Legasea Release Giveaway!

Legasea released January 28th, and to celebrate, Krystalyn is giving away a Legasea prize pack, including an autographed copy of the book, a seal ornament, and Legasea bookmarks.

When sixteen-year-old Aileen Shay sees a dead girl floating in the bay during a midnight yacht party, she never imagines Jamie Flannigan, her new boyfriend, may be involved. The only thing she knows about Jamie is that he personifies the one thing she has been drawn to her entire life – the ocean. But as she grows closer to him, she realizes he knows more about the murder than he’s telling. When another girl is attacked, and Jamie refuses to answer her questions, Aileen searches for answers on her own.

Aileen learns that Jamie’s family belongs more to myths and legends than they do in the real world. They are selkies, and after the Flannigans threaten her family, Aileen suspects they are responsible for both attacks.

But they aren’t the only ones in her small fishing town who can keep a secret. As Aileen uncovers the truth about the murder, the selkies, and her own family, she learns why her soul is bonded to the sea. But with that revelation comes a choice – to permanently sever her connection with the water, which comes at a painful cost, or embrace a legacy that just might get her killed.

Check out the first chapter here. http://krysteybelle.blogspot.com/2013/01/legasea.html

Check out the trailer!

And enter to win the prize pack here.  

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SELKIES, GUYS! ENTER NOW!

Guest Post: Anna Staniszewski and Keeping Fairy Tales Fresh

I am so excited to welcome the lovely Anna Staniszewski to my blog today! She is gearing up for the launch of the second book in her UnFairy Tale Life series, MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL. Since she writes about fairy tales, I thought it would be fun to hear from her about how to keep fairy tales fresh. Take it away, Anna!

Keeping Fairy Tales Fresh

When I do school visits, I talk to students about giving fairy tales a “twist” in order to make the stories fun and interesting. During the process of writing my UnFairy Tale Life series, I’ve been doing the same thing: taking fairy tale ideas and putting my own spin on them. Even though my books aren’t technically fairy tale retellings (since they’re not based on specific tales) they’re still inspired by the stories I’ve loved ever since I was young.

During my school presentations, I also talk about audience expectations. The fun of fairy tale retellings is that we know how the stories are supposed to go, but we read on to see how those expectations will be challenged. To build off of this idea, I have students come up with a short fairy tale as a group. Then we answer three questions:

1. If this fairy tale were a movie, what type of movie would we expect it to be? (e.g. drama, animated film, etc.)

2. If this fairy tale were a movie, what type of movie would we not expect it to be? (e.g. action, documentary, etc.)

3. Based on what we know about the main character, who would be a good villain for this story?

These three questions are essentially the same ones that I ask myself when I’m brainstorming fairy-tale-inspired stories. I love taking a familiar concept—a mermaid—and giving it an unexpected twist—a mermaid who hates being in the water because it makes her skin pruney. Not only does this kind of “twisting” make me giggle, but it also helps me to make fairy tale ideas feel fresh.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love getting lost in the “once up on a time” feeling of traditional tales. But I also love seeing those stories completely turned on their heads. The unexpected doesn’t have to be funny, but it should feel unique. That way, the “fairy tale with a twist” will both remind readers of the original story and make them feel like they’re getting to know a tale that’s completely new.

Bio:

Born in Poland and raised in the United States, Anna Staniszewski grew up loving stories in both Polish and English. She was named the 2006-2007 Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library and a winner of the 2009 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award. Currently, Anna lives outside of Boston with her husband and their adopted black Labrador, Emma.

When she’s not writing, Anna spends her time teaching, reading, and challenging unicorns to games of hopscotch. Her first novel, My Very UnFairy Tale Life, was released by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in November 2011. The sequel, My Epic Fairy Tale Fail, is coming in March 2013, and the third book in the trilogy, My Sort Of Fairy Tale Ending, will be out in November. You can visit her at www.annastan.com.

Thanks so much, Anna! Check out the trailer for MY EPIC FAIRY TALE FAIL here.

Kissing Scene Post for CLCBSD

Here's my kissing scene from MEDITATION for the Cupid's Literary Connection Kissing Scene Competition!  Here is my entry, if you'd like to read the pitch. Enjoy!

I snuggle closer to Brian as the movie ends.  “See?  I cuddle with you during any movie,” I say.

He snorts.  “You only did that to prove a point.”  Turning to face me, he moves his head down so we’re almost touching.  “I still say you get closer to me during horror movies.”

My lips twitch at the challenge in his voice, and I lean forward, pressing my forehead to his.  “I still say I hate horror movies, and making me watch something I hate is mean.”

“That’s me, the big meanie pants,” he says, his voice low.

I nod, moving my mouth closer to his.  In a breath, his lips are on mine.  I lift my hands, one going to his neck and tangling in his hair, the other reaching under his arm to his strong back.  Our mouths move together, and his hands tighten on my shoulders.

He feels so good I lose all sense of time.  My hand flexes on his back, gripping the muscles moving under it.  He groans, and moves me, flipping my legs over his and laying me back onto the couch.

The angle changes the kiss, makes it deeper, more urgent.  I moan as he leans over me, one arm holding his weight off me.  The other hand caresses my face, then slides down my body, stopping at my waist.

My breath hitches as his hand reaches the skin at the edge of my jeans.  He slowly raises his hand under my shirt, making small circles on my stomach, then my ribcage.  The anticipation makes my heart pound.  He finally reaches my chest, softly grasping me. 

Brian breathes my name, and my stomach clenches.  Then we’re both just hands, and lips, and bodies.  I run my hands under his shirt, wanting to touch all of him.

A door slams.

“Bree?  I’m home!”

Mom. Shit. 

WINNERS

WINNERS!!!!


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Congrats to Dea and Kirsten! I have emailed them for their addresses and will be shipping the books shortly. :)

Have you entered any good contests/giveaways lately? Share in the comments!!!

Post-Conference Wrap Up

In case you missed it, go here for the Post-Conference giveaway.

In this post, I thought I would share a few tidbits of information from the conference. This is by no means comprehensive, and you should take ANY OPPORTUNITY to hear these speakers. Everyone presenting at this conference was amazing. EVERYONE.

In the Novel Intensive:

Michael Stearns enlightened us about how his book packaging company works. It was really interesting! I loved this quote that he shared: "I write only when inspiration strikes me," Maugham explained. "Fortunately, it strikes me every morning at nine o'clock sharp." (His presentation was about how the in-depth outlining a book packager uses could be helpful to writers in their own work.)

Bruce Coville spoke about plot and character. He said a good story can be summed up as "who wants what and why they can't have it." Character is plot, and plot reveals character. Bruce is an outstanding speaker.

Elizabeth Law did a presentation on revision. She used examples and letters from her own authors and edit letters, and it was a fantastic and eye-opening talk! The point that stuck with me from this talk was to listen to your intuition--whatever piece of the critique makes you most defensive probably needs the most work. (I believe that particular advice came from Micol Ostow.)

In the First Page critiques, Bruce advised getting rid of very, suddenly, began to, just, there, and was as much as possible. Michael referred to much of some of the openings as "rhetorical throat clearing" or the stuff that needs to come out first, but is only for the writer, and should be deleted. He said, "When readers know something, they stop paying attention." Bruce added, "The questions carry you more than the answers do."

So, that was the first day. I think I will come back on Thursday with nuggets from the second day of the conference. Remember to click the link at the top to enter the giveaway!
 

Post-Conference Giveaway 2013!

Yay! I'm back from the AMAZING SCBWI Florida Regional Conference in Miami. I had tons of fun and met wonderful people and learned a lot!

As usual, I have a giveaway and some tidbits of information from the conference.  For the giveaway, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below. I will post some tidbits tomorrow.

I'm giving away signed copies of the following:

Tricks on Goodreads

Ripple on Goodreads

Renegade on Goodreads

BUT, I wanted to share some wonderful information today, so here it is:

As many of you know, the FABULOUS Elizabeth Law left Egmont USA as of last Monday. Elizabeth was at this conference, and she is the most gracious, funny, and brilliant editor I have ever met. I love her. And though many are sad she isn't at Egmont anymore (including me), it leaves us all with a wonderful opportunity. Because, while Elizabeth is between jobs, she will still be doing what she loves best--helping authors make their manuscripts the best they can be.

In other words, she is freelancing, and AVAILABLE FOR HIRE.

By you.

AWESOME, no?

With Elizabeth's permission, I am posting this information, including her contact email: ELawReads@gmail.com

Having had a 10-page critique with Elizabeth at this conference and attending many of her presentations, I cannot tell you how amazing this opportunity is, because there are not words. Seriously.

Okay, enter the contest below, and come back tomorrow for the conference tidbits.


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Happy Monday!

WriteOnCon Pitch-Fest Special Announcement!!!

 OMG SQUEE!!!!! I have a super awesome announcement from the awesome people behind WriteOnCon:

We here at WriteOnCon have decided that we sleep too much. To rectify that, we're organizing a mid-winter "Luck 'O the Irish" pitch-fest, where agents, book bloggers, and authors will team up to read and vote for the best pitches of 2013.

You read that right! A pitch-fest! At WriteOnCon!

But you won't need a pot 'o gold--or a lucky leprechaun--to participate, because our goal is to make sure you're well prepared. After all, we have bonafide literary agents coming to this thing! Yes, they will be reading the pitches, and yes, they are looking to sign clients. It could be you!

Not a writer? WE STILL NEED YOU! We're recruiting book bloggers and readers to spread the word and to vote for their favorites. Advocate for the books you want to see published--contact us at writeoncon@gmail.com to become an official WOC 2013 Pitch-Fest Blogger. You'll even get a special button. Ooooo. Shiny buttons.

The details:
--Pitch-fest runs from March 18-22. Authors, book bloggers, readers, and our fabulous literary agents will be voting on the pitches. The favorites in each category will win prizes, including some great agent feedback or membership in the official WriteOnCon mentorship program!

--There will only be a limited number of pitches accepted. That number is unknown at this time, because it depends on how many agents attend. We're still recruiting agents and will let you know the final numbers as soon as we do! Pitches will be selected randomly, so it doesn’t matter what time zone you live in.

--The agents have selected their top three genres, and pitches will ONLY be accepted in those genres. Again, all genres are unknown at this time as we're still finalizing agents, but don't worry. We will make announcements about genres and numbers as things solidify (sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss a thing!). At this time, we are only focusing on the children's market, so you can know now that this pitch-fest will focus only on middle grade and young adult genres.

--We're announcing this now, before all details are finalized, because we're running a "perfect your pitch" workshop in February. This will take place in the WriteOnCon forums, and will work much the same as the query critique boards do during the annual WOC. You will post your pitch, and your peers will critique it. We will have posts from industry professionals on writing pitches and genre classification.

We're doing this for a good reason. We want your pitch to be as perfect as possible once the submission window hits in March. We will only be accepting your entry for the pitch-fest one time. We will not change your genre or edit your pitch after it has been submitted. This workshop during February is the time for you to fine-tune your pitch and get feedback about which genre your novel really belongs in.

--Only one pitch per person. Put forth your best work.

--Pitches should be for polished and query-ready novels only. That means if you haven't finished your novel yet, you shouldn't pitch. Still revising? Don't pitch. The agents attending are looking for material, and when they request, you want to be ready to send out your novel. We're announcing early to give you time to finish!


Dates to know:
February 18-March 10 - Forum peer pitch critiques (Carolin has the forum boards built! Check them out HERE)
March 11-13 - Submission of final pitches (this will be done through a Google form, NOT in the forum--details to come!)
March 14-17 - We build the boards in the forum (they will be hidden until March 18)
March 18-22 - Voting and commenting by literary agents, mentor authors, and book bloggers

We can't wait to see you at the Luck o' the Irish Pitch-Fest! Watch the WOC newsletter and site for more updates as we get closer to liftoff. Yeah, that was totally a mixed metaphor.