A few weeks ago I planned and attended a retreat for a group of development (aka fundraising for those of you unfamiliar with the non-profit world) staff members, where we challenged each individual to bring in two 5K gifts each week for a match challenge. Now I won't get into all of the details of what a match challenge is or why this idea was particularly revolutionary to our staff. The bottom line is that as I sat in the room watching all of my peers getting psyched up about their work and the ability to set small weekly goals I realized that this was a simple tactic that could translate into my writing life.

And thus the March Madness: Month of Submissions began. Each week since I have challenged myself to submit at least two pieces of writing. Just two. That's it. And it can be any kind of writing. It is not limited to professional markets. It's not limited to fiction. It's not limited to current projects.  Just identify two possible markets and submit.

So now on March 16th, I've just finished my second week of submissions.  I had been sitting on some poems that I was rather proud of but had no idea what to do with. So I used this opportunity to research some online e-zines, literary blogs and lit journals that would make a suitable home for my work. Once I had a list of a handful of markets I simply referenced it weekly pulled from my catalogue of work and hit submit.

Here are some of the other items I intend on submitting in order to meet my goals.
--Flash Fiction.
--Poetry.
--RWA Newsletter Articles
--Queries for Novels
--RWA Contests

I'm joining in on a new meme that sounded like fun. It's called Top Ten Tuesday and its run by the Broke and the Bookish Bloggers. Here's a quick explanation from their blog on how it works:

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

So, this week's theme was top ten books in any given genre.  Now I'm a genre junkie, so this was really difficult to do.  Because I am taking a class in YA fiction this term I have decided to use that as my springboard. So without further adieu, my top ten books (in no particular order!)

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (Okay, so there is a little bit of an order here!) I've been a huge fan of these books since they came out and am so excited about the movies. It's great for guys and gals, has incredibly strong characters and great action. I wish I wrote these books.

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Yep. I have to include it. I plan on reading these books to my children, and my children's children....and my children's children's children....

3. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. There is no use in denying it. I once was a victim of the twilight craze. All you have to do is search through some of my old posts to see my once great love for the books.  The movies may have killed that passion off but I'll give the books their rightful credit (even if the pages are laced with crack).

4. The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. I don't understand why more people aren't talking about these books. At least the first four. Cassandra Clare is fantastic and just like the Hunger Games, these books have serious action and romance.

5. Matched by Allie Condie. The second book in the series may have been a dud, but this first book, Matched, was awesome. Dystopian fiction done well, in a world where so many others have tried and failed.

6. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. This is an oldie but goodie. It wasn't required reading in my high school though I wish it had been. Such a political novel full of power, control and manipulation. It's also a quick read. A plus in my book.

7. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is a great book for slightly younger YA readers, I'd say 7th grade-9th grade or so.  Don't let the cute sketches full you. The story is full of emotional drama that may cause you to shed a tear more than once. It also deals with the very delicate issue of race in a very delicate manner. Powerful stuff.

8. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Dystopian fiction when it wasn't so cool. I remember being intrigued by this book when I read it and years later I still find myself comparing newer Dystopian novels to this book.

9.  The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.  The only, and I mean only, Zombie book I have ever enjoyed.  It is beautifully written and she even manages to introduce a romance into the plot.

10.  Red Glove by Holly Black. This is actually the second book in the series. The first I found incredibly slow and if it were up to me I would have combined books one and two because they make a much stronger story together.  Anyway, the Mob and Magic? How can you go wrong?

So there it is? Do you have any faves that I should have put on this list?

There's a reason I don't watch the morning news. It's stupid. You get five minutes of actual news and 55 minutes of stuff nobody really needs to know. Gossip, sleaze, how to make you butt tight, save five dollars on canned goods, or get deals on houses in locations where no one really wants to live in the first place. The morning news is filled with insignificant feel good fluff. 


So why is it that I was still surprised when this article appeared on my Facebook feed?


PW Tip Sheet: Shame on Today


The article starts with the question,"What could have possibly happened to the current crop of morning-show producers that they would disregard entirely the winners of the highest children’s book awards in the land?"


According to the article, the Today Show had an 11 year tradition of bringing the Caldecott and Newberry Award winners on the show the morning after the awards were announced for an interview.  But for the last two years this has not happened, citing scheduling conflicts.  I don't believe that for a second. I believe someone said these interviews weren't marketable. The authors were boring, the audience wasn't interested and we have more important things to do with our four hour block of time. 


Which led me to two great finds in the not so mainstream media this week. First, a rough gem in an unusual place, Comedy Central. The Colbert Report did a two part interview with Maurice Sendack, author of Where the Wild Things Are and it was eye opening to say the least! Proof that it's actually very intelligent and witty adults who write children's books. You can catch part one of the interview here: Maurice Sendak Interview Part 1  and part two here: Maurice Sendack Interview Part 2. 


Then of course I found a delightfully funny interview on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. If you've never listened to this show before you are in for a real treat. I laugh all the way through it. This week they actually did an interview with the Newberry Award Winner Jack Gantos where listeners learn just how boring and dull the life of a children's author can be. This has got to be one of my favorite author interviews and I encourage you to check it out even if you stop before listening to the actual quiz show. You can check it out here: Jack Gantos Interview on NPRs Wait Wait Don't Tell Me


After listening to both of these interviews I was forced to re-embrace what I had long ago declared a brutal truth: Morning News Shows Suck.

It seems that every YA book I pick up nowadays has one thing in common (two if you count the over predominance of love triangles) and that is they take place in dark dystopian universes with a clear delineation between good and evil, black and white. I don't have to ask what brought about this obsession. I'm as big a fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy as the next person and when I finished that book I was clamoring for more. The books since have been hit or miss, some with fully fleshed out worlds, conflict and characters others merely an illusion of what could have been. As someone who is working on a story that might be considered to fall into this category I found myself longing to step back and think about this trend and what is perpetuating our new YA mantra: the darker the better.

I stumbled upon a piece in the New York Times called "The Dark Side of Young Adult Fiction" in which readers, writers and professors had an opportunity to share their own thoughts about the trend. The contributors, some of which have written dark dystopian YA novels themselves, provide insight and bring new perspectives to the topic that I found intriguing. And though the article is more than a year old, it is incredibly relevant to the types of work that is still being published. In fact the last three out of four books I read were YA Dystopian novels. The interesting thing, was that the non-dystopian novel was the best out of all three. Perhaps the sub genre is headed the way of the witches, weres, and vampires. Too much of a good thing and all that jazz.

Check out the article and let me know what you think. Do you like the new YA take on Dystopian Fiction? What are your must reads in the genre?

So I just finished reading Wither, the first book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy ad I have no idea what to make of it. The book was advertised as the next great read for hunger games fans, but the only thing it has in common with Suzanne Collins HG trilogy is the post-apocalyptic setting. For every sappy vampire book Twilight brought to the forefront as a result of its success there is an dystopian tragedy waiting in the midst as a result of the success of the Hunger Games.  I admit, I fell victim to this craze, which is probably why I have about ten of them on my to-be-read list. The first of which was Wither. 

So every time I run across an appealing market I feel the need to share with my other writerly friends and I couldn't resist getting a little hot and bothered about this one.  Thus far I am very impressed with Entangled Publishing and have been looking for something in my own drawer of goodies that is a good fit for what they are publishing.  This flirt line might just be the thing. I'll sleep on it.

They are looking for short novellas (10k-15K, which in my opinion makes them short stories, but novellas always sounds cooler) in all types of romance sub-genres to sell for 99 cents.

I have heard nothing but great things about EP thus far and my own interactions with them have been very positive. If your interested you should definitely check out the Flirt Official Guidelines on their submission page.

Happy First of November, a.k.a. official kickoff to NaNoWriMo 2012. To all those taking part in the challenge, good luck and godspeed. For those of you like me who plan on sitting on the sidelines and basking in the creative energy that exudes off of our writing comrades with hopes of meeting our own, much smaller goals this month...well good luck to you too.

Tis the season to be bloody!! Muah, ha, ha! If you can't tell by my love of all things paranormal, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Probably because I have an opportunity to dress up in costume, cackle like a witch and scare little children.

Okay, I don't go around scaring little children, (probably because I don't have any to scare) but I enjoy halloween all the same. What better way to get into the halloween spirit than to write your own creepy crawly tales?

I was surfing twitter and I came across some different halloween writing prompts to help get you started and thought I would share them with you.

Two of my author friends have some new releases out and just in time for Halloween! Check out some great quick reads to download on your iPad, kindle and nook!





Dana Cay is a skilled private investigator with more than a passing knowledge of insanity. After her brother’s bizarre suicide, she drove herself mad with grief, convinced a shadowy cult had something to do with his death. Now, she’s out of the institution and back in business in a new city, taking only low-stress cases. But when Warren Parker begs her to look into his sister’s suspicious suicide, the madness starts again. Is the cult real after all? And if so, can Dana stop them before they kill again?


I've already purchased both and will be reading them on my travels next week!

It's that time of year again! November is just around the corner, which means writers all across the globe are frantically chirping about NaNoWriMo. I have yet to commit to actually jumping in the game this year, but I thought it would be fun to repos some of my popular NaNo blogs from past years to help everyone get in the mood. And for any newbies out there, hear this: IT CAN BE DONE!