Re-Launch Giveaway Winners!

First we all want to say thank you SO much for all of your enthusiasm and support during our re-launch! We had almost 1,000 entries!!

With November, we're resuming regular programming so make sure you come back for all the great posts and features we have planned for you!

Now, for what you're all waiting for... the winners of our HUGE giveaway!

The US book packs go to:

Hannah Elisabeth 

(Book Pack 1: Under the Never Sky and Shatter Me)

Donnas 

(Book Pack 2: Divergent, Obsidian, Hunted)

Alisha B 

(Book Pack 3: So Shelly and The Downside of Being Charlie)

Theresa Cole 

(Book Pack 4: Jumping Off Swings and Pretty Amy)

The International book packs go to:

A. K. Fotinos-Hoyer

Laura Ann Dunks

The writer's prizes go to:

Debra Elliott

Query, Synopsis, or First Page critique by Suzanne van Rooyen

Cynthia V

Query critique by Sarah Nicolas

Laurie Treacy

Query critique by Sarah Nicolas

Tina C.

Query and first page critique by Jennifer Malone

Kate Larkindale

Ten page critique by Lisa Burstein

Meredith Johnson

Fifty page critique by Sharon Jonston

Chihuahua Zero

First-five-page critique by Jaquira Diaz

Vicki Tremper

First-five-page critique by Jaquira Diaz

Again, thanks so much for all your support during our re-launch! We know you'll love what we have in store for you! The winners will be contacted shortly.

Recruitment Giveaway Winner

While you're all patiently waiting for us to decide who will be the four new YAtopians, we figured we'd announce the winner of the $10 bookish gift card. We wanted y'all to help us find the best possible candidates and, judging by how difficult it is to choose between the SIXTY-SIX applicants, you were fierce in meeting that challenge!

Without further ado, the winner of the $10 giftcard is...

Lisa Vazquezanzua

Thanks for blogging, tweeting and facebooking, Lisa! (and everyone else too!) 

We greatly appreciate you helping us find the best applicants for YAtopia. With such awesome applicants, we know we'll have four fantastic new YAtopians to add to our mix and we can't wait to meet them!

Sylvie Frank MG Pitch Contest - WINNERS!

Thanks so much to all of our wonderful pitch contestants! We had a lot of great pitches - I did not envy Sylvie having to choose a winner. Apparently, she agreed because she chose two winners!

Title: MIRROR OF SAND AND FLAME
Name: Jenn Brisendine
Word Count: 43,000
Genre: Upper MG adventure with fantasy elements

Through abandoned coal mine tunnels in the smoldering ruins of the hometown he destroyed, twelve-year-old Zeb Reardon enters the eerie setting of his father's novel to save his cousin and mend his own guilty heart.

CODENAME: EDDIE RED
Marcia Wells
WC 35,000
MG Boy Mystery Detective Adventure

Eleven-year-old Edmund becomes Eddie Red, spy kid. Job: NYPD sketch artist. Mission: Crack the art heist of the century, fight off alley cats with taser, go undercover as Girl Scout. Survive the sixth grade.


Congratulations Marcia and Jenn! You'll receive an email from me soon on how to submit your manuscript!

Thanks so much to Sylvie Frank for judging this contest! I'm glad you took the plunge and let us host your first online pitch session. You're welcome back to YAtopia any time.

New Adult Pitch Contest Winners

First, some huge "thank you"s are in order.

The biggest thanks goes to our judges, Heather Howland and Sara Megibow, for not only agreeing to judge the contest but getting their choices back to me within twelve hours! They are amazing and their authors are some of the most fortunate people on the planet!

Secondly, thanks so much to the ladies at NA Alley for hosting a pre-pitch critique session and helping to spread the word about the contest. If you are interested in NA, you should definitley go follow them.

Last, but certainly not least: many, many thanks to everyone who entered. I know it's not easy to put yourself out there for "judgment" like this, especially in a category that a lot of people are telling you not to bother writing. I wish those of you submitting pages to Heather and Sara the very best of luck. (Let us know how it turns out!) And if you weren't picked this time around? Keep on keeping on! Please don't see this as a failure, but simply another step on your path. A successful writer is nothing if not a persistent writer.

If you feel like a full query might do your story more justice than a 35-word pitch, you are free to query Sara and Heather via the standard submissions process (click on their names right there for submission guidelines).

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for! (or scrolling past my thank yous for) :-) I will email all of the requested authors with details on how to submit your manuscript today.

Heather's Winners Are:

• Helen Kiaya Pemberton - Pigeons, Love, Rock & Roll
• Mason T. Matchak - Skyborne
• Diana Gallagher - MEXICO
• A. K. Fotinos-Hoyer - DAUGHTER OF THE MOON
• Jaycee DeLorenzo - The Truths about Dating and Mating
• Angi Black - Love in Real Life
• Wendy Clark - Love and Warcraft
• Danielle Jensen - Troll
• Christina Ferko - VERITAS

Sara's Winners Are:

• A. K. Fotinos-Hoyer - DAUGHTER OF THE MOON
• Derek J. Chivers - STEALING THE SUN
• Diana Gallagher - MEXICO
• Erika Enigk Grotto - Deadline Day
• Jaycee DeLorenzo - The Truths about Dating and Mating
• Jill Orr - THE PROBLEM WITH ALICE ATTERBERRY
• Johanna Garth - Orchard Girl
• Kelly Allan - Fade Into You
• Kristina Perez - WRAITH
• Lauren Harris - THE MARK OF FLIGHT
• Lisa Medaglia (pseudonym Eden Dalia) - CANDYFLIP
• Monica S. - On the Outside
• Rachel Lynn Solomon  - The Almost Adults
• Syl DeLeon - Coffee, Tea, or Me?
• Wendy Clark - Love and Warcraft

As you can see, the quality of the pitches were so excellent and our judges requested A LOT of material! Thanks for making us look good. ;-) If you'd like to see the pitches, you can check them out on the original pitch post.

Good luck to everyone submitting! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!

Lastly, If you write MG or know someone who does, keep an eye out here for an announcement in about two weeks about a really rare pitch opportunity.

UPDATE: Silly me! I forgot to draw the winner of the query critique. Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word! There were so many RTs yesterday I couldn't keep track of them all!! The winner of the query critique is...

Leslie Hauser

Congrats Leslie! I'll email you :-)

Winner of THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING CHARLIE

Again, thanks to Jenny Torres Sanchez for helping us launch our brand new Guestopia feature! And thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

Thanks to Rafflecopter, we have a winner for the signed copy of The Downside of Being Charlie...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Gwen! The winner has been emailed.  

Just Write

I've struggled off and on for the past few months with books and projects. I've set stuff aside, multiple times. I've wracked my brain on plotting and characterization and word choice on certain books--over thinking and over thinking, which for me leads to frustration, minimizing the screen and firing up Twitter. I've been in and heard of people being in writing funks before and they're brutal on you. So hard and stressful and if you're like me, you feel like you're doing nothing, if you're not writing. I also have a friend who has a great story idea and wants to try her hand at writing, but hasn't yet. I wonder if the solution can be really simple for us all... If you're a new writer or a writer in a funk or whatever the situation is, for me, the only way out of it is to-- JUST WRITE. I have a friend who is an editor and she's told me before, crap can be fixed. Just write. I think that's awesome advice. Of course everyone is different so you have to do what works for you, but for me? I need to just write. Can you write yourself out of a funk or do you need to separate yourself from writing to get back in the grove? If you're not a writer, this can go with other aspects of your life too. Are you the type to keep going until you push through or do you need to stop and regroup?

Happy Valentine's Day

Just wanted to pop in to say...

Check out Valentine's Day posts from YAtopians:

• Leigh celebrates her snogoversary
• It's getting a little hot over at Kelley V's
• Sarah says V-Day is what you make it
• Wendy's romantic tension guest post & teaser

Did you write a post about this day? Leave your link in the comments so we can spread the love!

Jodi Meadows Query Critique Winner

Before announcing the winner, I want to remind you that Jodi's book Incarnate came out today! I'm running to B&N right after work to grab my copy :-)

This is what you should look for at the bookstore today ;-)

The winner, as chosen by Random.org, is:

Some Screaming Fan Girl!

Her answer to what she would want to be reincarnated as is... interesting:

I would like to be reincarnated as a sloth. Why? Just to see how fast the world moves for them. Or if they as bloodthirsty as we believe...

Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks to Jodi for stopping by! The winner will be emailed shortly.

Entangled Pitch Contest Winners

I'm so glad I didn't have to judge this contest because there were some great submissions. Remember, if you didn't get chosen as a winner, you're invited to submit a query using the link below! Without further ado, here's the message from Entangled:

Thanks so much for hosting us, YAtopia! There were some really amazing pitches here, and I hope we see a sale from our requests.

All requests are for full manuscripts. Please send them as an RTF attachment to your e-mail, and include your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Also, make sure your subject includes the title of your work and “Requested Material.” Don’t forget to mention YAtopia in your cover letter.

If your pitch was not chosen, and you think we’ve made a mistake, we encourage you to submit a query and sample pages according to our submission guidelines here: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/submission-information/

Stacy Abrams (stacy at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Light Sister, Dark Sister – SC Langgle

Last Wish – Kelly Daniels

First Time – Alicia Caldwell

That Succs – Larissa Hardesty

Heather Howland (heather at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Minotaur – Alexandra Singer

Triangles – Kimberly Miller

The ACADA Chronicles – Sarah J. Schmitt

Adrien-Luc Sanders (adrien-luc at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Serious Game 2.0 – Loralie Hall

Queen’s Rebellion – M.E. Applegate

Josh Vogt (josh at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

The Second Sign – E. Arroyo

Steel Horizon – Gwen Cole

Kerry Vail (kerry at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Witch Weigh – Caroline Mickelson

Libby Murphy (libby at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Awaken – Shelley Watters

Kerri-Leigh Grady (kerri-leigh at entangledpublishing dot com) requests:

Just Desserts – Tricia Quinnies

Writing Therapy

Obviously I love writing. I've always loved writing. Ever since I was little I've used writing as a form of therapy. In my teen years it was poetry. I can't tell you how many broken hearts, unrequited loves, BFF fights, or parent issues I have worked through with poetry. I even have a few old journals to prove it.

The older I got, the less poetry I wrote. Still, when something major happened, I still pulled out my journal and a pen. When my dad died, that's what I did. I listened to his favorite song over and over and I wrote a poem for him. I shared some things we'd never talked about in real life and it helped.

When I started writing books, things changed a little bit. I was writing mostly to tell my characters' stories. I mean, I used little things here or there that I'd seen or dealt with, but that's all.

And then I got an idea for a book. I didn't even realize how much that book would come to mean to me. The more I wrote, the more I realized that part of it was my story. Not all of it and though the situation was different, in some ways, it was still mine.

An amazing thing happened, because it helped me too. Helped when I didn't realize I needed it. It was a way for me to get out the feelings I'd held in. A way for me to share an experience. A way for me to work through emotions I didn't realize I still had.

In other words, it was therapy.

Amazing the things reading and writing can do.

Has a book ever felt like a form of therapy for you?

My Birthday CONTEST

It's common knowledge that I have one of the worst birthdays ever! LOL. As an adult, I get it. As a kid, it was no fun being born the day after Christmas. Everyone is so tired, wiped out and busy after the holiday and getting ready for New Years that the last thing they're thinking about is a birthday.

SO, this year, I'm celebrating by giving books to YOU for my birthday!! That's right. My birthday, but YOU can win.

I'm going to give TWO winners, each a copy of one of my favorite reads of the year. You can either win....




When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister's urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life.

OR....




What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

Both these books were made of awesome!! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and be a YAtopia follower to enter. I will give an extra point of you follow my personal blog HERE, but it's not mandatory. Just let me know in the comment if you follow me too. Contest is open through my birthday on December 26th.

Ready... set... comment :)

Oh, and please add your email address to your comment :)

Must Reads

We just had Thanksgiving and it got me thinking about books and being thankful. If you're visiting this blog, you're obviously a book lover. Books give us SO much. I honestly can't imagine my life without reading. But there are books that are good and books that are incredible. Books that can be life-changing. Books that no matter how many times you've read them, they never get old. You can get something new from them with each read.

That's what I'm curious about today. What are your MUST READS? The fiction book that you think ALL YA readers should read (or adult book)?

Also, if you had to pick one book you're thankful for. A book that pulled you out of a hard time, that changed your life, helped you find your love of reading or writing. Whatever the reason may be, what is the one book you're thankful for?

Books I am DYING to read

There are a ton of books coming out soon that I can't wait to read. So many I had trouble narrowing it down for this blog post. Just keep in mind there are more... so many more. LOL. Here are a few that I really, REALLY can't wait for.



Some people spend their whole lives looking for the right partner. Nate Schaper found his in high school. In the eight months since their cautious flirting became a real, honest, tell-the-parents relationship, Nate and Adam have been inseparable. Even when local kids take their homophobia to brutal levels, Nate is undaunted. He and Adam are rock solid. Two parts of a whole. Yin and yang.

But when Adam graduates and takes an Off-Broadway job in New York—at Nate’s insistence—that certainty begins to flicker. Nate starts a blog to vent his frustrations and becomes the center of a school controversy, drawing ire and support in equal amounts. But it is the attention of a new boy who is looking for more than guidance that forces him to confront who and what he really wants.

Super excited for this. I'm curious about the long distance relationship. About the blog and controversy and about the characters. Plus, I really like the cover and love boy POV.
Release date Dec 27




Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

Want. Want, want, want, want. Love books that take place in a night. Love the graffiti aspect. Sounds really unique.

Releases February, 14




What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.


Love the cover. Love the synopsis. Sounds super fun.

Releases December, 1



Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life...and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last....

Sarah Ockler. Awesome writing. Enough said.

Releases January, 3





When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister's urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life.

Curious about the connection to the boy. Like the road trip and bringing the sisters ashes. Sounds like the kind of emotional read I love.

Releases Nov 22

Guest post by Mandy Hubbard

Hi Everyone!

Wow! So many amazing pitches. Y’all worked hard! (I grew up on a farm, so I’m allowed to say Y’all.)

Anyway, I wanted to drop in and announce the winners, but before I do, please note that there were SO many really good ones that it was hard to choose just one. If I did not select your pitch, please do still consider querying me via my normal submission guidelines. I would be happy to consider your work that way if you are not the winner. Many times projects just sound more intriguing in a full length query where you have the luxury of a few more sentences.

Also, sometimes I do pass on projects, not because the pitch isn’t good, but because it would conflict with something on my list—for instance, I already represent an Angels/Demons book. I can’t take another one on, so if that was in your pitch, I’m sorry to say that I couldn’t choose it as a winner.

In any case, these were my “top pitches”

Jen Corkill’s pitch: 17 year old Amelia Holloway prepares for her debut in Victorian society while a vampire killer with aspirations prepares for her, whether she's willing or not

Comments: I have never even requested a vampire manuscript. But I LOVE the Victorian Era, so it caught my eye. 

Heather Smith’s pitch: Fourteen-year-old Sarah Whitman has never wanted the life or marriage her parents have planned for her, wanting instead to be a sea captain in 18th century Hansa. When her parents are murdered, Sarah becomes a captive aboard the most dangerous pirate ship of the decade and must escape before her captain kills her when she becomes a woman on her sixteenth birthday.

Comments: I am a *HUGE* fan of THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE, and this sounds like it could have some overlap with that book.

Ryan Kereke’s pitch: A failed ballerina joins the circus and falls for a knife-thrower with a troubled past.

Comments: It was one of the shortest pitches in the competition, but it packs some punch. Plus, I secretly wish I was a ballerina. So there’s that. 

Linsey Miller’s pitch: Adalmund Port will do anything to save her country—she’s gone to war, been an assassin, and sacrificed her arm for the princess. Now, her country needs her to work with a masked and misguided revolutionary in a neighboring country to stop a war, but at this point she’d rather take another arrow to the arm if it meant he’d stop talking.

Comments: Man, those last four words totally got me! It’s so dark and serious, and then that bit of humor at the end cemented it for me. Plus, there’s something insanely interesting about the idea that she’d sacrificed her arm for the princess. A one-armed MC? Intriguing!

Joy Given’s Pitch: Seventeen-year-old April Somerfield is a shy, self-loathing misfit who would blend in with the wallpaper, if only the wallpaper were a little less attractive. When she discovers the family curse that made her who she is, April must decide if becoming beautiful on the outside is worth giving up the truly beautiful person she would otherwise become.

Comments: Again, the humorous snark here “If only the wallpaper were a little less attractive” really got me. Then with the curse and internal conflict, you sealed the deal. Really well done. 

Gillian Speace’s pitch: Ten-year-old Gideon, one of eight rambunctious siblings, describes the funny-yet-spooky events that unfold when a mysterious Ninth Child shows up, claiming to be part of the family. Gideon quickly realizes that the Ninth Child is determined to be included--even if that means taking someone's place.

Comments: There’s something super psychologically creepy about that last line. I totally want to read this. 

So, who is the official winner? It’s so hard to choose, but I’m going to go with Linsey Miller’s pitch—I am really hoping that unexpected humor shines through! Linsey, please send your full manuscript to: mandy.hubbard.queries@gmail.com, with a full-length pitch pasted into the first page of the document.

For the other “top pitches” I am still very eager to see more of your work—please do send your full-length query with the customary 5 pages pasted in so that I can further consider your material.

And of course, to everyone, please do query me, even if I did not select your pitch!

Thanks so much,

Mandy Hubbard

www.MandyHubbard.com

dragoslayer

Finding Your Passion

I read THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER last week. Let me just say the book is made of awesome. I don't remember the last time I read a book this good. I loved it so much, I told a bunch of my friends about it. I plead the book's case and three people ended up buying it, devouring it, and loving it. I was fielding text messages, Tweets, and FB messages, a lot of which consisted of "OMG!" LOL. It was awesome. So much fun to talk about a book we all loved so much.

Then Saturday rolled around. I ended up in a couple hours long Tweet-fest on books with a couple different friends there. We were sharing some of our favorite adult series with each other, favorite characters, and which books were our favs. It was so fun to see which book they would mention. Which characters we all loved. Which boys made us swoon. I ended up with a list of new books to buy too.

Sunday was a writing day for me. I'm super close to finishing my WIP and when I get close, I get in the zone. I become obsessive about my book and don't want to walk away from it at all until it's done. I wrote for three hours at Starbucks. Came home and wrote in between all my household chores too. I was GIDDY over what I'd written. Even more in love with my characters. And PROUD. It's not finished and will need work, but I'm proud of the story I created. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

It's then I realized how very lucky I am. I know what my passion is. Books. And it's incredible because there are so many ways I can be passionate about them: reading, writing, talking about them. What an awesome, awesome thing it is to know what you love. To feel such a fire for something and to be able to DO it. I know what I love and I'm able to spend a whole Sunday LIVING it. I'm able to talk for hours about how different books affect me.

Amazing, how much words on a page can change your life. How you can live and breathe them and share them with the world. I'm so very lucky.

What is YOUR passion? If it's books, are you like me were you become obsessive about talking about them? Are stories and characters a kind of high for you? And because I love talking books, what's the last book you read that you just HAD to talk about?

Random Giveaway winner

It's Thursday, so you know what this means?

Winner time!

I'd like to thank everyone who entered and especially those who added My Heart Be Damned to your Goodreads shelves. You guys are amazing.

But without further ado, the winner is...

HOOT!

Hoot, drop me an email at chanelle(@)chanellegray(.)com for your prize. You have 24 hours or I pick another winner.

Thanks again and look out for more contests soon.

Angry or unlikable characters

Today I want to talk about unlikable characters. We all know it's important for readers to find something they like... or maybe like isn't the right word, but something that connects them with a character. What I want to talk about today is those characters that are a little harder to like. Characters who are angry or tough and well... not always nice.

One of the first YA books I wrote had a female character like that. Life had dealt her a really bad hand and she was angry about it. Not only angry, but hurting and to deal with that she built a huge wall around herself. Her wall came up in the form of sarcasm, and pushing people away. I let quite a few people read that book and a number of them came back with the same comments, "she is TOO hard" "she is TOO angry". It's a fine line, I think. It's hard to straddle it well. But for me, she was HURT. Yes, she was angry. Yes she was tough. Why can't a girl be angry? LOL. Obviously I wasn't doing my job well enough to make the reader bond with her, but there's a part of me who thinks some of us, myself included, tend to be a little tougher on female characters than male. When it comes to those angry, tough characters, I think girls don't get away with it as easily. *ducks for cover* I don't mean that to sound bad, but I'm pulling from my personal experience in regards to my reading and writing experiences. I think *I* am subconsciously guilty of being tougher on girl characters who are angry sometimes than I am boys. Thoughts?

One example that I'm thinking of as a character that's hard to like is Jade from the show Victorious.



I fully admit to watching too much iCarly and Victorious with my daughter, but I'm curious how people who have seen the show feel about Jade. She's DEFINITELY angry... she's not nice. With her, I'm not sure WHY though. I think that makes the difference. If you understand where the character is coming from, if you know the circumstances that made them the way they are, I think it's easier to be more forgiving.

What are your thoughts on angry or unlikeable characters? Do you feel like you or others are harder on male or female characters?

New Blog Launch and CONTEST

Hey all! I'm throwing in an extra post this week to share some exciting news! There's a new blog launching tomorrow, September 1 dedicated to contemporary YA fiction! Now, that doesn't mean we don't love those paranormal creatures, it just means we're passionate about realistic fiction as well and want to share that love with YOU.




As I said, FOR THE LOVE OF CONTEMPORARY launches tomorrow, September 1, and to celebrate we're having a massive giveaway with near 20 books up for grabs! We also have exciting upcoming posts with authors such as Sarah Ockler, Swati Avasthi, Tara Kelly and more. You don't want to miss out!

Patterns

So sorry I'm late today! Had a busy weekend and spaced my post!


I've always been a name person. I love picking names for the characters in my books. While talking names with DJ the other day, I realized something else about myself--I tend to stick to certain letters as well. It took me sitting down and thinking of all my character names to see that I really need to pay more attention to what I'm doing. LOL. I'm not going to tell you ALL the names, just the ones that start with the same letter. These are in finished books and partial WIPs. Oh and they're all main characters too.


For girls I have:
Abby, Arianna, Annabel, Tori, Camryn, Aspen, Tate


Boys:
Tegan, Tanner, Caleb, Travis, Cody, Carter

And that's only what I can think of off the top of my head. I have other partial books as well. Apparently I like A's, C's, and T's. LOL

Do your names tend to start with the same letter? Is there any other quirks or patterns you've noticed about your writing.

That's dope - or maybe it's not?

Wow, it's been so long since I've done a regular post with all the competitions we've had here. But a huge thank you to all the agents and followers who participated. At the bottom of the post you'll find the winners of the John Cusick Micro Synopsis.

Today I want to talk about something that could be a bit more controversial - drugs. More specifically recreational drugs in YA novels where it is not issues based.


For me I have mixed views. On one hand I understand how impressionable young readers can be, and feel that writers have a responsibility not to lightly insert sex, swearing or drug use into YA novels. On the other hand I believe that writers also should, where possible, portray things realistically. And drugs are out there, and some teens use them.

And then, I'm also a mother and I would love it if my kids never touched drugs.

So I'm looking for you opinion - are scenes with recreational drug use okay in YA novels that are not issues based?

So, you can take the poll, but I'd love you to also leave some qualifying comments.

Is it okay to have drug use in a non-issues YA book?
	No.
	No, writers have an obligation to society not to promote drug use.
	No, not in YA. But in adult fiction it's okay.
	No, but in issues-based YA it's okay
	Yes, some teens do drugs.
	Yes, if it's not glorified and is realistic.
	Yes
pollcode.com free polls

Now Drumroll... and the message from Mr. John Cusick himself:

This was a tough one! There were some really fabulous ideas, and the final five were very close.

Winner:

GAME SHOW by Pam Vickers

30 Page Synops:

STORM CHASERS by Andrea Leech

Untitled Time-Travel Y.A. by Melanie Stanford

I thought these two deserved Honorable Mention:

WORMHOLE by Scott Springer

RIGID STEPPES by Tamara Heiner

Contestants are welcome to query John via the S©ott Treimel NY  agency's online submission form.