My Literary Boyfriends *revised*

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helpIt’s time for an update on my love life.

(Please note: my entire love life is fictional.)

(For now.)

And so I present to you …


My Top 8 Literary Boyfriends

1. Silas Hart of Truest
Is it unfair that I put the boy from my own book first?  I essentially created him to be my perfect boyfriend, were I seventeen years old.  A deep-thinking, goofy-as-all-get-out, handsome young poet.  Yup.

2. Augustus Waters of The Fault in Our Stars
He takes metaphorically fraught freethrows, for goodness sakes.

3. Jonah Griggs of Jellicoe Road
Causing a riot is what he does best.

4. Sean Kendrick of The Scorpio Races
My newest love!  He can swallow you with his eyes.

5. Will Trombal of Saving Francesca and The Piper’s Son
“His voice is deep and gravelly. I once heard one of the girls say that he had the voice of a sex god, but because I’ve never really heard what a sex god sounds like, I can’t verify that.” Works for me.

6. Gilbert Blythe of Anne of Green Gables
Oh Gil!  You can call me “Carrots” anytime!

7. Max Vandenberg of The Book Thief
I want a Jewish fist-fighter to protect me.

8. Joe Fontaine of The Sky is Everywhere
The smile.  It always comes back to that smile.

Your turn!!

sorry

 

 

Bookish Blogs I Love

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How to keep your finger on the pulse of the YA writing world?

1) Read YA lit like a fiend.
2) Subscribe to the Goodreads YA newsletter.
3) Follow author blogs/websites.
4) Follow amazing YA lit blogs!

Here are some of my favorites (click the graphic to go to the blog):

bloggers

annareads3

another

rbr
perpetual

P.S. I sometimes disagree with their reviews, but I am always grateful for the way they keep me up to speed on what’s new in the YA world.

P.P.S. I actually follow about 80 writing- & literature-related blogs (not to mention the OCD-related, faith-related, and miscellaneous blogs I follow).  I hope to introduce you to some more amazing blogs soon.

P.P.P.S. I don’t watch TV.  (The answer to your question of “How do you have the time to read so many blogs?”)

Wishlist

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Five things I want:

1. A book deal.
This one is the top of the list.

weird and sexy2. A boyfriend.
And I want him to be funny and handsome and strange.

3. Money to go to all the conferences I wanted!
I’d really love to attend BookExpo America, the OCD national conference, SCBWI, and VidCon.

4. A bigger platform.
In other words, I wish my blog had 10 million followers or that I was an internet celebrity.

5. To meet Melina Marchetta and John Green.
I would die.

Random 5 Friday is a weekly meme over at A Rural Journal.

Word Association Book Survey

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Almost a year ago, I made a valiant attempt at writing fan fiction.  I used an already-created set of 50 words as one-sentence prompts.  Today, I’m going to use those same 50 words as the framework for a word association book survey.  Join me and post your own!

booksurvey

What book(s) do the following words make you think of?

#01 – Comfort

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
When kids act like grown-ups …

#02 – Kiss

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Oh, Jonah Griggs.

#03 – Soft

Ordinary People by Judith Guest
“He mimicked her soft soprano.”

#04 – Pain

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Just read it.

#05 – Potatoes

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
One more thing to steal.  Oh Arthur Berg.

#06 – Rain

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Joe Fontaine. Rain. Kiss. Yes.

#07 – Chocolate

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. “Here,” he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.”

#08 – Happiness

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Mixed candy.

#09 – Telephone

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
“Seamus told me that Dean told him that Parvati …”

#10 – Ears

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
When Adam’s ears turned pink and Blue noticed!

#11 – Name

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
I can’t not think of it with a prompt like “name.”

#12 – Sensual

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
When Perry is teaching Aria about poisonous berries … gosh.

#13 – Death

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Death is, after all, the narrator of this book.

#14 – Sex

Froi of the Exiles
Am I right, or am I right?

#15 – Touch

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
The main character’s touch is lethal.

#16 – Weakness

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

#17 – Tears

The Shatter Me series
Does it feel like Juliette is always crying?

#18 – Speed

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

#19 – Wind

Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Sailboat!

#20 – Freedom

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Out in the Death Shop!

#21 – Life

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

#22 – Jealousy

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta
Oh Tom.

#23 – Hands

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
“Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

#24 – Taste

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Dirty girl, Jackie Lea!

#25 – Devotion

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta
Will Trombal’s tatt.  Enough said.

#26 – Forever

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
Fo. Sho.

#27 – Blood

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Not why you’d expect.

#28 – Sickness

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The kiddos meet in cancer support group.

#29 – Melody

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
Blood sings to blood.

#30 – Star

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Coriakin. Ramandu.

#31 – Home

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Mmm.

#32 – Confusion

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
Giant HUH moment.

#33 – Fear

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Earth’s rotation is slowing …

#34 – Lightning/Thunder

#35 – Bonds

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
Another tatt.

#36 – Market

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
Chippingfoot.

#37 – Technology

The Chaos Walking trilogy!

#38 – Gift

Everyday by David Levithan
Just read it.  You’ll see what I mean.

#39 – Smile

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
I have never read a more walloping description of a smile.

#40 – Innocence

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montegomery

#41 – Completion

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Duh.

#42 – Clouds

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The cover. 🙂

#43 – Sky

Under the Never Sky series
Aether.

#44 – Heaven

The Mortal Instruments series
It’s about angels, yo!

#45 – Hell

The Mortal Instruments series
It’s about demons, yo!

#46 – Sun

This is Shyness by Leanne Hall
The sun doesn’t rise in Shyness.

#47 – Moon

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
“All night, Aslan and the moon stared at one another with unblinking eyes.” (Or something like that.)

#48 – Waves

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

#49 – Hair

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney
I always think of that line: “The kiss was serious.  Serious like my hair, thought Janie.” 🙂

&

Fire by Kristin Cashore
Oh, that hair!

#50 – Supernova

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Because Augustus is amazing. 🙂

What book did these words make YOU think of?  

Random Facts about Me

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How about a little randomness for today?

1. I don’t set my alarm for times ending in zeros or fives.  (Usually just one off– 6:01, 6:16, etc.)

2. I’m okay with most off-brands, but mac and cheese must be Kraft and Lucky Charms must be the real kind.

3. I went 15 years without drinking carbonated beverages.  Just started drinking root beer again this past year.

4. I don’t drink coffee.  At all.  In any form.

5. I think about names a lot.

6. I’m really, really messy.  (Seriously, my bedroom is a war zone.)

7. Abstract art fascinates me.

8. I don’t have any pets now, but I grew up on a hobby farm where we usually had a dog and about thirty cats.  Every once in a while, we’d also have a pet lamb.

9. I am the oldest kid in my family … and the shortest.

10. My favorite parts of traveling for work are seeing my friend Caitlin in South Dakota and also all the audiobooks I get to listen to!

bad waitress

Just One Dose

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I had such a hard day recently– my anxiety levels were higher than usual (“usual” being not too bad for the last four years– thanks, ERP!).  I felt this strange depression, a strong desire to sleep, and a hovering sadness that wouldn’t lift.  My blood pressure felt through the roof, and the stress took a very physical toll on my body: by the time I crawled into bed for the night, my shoulders felt like cement blocks and my arms were throbbing with pain.

I realized that– while racing out the door that morning– I had not taken my Effexor XR or my Prozac.

Just one dose missed, and it was so terribly evident.

I have acknowledged that I may be on medication for the rest of my life, and I’m okay with it.  In fact, I’m quite protective over my right to take medication.

I read this awesome related post on the OCD Foundation’s blog recently.  And it turned out that Alison, the blogger, lives in Minneapolis … so we got coffee.*  Love my OCD community!

* And since then, we’ve accepted new roles at the Twin Cities affiliate of the International OCD Foundation (I’ll be the communications director)  … and have an event planned in Minneapolis for OCD awareness week!  Exciting!

prozac morning

Frozen

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Not literally.  (Not yet– although today was a rainy and cool Minnesota autumn day.)

But a little paralyzed about moving forward with my new novel idea.  (Is “a little paralyzed” an oxymoron?)

I have done my pseudo-writing.

I found an idea I’m really excited about.  (Surprise [to you and me]: it’s not at all what I thought it would be.)

I am armed with a first draft manifesto to wield against doubts, poor choices, and bad writing.

Heck, I even thought out the entire storyline.  I’m generally a pantser, so this is extreme, folks.

BUT …

I’m scared to commit to this idea.

And I’m intimidated by other great writers.

And I don’t know where to start.

HOWEVER …

That’s what my creative process looks like.  I need to trust it.

It’s just another go-around on the writing rollercoaster.

Here I goooooooooooooooooo!!!

crappyfirstdraft

Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler

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9781611132960_1681X2544.jpgI will tell you this: I was not expecting this book to affect me the way it did.

My reaction to Why We Broke Up is different, I think, from any other book I have ever read.

First of all, what’s it about?  The book is essentially the main character Min’s letter to her ex-boyfriend Ed, detailing all the items she is returning to him in a box and thereby explaining why they broke up.

The book was terrifically well-written.

It was so true to high school.

And I think that’s what killed me.

While reading(/listening to the audiobook), I re-lived the experience of watching one of my high school best friends lose her innocence.  It’s been nearly 15 years since then, but it all rushed back like this ugly wall of emotion.  I kept getting this sick feeling as I revisited my own heartbreaking experience of watching her get steamrollered by bastard high school boys looking for sexual pleasure.

Ed– the ex-boyfriend in this story– is an ASSHOLE.  I’m not sure if it’s easier to see that from the beginning since you know the entire time that they have broken up.  He has his moments, for sure, but mostly he’s a prick.  JUST LIKE SO MANY REAL HIGH SCHOOL BOYS.

Here’s the thing, friends:
* I am not against sex scenes in YA lit, but Min and Ed’s experiences (though not explicit at all) still made me ill.
* I am not against sad books.  I like them!  (Hello, Book Thief!  Hello, TFiOS!)

This book just suckerpunched a part of my psyche that has been asleep since high school, and it was a rude awakening.

The book is beautifully written.  The characters were great.  The premise was fascinating.  It was true to real life.

Too true to real life for this girl.

Make of that what you will.

P.S. to R– I wish I could have protected you.  I don’t think you’re sorry– but I am.