#4: New Chapter (In Life, Not a Book)

Hello, all! We meet again. I’m so sorry I haven’t been keeping up with my weekly posting schedule. The last few weeks of my life have been a big transitional period, plus I had to get my wisdom teeth out…etc. Ah, you don’t want to hear about everything I did. So I’ll stop there! 

Anyway, I just wanted to come by the blog and let you all know that I’m moving this weekend (to my new university). This means a few things:

A) I’m taking 2 English classes and 1 language course (that require approximately 17 books total). Ergo, I will have very little time or energy to read YA books. However, there are some titles coming out in the next few months that sound great. I may post reviews from time to time, especially if I get a chance to sift through the rest of my ARCs. 

B) I hope you all keep writing. And I hope I start. (You’ll hear about it, if I do. Promise!) It’s going to be hard, but the change in environment, with tons of new people around, should be quite inspiring. 

C) Summer is gone. Is anyone else as sad as I am? Though I was alone for much of it, I had a lot of fun reading, collecting autographs, etc. 

What are some of YOUR favorite memories from this summer? And where do you see yourself going next in your life (school, work, etc.)? 

Good luck and best wishes to you all.  <3

Until next time,

(See archive for posts #1-3)

#3

Wow, I haven't written one of these in forever! 

(See post #1 here and post #2 here)  

Continuing my personal series, I'll be talking about starting over today. Or going back to square one. Whatever you'd like to call it. 

How do you know if you're ready to give up what you've been working on and begin again, with nothing? I can't answer that of course, as it varies from person to person. But...I've decided to do it and I want to share with you all how I came to that decisions.

For months and months, I wrote in short spurts: different characters, different settings, action scenes, crowd scenes, quiet conversations. But it wasn't one big storyline I was working on it. Heck, I'm not even sure what to call it. Going in circles since 2009 is pretty much the only way to describe my writing life since 2009. There's also the discouragement I felt when I picked up a published book and thought, "Hey this sounds close to something I scribbled about." 

I think if you find yourself stuck like I did, let it all go. I'll be keeping my papers and notebooks but I don't plan on playing around with those words anymore. I've grown so much since I branched away from fan fiction years ago and tried just...fiction. It wouldn't be fair, I believe, to keep chipping at what my awkward block of ideas.

So as of today, August 2nd 2012, I call myself neither a writer nor a scribbler...because I have nothing. But that's not to say I will never have anything written down. I'm going back to the basics: seeking inspiration in music, art, nature, etc. and considering "what if" questions, about things that really matter to me. That's what I'll be focusing on in the near future. 

And hopefully, something good and fiction-y will come from it all. It's August already, more than halfway through the year, and there's just no more time to look back. 

Hope you have an inspired week, no matter where you are in the writing process. <3

Currently Reading

Hi all. I haven’t had much time to think about writing (or actually write, boo!). So I’m doing a brief post about the books I’ve been reading! This summer is my last chance to read whatever I want (which means digging into my huge YA pile) before I move for school. Anyway, I promise that the next one or two posts from me will be more writing-oriented.  =)

1) Skylark by Meaghan Spooner

 Summary: “For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult. After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the City within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the Wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city. Lark did not expect to become the City’s power supply. For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she’s ever known…or face a fate more unimaginable than death.”  **

This was one of the two titles I actually bought ALA. It is a finished hardcover. The book jacket is gorgeous and shiny! I totally love it. I’m just past part I and am liking it so far. It’s got a futuristic Alice in Wonderland sort of feel (to me anyway): the main character is alone and disoriented, and there are some odd and fantastical elements that she faces. Not really sure where it’s going plot-wise, but I’m curious to see. I believe the official release date is August 1, 2012 and will be available through various online retailers.

Also, the author is hosting a giveaway right now. You can check it out on her website: http://www.meaganspooner.com/the-skys-the-limit-contest-for-skylark/

** [photo & text credit to author and publisher Carolrhoda Lab]

2) Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Summary: “Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair… .Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn’t believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell. Peter is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland’s inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she’s always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it’s the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who’s everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.”  **

Well, I received a surprise ARC of this in the mail from HarperTeen. It was nice of them to send it without me requesting it! I’m not very far into it, but it sounds good. Although, I’ve never read her previous work, so the writing style and narration are a bit difficult for me to adjust to.

You can visit her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/jodilynnandersonbooks) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/jodilynna).

** [photo & text credit to author and publisher HarperTeen. Taken from Goodreads]

What are you reading this week? <3

ALA Annual '12 Recap + Swag Giveaway (over)

Hello! I had a fun, exhausting, crazy weekend at the ALA Annual in Anaheim, California. In this post, I’ll be sharing a few photos as well as my overall impression of the exhibit hall.

Sign outside convention center (taken from car):

Marissa Meyer signing copies of Cinder and ARCs of Scarlet (book 2) !!! This was actually a surprise. I was waiting for another author, but it went fast. So I hopped over to the Macmillan booth right after and saw this huge line, which luckily my friend was already in. Marissa seemed excited to be there and I snagged a Cinder mirror as well as Scarlet. No picture with her though.

Disney-Hyperion ticketed signing: (from left to right) Alexandra Bracken, Rachel Cohn, Dan Krokos and Tamara Ireland Stone. I kept joking that this was cafeteria style - a little chat and sign with each of the authors.

Other authors I met throughout the weekend: Rae Carson, Ally Condie, Tahereh Mafi (3rd time in 7 months…she’s that awesome), Libba Bray, Gary Ross (director/writer of The Hunger Games), Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo (been Twitter friends for a while, it was so nice to see her), Jessica Khoury and Gennifer Albin. They were all very lovely and eager to chat.

5 books I'm most excited to read: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, Outpost by Ann Aguirre, Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes and Black City by Elizabeth Richards.

I ended up with around 30 books from Friday night to Monday afternoon and hope to give many of them away after I read them. Indeed, very grateful to all the publishers, authors,  librarians, teachers, bloggers and readers I met or was given books by (whew, is that everyone?) and of course my friend Rachael whom I interviewed last week. It was a great weekend overall and gave me a new perspective on the publishing industry.
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Wait. You thought I was going to tell you all that, then leave you with nothing? No way. I have some very cool YA swag from my personal closet stash (pictured below) to give away!!!

HOW TO ENTER: Just leave a comment below with an email address! I’ll pick two winners* this Monday 7/2. US and Canada only please. Winners have been notified by email.

* One pile of swag per winner will be sent via USPS after email confirmation. Winners will be chosen randomly using a number generator. In the event that only one person enters this contest, the remaining prize will be kept and used at a later date. If no one enters, both swag prizes may be donated. *

Quick Interview: The Book Muncher

1) Hi, Rachael! Welcome to Cherry Tree Notes. It’s been pretty quiet around here, but we love to have people stop by. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your blog.

Hi all! As Kristi said, my name is Rachael, and I’ve been blogging at The Book Muncher for over four years. When I’m not reading YA, I go to school at Barnard College of Columbia University, where I’m majoring in Comparative Literature, and work at a small literary agency called Fox Literary.

2) What genres of young adult literature do you enjoy most? And which recently published (or soon to be) titles are you excited about?

I have rather eclectic taste when it comes to books, so I read a little bit of everything from contemporary and historical fiction to paranormal and high fantasy—it really just depends on my mood! I do find, though, that I’m generally a little more particular to certain themes or concepts within genres; for example, I’ve been really into stories with time travel and parallel universes of late, so I’ve been drooling over a fair amount of sci-fi: False Memory by Dan Krokos, All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill (which doesn’t come out until Fall 2013), and Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate.

In other genres, I’m greatly looking forward to Diviners by Libba Bray, Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, Speechless by Hannah Harrington, and Burn for Burn by Jenn Han and Siobhan Vivian.

3) I know you are currently based in a big city and gaining work experience as a publishing intern. What is it that you do and how do you hope your role within the industry will evolve within the next few years?

As an assistant at a literary agency, I do a little bit of everything. Mostly, I do a lot of reading—in sorting through queries, of manuscripts in the “slush pile,” and of my boss’s clients’ projects. I’m also starting to do a fair amount of writing as well, by drafting rejection and revision letters. Since I aspire to be a young adult book editor, it is my hope that I’ll be hired as an editorial assistant at a publishing house soon after I graduate from college next year! When (not if!) that happens, I’ll likely be doing a lot of the stuff that I get to do now at the literary agency—but all the time!

4) Any advice for those who want to work in publishing, write, or something in between?

The best advice that I can give is very general but I’d like to think it’s very relevant to all aspects of the publishing industry, whether from the writer’s side or the publisher’s side: Don’t give up. Publishing is extremely competitive, because everybody wants to write a book and all those English majors out there want to get paid. Perseverance and patience can really make a huge difference; no matter how disheartening the present state of the publishing industry looks at any given time, your ability to stick things through while someone else couldn’t makes you that much closer to your end goal, whatever it may be!

Thanks so much for having me on the blog!

You can find out more about The Book Muncher and her reviews on her blog: http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com/ or on Twitter: @thebookmuncher.


*SIDE NOTE* : I will be attending the American Library Association's annual conference Friday through Sunday (or Monday, not sure yet) and will post a recap with photos next week!  :) 

Valentine's Day ♥

So...today's February 14, huh?

If you have plans with someone(s), have a great time. I really mean that. Or if you don't have plans, but really want to do something, go ask! You never know who will say yes. Or stay home and do whatever you'd like, maybe something that relaxes you. :-) The choice is yours.

Just for fun, here are some things I want to do:

1. Read: I am up to my neck in Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (not literally...but emotionally?). I'm almost done with this advance copy and it is so good. That's all I will say, even though some of you may have read it. 

2. Catch something on TV: I have a couple shows scheduled on the family DVR, but I may not feel like watching those. So I might browse for a movie or two. I'm sure there are a ton showing today.

3. Write: I'm in a slump. Again! My biggest problem, I've realized, is that I can't decide what world to set the story in. I know it sounds ridiculous, but there are so many settings to choose from. So...it's basically like I can't move forward with the plot if I'm iffy on where they're at and so on. I'm thinking that tonight I'll set aside some time to get writing again.

4. Enter giveaways: This is actually one of my favorite things to do. Blogs and various websites often do contests to win books and other stuff. If you're looking for some links, let me know in the comments!

*I was actually planning to post a short Q&A with a good friend of mine. She's a publishing intern and blogger, so I thought it'd be cool to have her "visit" the blog. But I didn't quite get around to it; hopefully it will appear on the blog soon.*

What are YOU doing today??

❤ ❤ ❤