i wish you all the best!
and leave you with this: (watch until the end)
and leave you with this: (watch until the end)
xo, ella
Dec 31, 2009
Dec 30, 2009
since i couldn't do an IMM last sunday...
this week i got:
Synopsis:
A haunting tale of an Africa and an adolescence undergoing tremendous changes by a talented young Nigerian writer.
Fifteen-year-old Kambili's world is circumscribed by the high walls of her family compound and the frangipani trees she can see from her bedroom window. Her wealthy Catholic father, although generous and well-respected in the community, is repressive and fanatically religious at home. Her life is lived under his shadow and regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, and more prayer. She lives in fear of his violence and the words in her textbooks begin to turn to blood in front of her eyes. When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili's father, involved in mysterious ways with the unfolding political crisis, sends Kambili and her brother away to their aunt's. The house is noisy and full of laughter. Here she discovers love and a life -- dangerous and heathen -- beyond the confines of her father's authority. The visit will lift the silence from her world and, in time, reveal a terrible, bruising secret at the heart of her family life. This first novel is about the promise of freedom; about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new; between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred.
An extraordinary debut, Purple Hibiscus is a compelling novel which captures both a country and an adolescence at a time of tremendous change.
can't wait to read this one!
thanks mum!
Dec 25, 2009
YALITCHAT Ning Group!
I've recently discovered a very helpful and cool ning site: #YALITCHAT.
It was created by people who chat on Twitter using the #YALITCHAT hashtag. Clever right?
(from the site:)
#YAlitchat is a weekly chat held on twitter, Wednesdays at 9PM Eastern and attended by those involved in the book publishing business. Sometimes, we have the pleasure of readers, librarians and parents of teens, all wishing to share their point of view. This community is meant so serve as an extension of the weekly chats so as not to limit our communication to 140 characters and one hour and fifteen minutes. The community is available every day, all day. We write, read and live YA!
I was welcomed with open arms, and found some very useful tips about writing.
For those who write, there are groups where you can find Crit Partners, you can submit your MS's first five pages for review and feedback from the other members, basically, you can discuss anything YA!
I found great blog posts about agents, query letters, how to start your book with a great 1st chapter...
I've submitted my first five pages and received great feedback!
You should definitely go and take a look around. Might find something interesting.
Also, I wanted to point you to a group on the site: the YA(litchat) Review Board.
I was created for teens ages 14-18, to give feedback to YA writers. Basically it's like getting an online ARC. If you'd be interested in joining the network, and help out some really cool aspiring authors, then go here, and say I sent you!
The network is growing more and more everyday, and I dare say, soon it'll be a to-go place to find some really good advice, feedback and tips.
Click on the banner to go to the site!
Later,
Ella
Dec 23, 2009
Author Guest Post: Magic Note Cards, by Johanna Harness
i discovered Johanna through Twitter, and followed her for her tweets about writing, reading and anything related to books!
yesterday she shared a link with us on Twitter, and i asked her if it was ok for me to re-post her blog post here. she said yes! and here we are.
I’ve been doing a lot of work with note cards lately, sighing and saying, “Ah, note cards. Is there nothing they can’t do?” Questions follow, condensed mainly into one basic question: “Why are you so in love with note cards lately?”
Most basic answer: note cards help me see the big picture.
Here’s what I do:
Whether revising or planning, the basic rule is one scene per card. If you don’t have scenes yet (early planning), go with one idea per card. You may want to identify this core stack in some way. Put a star in the corner, write in a different colored ink. Add a sticker or a post-it note.
Add to the stack: ideas, discarded scenes, themes, settings, new characters, old characters. Don’t filter. If it seems important in the moment, jot it down. Some of the cards will be thrown away or replaced with a better card. Some cards will go into a stack for later inspiration. Yesterday I went through more than 200 cards. Don’t limit your ideas. Add or delete cards any time you want. This is a fun, creative process--not life or death.
Now that you have your deck? Play.
Use more notecards as category cards. I like using brightly-colored note cards for this, but you can note the type of card in any way (different color ink, notation in corner--whatever). As you sort through your cards, you may find that some of the cards you’ve already written are category cards. You can pull them out and add them to your category cards as you go through your deck the first time.
Use category cards to ask questions.
Thinking about the order of your novel? Create a category card for each major section of your book. Then go through your deck and intuitively drop the card in the category where it fits. Based on this, are there scenes in your novel that are in the wrong place? Are there scenes that don’t seem to fit? (Do they need to be deleted?) Are there duplicate or alternative scenes?
Looking for individual character story lines? Sort by character and then arrange the cards.
Wondering about themes? Write a theme on a category card and sort cards according to theme.
Arrange your main cards on a plot arc and ask yourself if the energy of the scene fits the energy of the arc. (Building to major discovery? Tumbling toward conclusion?)
Sort cards by tone to see if you have outliers.
Sort cards to see relationships between characters.
One of my favorite activities: Does this scene fit in this book? (This is a particular weakness of mine.) Take the yes cards and fit them into chronology. No fit? Start again.
Want to see what your narrative will look like without a certain plot line? Remove the plot line from your basic cards. Want to add a plot line? Filter it in and see how it flows.
That’s all there is to it. One card per scene. Add ideas. Make category cards. Play. Ask questions of the cards, but don’t force answers. If cards or scenes annoy you, throw them in a discard pile.
I usually end up with a new base set of cards, arranged in the order the story is told. I’ll add tons of new notes to these cards, sometimes incorporating ideas from other cards. Sometimes I number the new cards and then add related cards under that number, eventually labeling those cards by scene number and letter (4A, 4B, 4C, etc.) When I’m writing or revising, I’ll look at all my notes and the related cards.
Then, if revising, save a copy of the original and apply changes to manuscript. Keep playing and evaluating. Are the changes improving the manuscript the way you thought they would? Keep an eye on the big picture. All changes should strengthen the whole. Practicing this craft sometimes means acknowledging when things don’t work. It’s okay to stop and start again.
Or, if starting a new book: know how each scene fits into the whole story. Avoid writing scenes that don’t fit with the whole. At key points in the writing process, stop and evaluate. If changes are made to the original vision, stop and find the whole again. Plan around the changes before writing more.
Okay, so note cards aren’t magic. They’re a tool. But what you do with them? That can be magic.
Click here to go to the original post.
Visit Johanna's Website.
Follow her on Twitter.
yesterday she shared a link with us on Twitter, and i asked her if it was ok for me to re-post her blog post here. she said yes! and here we are.
--------------
Magic Note CardsI’ve been doing a lot of work with note cards lately, sighing and saying, “Ah, note cards. Is there nothing they can’t do?” Questions follow, condensed mainly into one basic question: “Why are you so in love with note cards lately?”
Most basic answer: note cards help me see the big picture.
Here’s what I do:
Whether revising or planning, the basic rule is one scene per card. If you don’t have scenes yet (early planning), go with one idea per card. You may want to identify this core stack in some way. Put a star in the corner, write in a different colored ink. Add a sticker or a post-it note.
Add to the stack: ideas, discarded scenes, themes, settings, new characters, old characters. Don’t filter. If it seems important in the moment, jot it down. Some of the cards will be thrown away or replaced with a better card. Some cards will go into a stack for later inspiration. Yesterday I went through more than 200 cards. Don’t limit your ideas. Add or delete cards any time you want. This is a fun, creative process--not life or death.
Now that you have your deck? Play.
Use more notecards as category cards. I like using brightly-colored note cards for this, but you can note the type of card in any way (different color ink, notation in corner--whatever). As you sort through your cards, you may find that some of the cards you’ve already written are category cards. You can pull them out and add them to your category cards as you go through your deck the first time.
Use category cards to ask questions.
Thinking about the order of your novel? Create a category card for each major section of your book. Then go through your deck and intuitively drop the card in the category where it fits. Based on this, are there scenes in your novel that are in the wrong place? Are there scenes that don’t seem to fit? (Do they need to be deleted?) Are there duplicate or alternative scenes?
Looking for individual character story lines? Sort by character and then arrange the cards.
Wondering about themes? Write a theme on a category card and sort cards according to theme.
Arrange your main cards on a plot arc and ask yourself if the energy of the scene fits the energy of the arc. (Building to major discovery? Tumbling toward conclusion?)
Sort cards by tone to see if you have outliers.
Sort cards to see relationships between characters.
One of my favorite activities: Does this scene fit in this book? (This is a particular weakness of mine.) Take the yes cards and fit them into chronology. No fit? Start again.
Want to see what your narrative will look like without a certain plot line? Remove the plot line from your basic cards. Want to add a plot line? Filter it in and see how it flows.
That’s all there is to it. One card per scene. Add ideas. Make category cards. Play. Ask questions of the cards, but don’t force answers. If cards or scenes annoy you, throw them in a discard pile.
I usually end up with a new base set of cards, arranged in the order the story is told. I’ll add tons of new notes to these cards, sometimes incorporating ideas from other cards. Sometimes I number the new cards and then add related cards under that number, eventually labeling those cards by scene number and letter (4A, 4B, 4C, etc.) When I’m writing or revising, I’ll look at all my notes and the related cards.
Then, if revising, save a copy of the original and apply changes to manuscript. Keep playing and evaluating. Are the changes improving the manuscript the way you thought they would? Keep an eye on the big picture. All changes should strengthen the whole. Practicing this craft sometimes means acknowledging when things don’t work. It’s okay to stop and start again.
Or, if starting a new book: know how each scene fits into the whole story. Avoid writing scenes that don’t fit with the whole. At key points in the writing process, stop and evaluate. If changes are made to the original vision, stop and find the whole again. Plan around the changes before writing more.
Okay, so note cards aren’t magic. They’re a tool. But what you do with them? That can be magic.
-------------------------
Wasn't that fun? Thanks Johanna for letting me share!
Click here to go to the original post.
Visit Johanna's Website.
Follow her on Twitter.
Dec 22, 2009
Happy Birthday Pretty Book! #5
Today's the release date for these amazing books!
Happy Birthday to all of you!
Can't wait to read you!
Stupid Cupid, by Rhonda Stapleton
Magic Under Glass, by Jaclyn Dolamore
The Dark Divine, by Bree Despain
Scones and Sensibility, by Lindsay Eland
Aren't these covers amazing?
Love them all :D
(all links lead to Amazon)
Can't wait to read you!
Stupid Cupid, by Rhonda StapletonMagic Under Glass, by Jaclyn DolamoreThe Dark Divine, by Bree DespainScones and Sensibility, by Lindsay ElandAren't these covers amazing?
Love them all :D
(all links lead to Amazon)
