In My Mailbox (Week 2)

Welcome to In My Mailbox! You can find out how to participate and the "official" details on the IMM page.

IMM is a meme I started here at The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

The idea behind IMM was not only to put new books on your radar but to also encourage blogger interaction. IMM explores the weekly contents of my mailbox & books bought. And sometimes other fun goodies.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.
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Follow My Book Blog Friday and the Blog Hop!!!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com and http://www.crazy-for-books.com/} and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - none this week
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!


Happy Follow Friday!

NEW! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!
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"What is your favorite book cover?"

: p My favorite book cover changes fairly often but today I think it is:

Teaser Tuesday and side note!

Teaser Tuesday

As had happened the night before, Elphame watched in awe as a gold thread spooled within the stone beneath her hands. Like a flash of lightning it whipped, glowing through the wall, snaking around the room to come to rest in a thin disk of incandescent gold that shimmered in an area of the wall across the chamber from where she stood.

Elphame’s Choice by P. C. Cast – page 255

By the way if you want a free $25 dollar Amazon card please use this link and sign up. all you have to do is invite 15 people!!!

Side note:

This movie trailer looks so good! I really want to get to see this one when it comes out next year. What do you think?

In My Mailbox (1) New!!!

My first week of In My Mailbox!!!

Welcome to In My Mailbox! You can find out how to participate and the "official" details on the IMM page.

IMM is a meme I started here at The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

The idea behind IMM was not only to put new books on your radar but to also encourage blogger interaction. IMM explores the weekly contents of my mailbox & books bought. And sometimes other fun goodies.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

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Project to Published: Querying Publishers Directly

Querying Publishers

This topic has raised a lot of controversy for me since I was published. I queried quite a few agents and I received over a hundred rejections before I took the plunge and began to query publishers directly. It was an eye-opening experience, filled with quite a few surprised and twists and turns in the road for me.

Other writers, who were also querying agents, heard what I was doing and would stare at me or send me messages about how I was making a mistake. Why? Because many publishers are not able to keep up with the flow of manuscripts they receive and use agents to sift through to find the best and most marketable novels. It's smart business for the publisher and it gives business to the agents. So I didn't stand a chance, right?

Wrong. Not only did I stand a chance, I started to receive acceptance letters right away. I currently do not have an agent and unless one pops up and comes to me with a really great offer I'm not sure I will ever have one. I learned a lot after I began querying the publishers directly. For instance, what an agent does and what an agent doesn't do. It is still up to the author to do a lot of the marketing and to reach out to his or her audience. If the author wants to schedule events like book signings, the author or publisher has to hire someone who can set these up. That's right - most agents don't do that.

An agent also acts as a go-between for the author and publisher. I think if I had an agent do this for me I would have lost out a lot when it comes to my publisher. I've learned so much, gotten to share ideas and I even was able to give input on the cover I wanted for my first book. I've made wonderful friends and I've seen firsthand what a publisher is capable of achieving when working directly with an author.

Does that mean it is for everyone? Definitely not. I know agents have some very big plusses (it's their job to know what sells and who to talk to), but I think publishers are worth speaking to directly. So if you are like me and crazy enough to attempt it, just remember that you have even more research to do regarding publishers than you did for agents. Know who you want to submit to, why you want to submit to them and are they accepting your genre and idea. If they are not doing so at that time, check back with them or ask what time of year they open submissions. Some publishers will accept unsolicited manuscripts if they see you've taken the time to do the work they expect in a quality manuscript.

Querying publishers directly can be difficult, but well worth the effort. Don't take it to heart if they send you a rejection. However, do listen to what they give as the reasons behind their decisions. At the very least you will learn something new about your query and/or manuscript that will help you in your second attempt or with the next publisher.

I do feel that everyone should try to get an agent before querying directly to publishers. So, to my readers out there: Would you ever consider querying directly?

Review: Manifest by Artist Arthur

Novel: Manifest
Author: Artist Arthur
Pages: 256
Genre: YA



Krystal Bentley is an outsider at her new high school, having just moved to a small Connecticut town. Lately she's been hearing the voice of a teenage boy in her head, and he has become her friend and confidant. The only problem is, he's dead...

Ricky Watson was killed a year ago in the alley behind Krystal's new school. The rumor mill is filled with stories of Ricky and his untimely death. Unfortunately, as a ghost, Ricky is unable to investigate his own murder, so Ricky needs Krystal to find the truth and she needs someone to listen. When Krystal befriends Sasha and Jake, both outcasts at her high school, the threesome soon discover that they have more in common than their outsider status. Each has a unique paranormal ability and an unusual birthmark in the shape of an "M." Jake announces that the M must stand for misfits, and so the three form an unusual clique. They soon realize that solving Ricky's murder can help them understand the mystery behind their powers and may reveal whether there are others like them.



(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)

This book seemed to have turned me on my head. Suddenly the main girl who is alive is sulky and acting like Ricky, who is dead, should be. Only Ricky isn’t your average dead joe. He is fun and blunt and when these two characters are next to one another they seem to compliment both the good and bad in each other making the story even more interesting. There is a wide variety among the cast of characters each of them having their own constant and unique personalities. I want to find out what will happen next! I really think this series has the potential to branch out and becoming even better with its second novel.



3 ½ stars!

Would I suggest you read it:

I would suggest this novel to someone who is looking for a paranormal YA series that has a lot of potential to grow. It may be one of those novels that reach some and not others but I know I loved it and hope you will too!



(This novel was received through netGalley. This does not change my stance, opinion or effect my views in any way.)

Project to Published: Shutting Down Your Inner Editor (Great for nanowrimo)

"Project to Published"

 Helpful information for aspiring authors

Shutting Down Your Inner Editor

One of the biggest problems I have with myself is my tendency to question how good my last bit of writing was and if I could have made it better. Because of this, I sometimes switch to my 'inner editor' mode and I begin to go back through and edit everything I have written. Now don't get me wrong - editing is vital when it comes to writing, especially when it is a professional career. But on the other hand, switching to your inner editor during the middle of writing is not only counterproductive, but it could completely kill your inspiration of the moment.

Organization is very important when I write. I like outlining and I make it a point to write everyday at the same time, with a word count that I am aiming for. I have goals and I like to stick to them. My inner editor is a part of my organization process, but I only let the editor in me out at a certain time. Personally I prefer to do so after the first draft of my manuscript has been finished. This allows me to write without feeling pressured and I like to think it provides me with a higher quality manuscript in the end because I can go through my own work as a whole. It also allows me to write faster.

I would submit that for anyone, especially a first time writer who is plagued by an inner editor that pops up, it would be best to write out your first draft without pausing for editing. Some might disagree with this, but shutting down your inner editor will prevent you from thinking too much about mistakes and allow you to focus on what is important - writing.

Your inner editor is important but so is getting the writing inside of you out and onto paper. Don't cut yourself short by getting distracted. Think about it - when do you do your best? Is it when you are having fun and not thinking? Or is it when you are constantly stopping, looking back over what you just did and seeing mistakes you might have made? Allow yourself to do your best and in so doing, you will allow your inner editor to do his or her best when it counts - afterward.

Do you ever hit road blocks because of your inner editor?

Blog Hop and Follow My Book Blog Friday!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com and http://www.crazy-for-books.com/} and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://insanehussein.com/blog/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!


Happy Follow Friday!

NEW! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!
*********

Head over to Parajunkee.com and http://www.crazy-for-books.com/ for the linkys!

Review: Meridian by Amber Kizer

Novel: Meridian
Author: Amber Kizer
Pages: 320
Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal/ Urban Fantasy)



My name is Meridian Sozu. I am a Fenestra. I have always shared my world with the dead and the dying. But I really didn't understand what that meant until I turned sixteen and glimpsed my own mortality...

Sixteen-year-old Meridian has always been surrounded by death. As a child, insects, mice, and salamanders burrowed into her bedclothes to die. As she grew, the animals got bigger, and soon they were finding her at school to die in her presence. Meridian became an outcast, labeled by her classmates as Reaper, Gravedigger, and Witch. Each death she witnesses weakens her body, and loneliness weakens her spirit. On her sixteenth birthday, she witnesses a deadly car crash. Though she’s untouched, Meridian's body explodes with the victims’ pain.

Before she can fully recover, Meridian is told that she's a danger to her family and rushed to her great-aunt's house in Revelation, Colorado. It's there that she learns the secret her mother has been hiding her entire life: that she is a Fenestra, the half-angel, half-human link between the living and the dead. It's crucial that she learn how to transition human souls to the afterlife and preserve the balance between good and evil on earth. But Meridian and her sworn protector and love, Tens, face great danger from the Aternocti, a band of dark forces who capture vulnerable souls on the brink of death and cause chaos. Dark, lovely, and lushly romantic, MERIDIAN introduces a powerful heroine who will entrance readers.


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)

Absolutely loved it! Normally, I have a few key blogger I listen to about what they are reading and if they say they enjoyed something I check it out or if they say that something wasn't quiet their cup of tea. Well, I get curious and check that out too. While I had heard from a friend (one of those bloggers) that she felt it was on okay book but not quiet her thing, I was worried. I though I might not enjoy it or I might find something missing. Just the opposite! I LOVED it! It had everything I was looking for and even though it talks about such serious subjects and subjects that it can be really hard to be able to really write about it does it with such amazing ease and grace and keeps everything with just the right balance of emotion. I could understand what was happening and put together pieces without getting bogged down or dragged down by one character's emotions. It was just beautiful and something I am so happy I decided to read. I think I am officially an Amber Kizer fan. I can hardly wait for book two "Wildcat Fireflies" set to come out next year!



5 Stars!



Would I suggest you read it:

Yes! I loved this books and would suggest it to anyone! Anyone interested in angel novels, nephilim novels or a completely new spin on things. I just adored it! I am so happy I gave it a chance and truly suggest you do the same!



Looking forward to:

Follow My Book Blog Friday

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com or http://www.crazy-for-books.com/} and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - www.bibliophilicbookblog.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
8. If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!


Happy Follow Friday!

NEW! Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!
*********

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Novel: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 392
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy



the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.


(I will not be posting any spoilers! Only opinion for the sake of those of us who love to have our first look at a book be untainted by foreknowledge.)

I will admit, at first I hesitated. I was guarded and wasn't honestly sure I wanted to like Shiver. Then as the pages continued to turn, my hesitation started to disappear and I was immersed. Now I want Linger! I loved Shiver! There are many books that have werewolves or involve wolves but this has to be my favorite. I enjoyed the switch in perspective, I think it added a lot to the story. Both characters were level headed and very human, easy to relate to and understand making the story more real, almost making you wish it were real. You can practically feel the chilled winds and smell the pine and forest scents. Definitely a novel I would suggest to anyone!



5 Stars!



Would I suggest you read it:

One of my favorite books this year and a must read for all werewolf and wolf lovers!



P.S.- Really looking forward to Linger!