the movie version of Abigail, in a year or two. I think she plays smart and strong and unique very well, and these are all characteristics that I see in my Abigail.

For Becky, I choose Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning’s younger sister). In the book, Becky is described as petite with straight blonde hair, the opposite to Abigail’s darker skin and curlier brown locks. I don’t know much about Elle’s acting, and I think the only thing I may have seen her in is an older episode of House, but I think she has the perfect look for the part.

For the mom, Elaine, I choose Naomi Watts. In the book, Elaine is supposed to be petite and blonde like Becky, so Naomi fits for looks. But I’ve also loved Naomi’s acting ever since I saw her in 21 Grams. Elaine might be the most complex character in the book, and her depression borders on mental illness at times. She is beautiful, but also broken. I think Naomi Watts could absolutely pull this off.

For the Dad, Jim, I pick Matthew Fox, who I’ve been a fan of since his Party of Five days. Jim is supposed to be intimidating and controlling, but underneath, he means well and is trying to do what he thinks is best for his family. In some ways, this reminds me a little of Matthew’s character on Lost. Plus I just really, really like him, and wouldn’t he and Naomi Watts make a cute couple?

Thanks so much, Lesley, for this fun fantasy trip!

Thank you Jillian! Now let’s see what Tracy had to say:

This is easily the hardest question of the week for me. Why? Because I think different actors bring a unique style to any role they play, and therefore, figuring out who would bring just that right "something" to my characters is nearly impossible. But...giving it my best shot, here we go:

In the role of Elizabeth Stevens, I'd choose Sandra Bullock. She has the same physical characteristics as Elizabeth, but my reasons for choosing her extend beyond "looks." I loved her in While You Were Sleeping, Two Weeks Notice, and Congeniality. She's funny, which is a huge plus for Elizabeth, but she also expresses the deeper emotions of her characters, which is a necessity in Elizabeth's case.

I had to think long and hard about Nate Sutherland. Finally, I settled on Mark Ruffalo, because Nate is serious, but also sweet and fun. I loved Mark in 13 Going On 30, and that's pretty much how I see Nate, except, of course, Nate is a cop.

Grandma Verda is such a fun character, that my first thought was Shirley MaClaine, because who does zany humor better than Shirley? The problem is that Grandma Verda is quite a bit older than Shirely, but if there was a way to make it work, she'd definitely be my first choice. Other than Shirley, I'm not sure who else I would choose. Hmm, I'll have to give it more thought!

There are a lot of other characters in A Taste of Magic, but coming up with these three were difficult enough, so I'm stopping here! Thanks for a great (and TOUGH) question, Lesley!

Thanks Tracy!

Congratulations again, ladies! Keep that party rolling!

In which Tracy and I admit to wanting to be grandmas. . .

First, let me say how awesome it is for me to be sharing this amazing week with Tracy! I got my copy of A Taste of Magic a few days ago, and though things have been a bit crazy and I haven’t had much time for reading, I have read the first few chapters and I’m loving it. As for me, this week has felt surreal, exciting, overwhelming – I’ve been doing lots of interviews and guest posts around the blogosphere, so if there’s anything you want to know about me or The September Sisters – it’s probably out there now. Just check out my personal blog for links.

So for my question, I asked: If you could be one character in your book for a day, who would it be and why?

Tracy said: At first, I thought this was an easy question, but the more I thought about it, I realized it wasn't. I love all of the characters in A Taste of Magic, so choosing one wasn't easy--at all.

Elizabeth, the heroine in the book, is awesome AND she has magic, so that's a very compelling reason for me to pick her, because I'd love a little magic. Plus, she has these hot men clamoring after her...so that's another great reason. Even so, I realized that while being Elizabeth for a day would be FUN, there is another character even more compelling to me.

Grandma Verda, Elizabeth's grandmother, is my choice. She's so quirky that being her for a day would be a blast! She also has this right-on-target instinct about people, about life, that would make being her so very interesting. In addition, she seems to bring out the best in everyone around her. And let's not forget her perfect manipulation skills (which, of course, she only uses in the most dire of circumstances!).

Yeah, I can definitely see enjoying a day spent as Grandma Verda.

And here’s my answer: Even though I asked the question, I had to think about my answer for a little while, too! It seems like the obvious answer for me would be, Abby, the main character in The September Sisters. I love that she’s strong and quiet and smart, and that she has this amazing ability to see people for who they really are, underneath. But I sort of feel like I’ve already spent a day in Abby’s shoes. Actually, a lot of them. Having spent months writing from her point of view meant I thought about her and dreamed about her and day-dreamed about her constantly.

So I decided I would also want to choose the grandmother in my book, Grandma Jacobson. Grandma Jacobson actually has a very small role in the book and only in flashback as she died a few years before the story takes place. You know that pretty sapphire blue heart you see on the cover? Grandma Jacobson bought them for Abby and her younger sister Becky a few years before the book begins, when she was on a trip to Madagascar. She was the kind of crazy old lady who traveled the world, said whatever was on her mind, and loved her granddaughters fiercely. She was brave and interesting and didn’t let anything stop her. Actually, in a lot of ways, she’s my opposite. I tend to be more quiet and reserved and afraid of more things than I’d like to admit. And that’s why I’d choose to be her for a day – just to experience life from a totally different place.

Both A Taste of Magic and The September Sisters are officially out in the world now! Pick them up, read them, enjoy them! And don’t forget, comment on this post or any of the others this week, and be entered to win a signed copy of A Taste of Magic and The September Sisters.

Novel Girl News

This coming week is release week for Tracy Madison's A Taste of Magic and Jillian Cantor's The September Sisters!! All week, The Novel Girls will be celebrating the releases by interviewing Tracy and Jillian.

We'll also be having a contest and giving away signed copies of both A Taste of Magic and The September Sisters. All you need to do to enter is comment on any of the posts this week -- for every post you comment on, you get 1 entry into the contest!

Cheers!
The Novel Girls

Balancing Life and Launch

I actually have a lot to say about balancing life and writing, about how it’s something I’ve struggled with for years, about how for a period, I stopped writing because the balancing act was too hard, and then how I came back to writing because I realized my life felt a whole lot emptier without it.

But right now, what I’m really having trouble balancing is The September Sisters book launch, with, well, everything else. It’s not the launch itself so much as the anticipation, the jitters, the excitement, and of course my own attempts at publicity and marketing. In fact all of this has pretty much dominated my life for the past month or so. Not much balance there at all.

My husband, who I’ve coined my unofficial publicist/head marketer/website designer is almost worse than I am. Our dinner conversation has been something like this lately.

Him: “How was your day?”
Me: “It was . . . Oh my god! Only (fill in number of days here) until the book comes out!”
Me: “I’m sorry. How was your day?”
Him: “It was. . .Hey, I Googled your book during lunch and found a new blog review. Did you see it?”

And it gets worse. At my son’s birthday party a few weeks ago, I found myself fielding questions about the book. While I was working out a few days ago, my husband interrupted to get my opinion on the bookmarks he was designing for me (which are awesome, by the way.) Kids go to bed, time to work on my revisions of my latest book? Not exactly. Instead, I’ve been answering interview questions, writing guest blogs, and trying to figure out how to use features on Goodreads and Facebook. My husband? He’s been hanging out in the office with me reading his very own copy of The September Sisters, and of course, stopping every so often to comment on a part the he hadn’t remembered reading in an earlier draft. That is, when he’s not working on my website or designing those aforementioned bookmarks!

Yeah. No balance. At all. It kind of reminds me of the way life was when I was nine months pregnant with my first child, when every single conversation or thought seemed to revolve around the baby or the birth or the nursery or how we were planning on caring for the baby. But in a lot of ways, isn’t a book coming out kind of like the same thing? With this book launch, I’m getting ready to put a piece of myself, out there, into the world, and once it’s out there, everything might be different than it was before. It’s an idea that overwhelms me with excitement (and sometimes, terror).

I am sure in a few weeks things will die down, and life will go back to normal, and then I’ll be happily back to juggling only life and writing. But for now, I’m okay with letting the book launch consume my life, for a little while anyway. After all, your debut book only comes out once!

PS. I’m all over the blogosphere this week and next, talking about The September Sisters. Click on over to my personal blog to find the links!

Novel Girls News

Join us tomorrow, February 16th, for an interview with literary agent, Michelle Grajkowski, from Three Seas Literary!

And we're only one week away from the release of Tracy Madison's A Taste of Magic and Jillian Cantor's The September Sisters!!! Soon we'll be starting a contest to give away signed copies of each book -- so check the sidebar for contest details next week.

Cheers!
The Novel Girls

Shakespeare in Love

To me, thoughtful things are romantic. Not flowers or candy, both of which are okay, but don’t really wow me. The most romantic “gift” my husband ever gave me was a poem, a Shakespearian sonnet that he wrote inside of a card. And not just any sonnet, but one that actually had meaning at that point in our lives.

15 years ago, my husband (who was then my high school boyfriend) left to go to college. I’m two years younger, and was still only a junior in high school. Right before he left, he gave me that card, with the poem written inside. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

My husband (then, my 18-year-old boyfriend) was not much of a reader. I knew he had to really think outside of his normal comfort realm to find any poems, much less Shakespeare, and then he had to actually sit down and read until he found one that meant something. This was his way of saying that he wanted us to stay together, even though he was moving 200 miles away. And what could be more romantic than that?

We did stay together (not just because of this poem, of course!) But I never forgot this one sonnet. Years later, we even put it in our wedding program.

And then I sat down to write The September Sisters, which is, in many ways a love story. The main character, Abby, meets her neighbor’s grandson, Tommy, and as the two of them try to reconcile the disappearance of Abby’s sister, their love blossoms. I don’t want to give away anything here, so I’ll just say I got to a point in writing the book where I needed a love poem, and I immediately thought of this one.

So as you read The September Sisters, you’ll see the meaning this poem has for Abby, but now you’ll also know the meaning this poem has for me.

Novel Girls News!

Happy February!! It's release month for Tracy Madison's A Taste of Magic and Jillian Cantor's The September Sisters.

To celebrate, Tracy Madison is hosting guest bloggers each Monday in February on her personal blog. She's also giving away autographed books each week! You can find out all the details here.

Jillian Cantor kicked off her blog tour this week with an interview with Juiciliciousss Reviews and a guest post at Books By Their Cover. Want to participate in the tour? Click here.

Maureen Lipinski's author website is live! You can find her at www.maureenlipinski.com .

And don't forget, Lesley Livingston's Wondrous Strange is out in bookstores now!

Cheers,
The Novel Girls