Carrie's Night of the Giving Dead Auction

Just a quick shout out to YA author Carrie Harris (who is awesomesauce and funny and amazing, and you should buy her super cool book BAD TASTE IN BOYS) is having an amazing auction to celebrate her book release!

GO HERE and check it out.  The auction ends soon, so GO!

In other news, I am in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, and I am not getting my emails on my phone.  *cries*

Music Muse

Happy Tuesday, everyone! 

I am enjoying my time in Vegas very much. I've seen a couple of things to help with setting in my novel, and will try to get to a high school tomorrow.  Tonight, I'm staying on the strip with the hubs, and I'll be trying to figure out a few scenes that happen there.  Before that, though, I have to go to a ranch that my dad's friend owns.  I know that sounds kind of neat, and my kids will love it, but ... ugh.  I'm not much of an outdoors person, and I'm allergic to most of the animals there.  *sigh* So wish me luck.

Anyway, today I wanted to post about music.  Do you listen to music when you write?  I used to not be able to, but I've figured out how to make it work, and it really helps me now. 

The songs below are on my playlist for my manuscript That Succs, which is the one set in and near Vegas.  Some of the songs go together really well, and some may seem strange, but it works for me. (I'm linking (titles are links) to You Tube videos of the songs, but if there are any you like, please purchase them from your favorite music seller.)

I have some songs I listen to just in general:
Imaginary by Evanescence
Weight of the World by Evanescence
Lithium by Evanescence
Insatiable by The Rise of Defiance
Play Called Life by The Rise of Defiance
Misery by  Maroon 5
Alice by Avril Lavigne

And I have some songs for specific characters:
Emmy (protagonist):
Good Enough by Evanescence
Hello by Evanescence
Bring  Me to Life by Evanescence
Sally's Song by Amy Lee
Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri
Smile by Avril Lavigne

Lily (Emmy's best friend):
Peacock by Katy Perry (yeah, she's like that)
What the Hell? by Avril Lavigne

Paul (Emmy's crush):
Rocketeer by Far East Movement and Ryan Tedder
Careless Whisper by Seether

So what do you listen to when you write? Do you make playlists?  Any music suggestions for me? :)

Larissa :)

Setting (and WINNERS)

First, thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and commented on the SCBWI FL post.  I love coming back and sharing tidbits with other writers.  :)

Okay, so Random.org helped me out, and the winner of the signed copy of Fancy White Trash is Rachel R, and the winner of the signed copy of Skin Hunger is Theresa Milstein!  I wish I could have gotten more books and stuff to give away!  Winners, please email me at lchardesty at yahoo dot com with your addresses.

Anyway, on to setting!

I’m on a family vacation. 

I’m both excited and annoyed.  I have three children, so it’s pretty exhausting.  Plus, the first stop is my parents’ house. 

I adore my parents, but my mom likes to go, go, go, and I’m really more of a homebody.  I don’t really like to go on outings, just to go somewhere.  Especially when I could be writing or something.  Plus, my kids tend to realize that my mom will be quicker to get them snacks or something they want, so they bug her.  If I do nothing but pay attention to them, I can nip that in the bud before she gives in, but if I’m, say, WRITING or READING and not paying attention, she will give in and then eventually get annoyed that I’m not doing anything.  *shakes head*  Needless to say, I don’t think I’m going to get much writing time on this trip.  *SIGH*

BUT, I am excited because I am visiting the places two of my novels are set in!  YAY!  My current WIP, That Succs, is set in and around Vegas, which is where my parents live (for two more weeks, and then they’re moving—lol).  Then we are all going to South Dakota to visit my grandmothers.  My completed novel, Lure, is set in Western South Dakota, basically where my mom’s mom lives (the middle of nowhere-ish).

I plan to do posts when I get back, highlighting both places, but I wanted some advice first.  What kinds of things do you think I should look for/at?  If you have a novel or novel idea set in either of these places, what information would you want about them?

Larissa :)

SCBWI FL Mid-Year Workshop

First off, don't forget to enter the giveaway for signed books!

Second--Dude.  What happened to Blogger?  I hate it when sites I use and am used to change layout and look.  I get confused.  *sigh*

Okay, down to business.  Here are a few nuggets from the SCBWI FL Mid-Year Workshop.  I attended the Novel Intensive and the YA track, so my tidbits are all from Marjetta Geerling, Kathleen Duey, and Michele Burke (editor at Knopf BFYR).

• Filter everything through your character. -KD
• An editor can take a MS that's 70% of the way there and take it the rest of the way.  Editors can help you make your book better, but they can't do everything. -MB
• Voice is innate. -MB
• The reader shouldn't need to be told what the character is feeling--they should feel it with the character. -MB
• After voice, setting is the #2 reason MB will put a MS down.  Readers need something familiar to cling to--a seed of familiarity. -MB
• Don't throw the reader into the middle of the action at the expense of clarity. -MB
• Don't be deliberately mysterious and vague. -MB
• Be invitingly different and comfortably familiar.  Ground the reader in the familiar. -MB
• You have to hook the reader right away, but there are 8 million kinds of bait. -KD
• You need a striking and engaging beginning, but not action. - KD
• Setting should do at least two things, and it's better if it's three or four. -MG (Not just establishing time/location/etc, but can add to characterization, pacing, mood, etc.)
• Try to build your venue with an eyedropper, not a shovel. -KD
• When revising, print out your story and read it without a pencil so you turn off your writer brain and turn on your reader brain. -KD

Finally, Marjetta did a mini-presentation based on research she did in her MFA program.  It had to do with using a character's world-view and experiences to create unique language for that character (voice).  It was a really fantastic presentation.  Kathleen even talked about how awesome it was and that it wasn't something she'd thought of before. 

Anyway, if you or someone you know is in charge of speakers for a writing group/conference, you should look into bringing Marjetta in.  She is fantastic.

So, which piece of advice above speaks to you the most?

Larissa :)

Post-Conference Giveaway Time!

This is a couple of weeks late, since the SCBWI Florida Mid-Year Workshop was June 24 and 25, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me due to my Internet-Impaired status. (Yes, still.  Don't ask.)

Anyway, as usual, I purchased a couple of books by the presenters to give away here on my blog.

The Prizes:

A signed paperback of the amazing Kathleen Duey's Skin Hunger:

A signed hardcover of the brilliant Marjetta Geerling's Fancy White Trash:

The Rules:

1. Comment on this post:


-Current Followers (following before this is posted): 3 entries
-New Followers: 2 entries
-Non-Followers: 1 entry
2. Blog, tweet, or Facebook this contest: 2 entries per announcement (please leave links or @ me (@lchardesty) on twitter)
3. Add up your entries: 1 extra entry
4. Comment on my SCBWI Mid-Year Workshop post (posting Friday, July 8) for an extra entry per comment (I will count these, so you don't need to add them to your total on this post).
5. This contest will end at noon EST on Tuesday, July 12, 2011. I will announce winners on Friday, July 15.

Good luck, and thanks for reading! Be sure to come back this week Friday to read all about the amazing SCBWI FL Mid-Year Workshop!!!


Larissa :)