Tag Archives: Suzanne Collins

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Ficitional Romances

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It’s Valentine’s Day Week and it’s been awhile since I participated in a Top Ten Tuesday hosted weekly by The Broke and the Bookish, so I thought this week would be a perfect one to jump right back in. This week’s Top 10 list is…

Top Ten Favorite Fictional Romances (see? how fitting)

But before I dive into my list, I wanted to point out an awesome contest going on at my friend Mandy’s new website, The First Reader. Mandy is launching her new website and blog. You might remember her from Headdesk for Writers. All you have to do is go comment on this post and then you can choose to tweet, follow, etc. for more points. Here’s what’s up for grabs:

Prize Pack #1

  • Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
  • The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
  • The Line by Teri Hall (ARC)

Prize Pack #2 (isn’t it so pretty?)

  • The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
  • Across the Universe by Beth Revis (original hardcover)
  • Wings by Aprilynne Pike (paperback)

Prize Pack #3

  • The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
  • Perception by Kim Harrington (ARC)

I’ll just go ahead and assume that you’re already thanking me for giving you a heads up. And now…onto the list!!

10. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

9.  Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton from The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

“So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.”

8.  Miles Halter and Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska by John Green

“Sometimes I don’t get you,’ I said.
She didn’t even glance at me. She just smiled toward the television and said, ‘You never get me. That’s the whole point.”

7. Amy and Nick from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (okay, so they aren’t the loveliest of couples, but…)

“And if all of us are play-acting, there can be no such thing as a soul mate, because we don’t have genuine souls.”

6.  Travis and Mary from Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

“Suddenly, all I can think about are all the things I don’t know about him. All the things I never had time to learn. I don’t know if his feet are ticklish or how long his toes are. I don’t know what nightmares he had as a child. I don’t know which stars are his favorites, what shapes he sees in the clouds. I don’t know what he is truly afraid of or what memories he holds closest.”

5. Sam and Kent from Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow. Maybe for you there’s one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it.
But for some of us there’s only today. And the truth is, you never really know.”

4. Tris and Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth

“You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you’re small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you’re wrong.”

3. Anna and Etienne from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

“Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?”

2. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

“There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.”

1. Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

“You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world…but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices.”

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 “Awww” Moments in Books

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish featuring a new top ten list each week. Everyone can participate – head on over to their blog and sign up.

This week is Top Ten “Awww” Moments In Books (those cute lines, charming actions, kisses, or any other sentimental moment that made you say “AWWW!”). What’s your list?

10. From Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler:

“Don’t move, Anna Reiley. Right now, everything is perfect.”

9. From Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater:

Sam: “You—you greatly overestimate my self-control.”
Grace: “I’m not looking for self-control.

8. From Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr:

She stood in his kitchen, watching him toy with the ring in his lip. It wasn’t quite that he was biting it, but sucking it into his mouth. He did that when he was concentrating. It isn’t sexy. He’s not sexy. But he was, and she was staring at him like a fool.

“Wow,” she whispered (…..)

“Wow, huh?” His voice was low, husky. His chair creaked as he stood. His footsteps seemed strangely loud as he closed the couple yards between them. Then he was beside her. “I can work with wow”

7. From Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:

“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it.”

6. From Forever by Judy Blume:

“I love you, Michael Wagner.”

“Forever?” he asked.

“Forever,” I said.”

5. From Savvy by Ingrid Law:

Will removed a present from the stack on the table as we passed. “Happy birthday, Mibs,” he repeated, handing me a small package wrapped up in colorful paper. “It’s a pen set.” He nodded at the gift. “In case you were wondering.”

4. From Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter:

He was handsome. he was strong. And most of all, I knew that even though Josh might have been the boy who “saw” me, Zach knew where my favorite passageways were; Zach knew I was a pavement artist; Zach knew where I sat in class and what I ate in the Grand Hall…Zach “knew” me–

And that was maybe the scariest thing of all. So scary that I temporarily forgot I wasn’t just being cool standing there with my hand on my hip–that my hand actually served a purpose–so when Zach cocked his head and asked, “So what is it, Gallagher Girl?” I reached up to touch the cold stone wall.

And my bra landed on my feet.

3. From Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver:

“I vowed after that day that I would be your hero too, no matter how long it took”

2. From Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins:

He pats his way around the bed and slides back in. “Ow,” he says.

“Yes?”

“My belt. Would it be weird…”

I’m thankful he can’t see me blush. “Of course not.” And I listen to the slap of leather as he pulls it out of his belt loops. He lays it gently on my hardwood floor.

“Um,” he says. “Would it be weird–”

“Yes.”

“Oh, piss off. I’m not talking trousers. I only want under the blankets. The breeze is horrible.”

1. From Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling:

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

After several long moments–or it might have been half an hour–or possibly several sunlit days–they broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Then several people wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of nervous giggling….Hermione was beaming but Harry’s eyes sought Ron. At last he found him, still clutching the Cup and wearing an expression appropraite to having been clubbed over the head. For a fraction of a second they looked at each other, then Ron gave a tiny jerk of the head that Harry understood to mean, Well–if you must.

 

Any faves from this list? Any that you hate? I had to go with HPott for the win, but, man, there are some great “Awww” moments in a bunch of my favorite books. I have one from Summer Sisters by Judy Blume that I love but I worried it was too spoilery? Ok, so a whole list could probably be made from Judy Blume’s books.

No Offense, Patton (I Still Love You)

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On Saturday, I went to hear Patton Oswalt speak. If you don’t know who he is, Patton Oswalt was one of the friends on King of Queens and also the voice of Remy on Ratatouille.

His first book has just come out and it’s called Zombies, Spaceships, and Wastelands. Incidentally, these are all things I enjoy very much, although I am much more partial to zombies and wastelands. I could probably do without spaceships except they are often instrumental in transporting people to wastelands. In case you’re curious, though, the crux of the book lies in the theory that all creative teens gravitate toward three subjects for their early stories: zombies, spaceships, and wastelands.

But what I want to talk about isn’t his book, but his recent article that appeared in Wired. I mentioned “Wake Up, Greek Culture. Time to Die” briefly in my Friday Five last week. In fact, the article was the main reason I wanted to see Oswalt in the first place and, thankfully, he did end up touching on it. The thesis of the article goes something like this:

Geek culture is dying because it’s altogether too easy to become a geek. Oswalt writes:

“The problem with the internet, however, is that it lets anyone become otaku* about anything instantly. In the ’80s, you couldn’t get up to speed on an entire genre in a weekend. You had to wait, month to month, for the issues of Watchmen to come out.”

Oswalt seems to think that this ability to become an instantaneous geek hurts the quality of geek and that ultimately affects downstream creativity.

“Everything we have today that’s cool comes from someone wanting more of something they loved in the past…Now with everyone more or less otaku and everything immediately awesome…the old inner longing for more or better that made our present pop culture so amazing is dwindling.”

So cut to the Q&A portion of the talk and someone asked Oswalt if he was surprised at the reaction to his Wired article. Thoughtfully, Oswalt replied that he was pleased with the reaction because his article inspired analytical debate. But, then he added–and this is where he lost me–that he believed the response to his article actually proved his point because of the mushrooming effect of the internet.

Now, hold the phone, Patton. That’s a logical leap if I’ve ever heard one.

Why exactly does the fact that many people were able to respond quickly and meaningfully to an article about geek culture prove that geek culture is dying? It is unclear to me why the vehicle now used to show enthusiasm for a certain subject or a certain creative work has any effect whatsoever on the quality of Geekdom.

It seems just as likely to me that Patton’s setup cuts the other way. The ability to access all sorts of things related to whatever one is otaku about may actually create better geeks. They know more. They can read the thoughts of others. They can listen to podcasts. They can contribute to debate–as happened with Oswalt’s article. Geeks are perhaps even more apt to interact with other geeks, which in turn could just as easily create a more rich “thought palace.” Why not?

Yes, Oswalt expounds on the importance of having time in between receiving issues of Watchmen and how that lets the readers sit and ponder and think. How is that any different than Hunger Games fans having to wait for Mockingjay to come out? The internet does not change the fact that Suzanne Collins has not yet written the book. And sure, someone can hop on the internet and look up theories aplenty as to what will happen in the last installment, but I’m not sure that stops the reader from analyzing whether he or she agrees or disagrees with those theories.

Here’s the thing: I’m not necessarily disagreeing with Oswalt’s conclusion, but what I’m saying is that he missed a step. He failed to fill the gap of why one conclusion works better than the other, why X over Y, why worse geeks as opposed to better. And until that is clear to me, I’ll continue to think that I’m a pretty darn good geek.

*Otaku – The Japanese word used by Oswalt referring to people who have obsessive, minute interests–especially in things like anime and videogames.

How to Create Discussion Questions

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There has been much discussion recently about whether young adult and middle grade authors are over-marketing to fellow authors and under-targeting the intended first audience. Whether or not that’s true, I have absolutely no clue. But one nice way to engage with the readership is by providing discussion questions. For bigger books, a publisher will often  create the discussion questions and publish them on the book or imprint website, but individual authors may create questions as well. Here are some ideas for making 10-15 questions that will help engage readers in dialogue about a given story.

 

1. Start with the simple. With the first few questions, your goal should be to get the ball rolling. Think about how the actual discussion will unfold. Some readers might be nervous to jump in on the discussion and will appreciate the opportunity to answer some easy questions as well as the reassurance that they are adequately grasping the meat of the book. So, here you might try to ask more “fact-based” questions. For instance, Scholastic in its discussion questions for the Hunger Games asks about the ways in which the Gamemakers control the environment of the Games. With this question, participants can begin listing ways, refreshing their memories and encouraging multiple answers.

2. After a starter question or two, move to the next layer. How does Character X feel about Y? (i.e. How does Katniss feel about the country of Panem?) This sort of question requires a degree of inference from the reader, but encourages readers to support their opinions with evidence from the book.

3. Continue to develop questions whose answers require more inference, more analysis, and greater connection of ideas. What is the significance of the title? Who is truly to blame for such-and-such consequence? How accurate was the narrator’s view of his or herself?

4. Take on the role of the author. Ask discussion participants why the author made X decision? How did that affect the story? Where did the author use foreshadowing? As the author, what would you have changed about the book? Why do you think the author chose the path chosen in the book?

5. Dissect an excerpt. Choose a passage from the book and ask participants to explain its significance. Why were certain words chosen? What is the tone?

6. Connect the story with history. For example, what parallels can be drawn between the Resistance Movement during World War II and the 7th installment of Harry Potter? First provide context about the history being referenced and then help ferret out connections between the two. How might this have influenced the author’s writing of the book? Does the book provide commentary? If so, what? Think about different political movements or about the mythological basis of a story.

 

What questions do you find interesting when thinking back on a book read? What sorts of statements or questions best instigate conversation among teens?

Author Spotlight: Suzanne Collins

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Everybody knows what a crazy fangirl I am for J.K. Rowling. Seriously, I want to be her best friend. I even have permission to replace one of my current best friends should she ever wish to join our group.  But in my avid research of J.K. Rowling, I had been completely neglecting another author crush–Suzanne Collins.

After reading Mockingjay, I couldn’t help but think that I really wish I could be her. So, since I’ve taken notes on interviews, documentaries, and all things Rowling, I thought I should add Collins into the mix. So, I culled the interwebs for some juicy writing tidbits from one of the bravest authors I know of and here are the bullet points I’ve put together for your enjoyment:

-Before writing the Hunger Games Trilogy, most fans probably know that Collins originally wrote for children’s television shows such as Clarissa Explains It All and Little Bear. She then went on to write the bestselling Underland Chronicles.

-Collins says her first inspiration for the Hunger Games came from the Greek myth Theseus and the Minotaur. In it, Minos who is the king of Crete has a falling out with Athens. Crete is a far more powerful country. Every year as part of the punishment Athens has to send 7 youths and 7 maidens to the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. Sounds pretty similar to Hunger Games, yes? Collins also details the story of Spartacus, a gladiator with an unknown story who went on to lead a revolution. So…Katniss, basically.

-Collins: You need three good elements to make a gladiator game. You need a ruthless, all-powerful government, people being forced to fight to the death, and for it to be a popular entertainment.

-She has a complicated relationship with music because she can’t listen to anything with words since it interferes with her own thought processes. Therefore, she’s a fan of classical music.

-The most difficult parts for her to write were the deaths and the violence between young characters. But in this type of book you have to commit to it and you either make a decision that you are going to do that no matter how painful or uncomfortable to write those scenes or you should go write a different type of story.

-The more enjoyable passages to write are Katniss reflecting back on the past, about how she met Gale, and stories she tells to Peeta like about how she got the goat for Prim

-Collins loves the goat story. You see the relationship between the sisters and how Katniss has become Prim’s parent and how important it is to bring her joy and happiness and the lengths she’ll go to do it.

-When she got the initial idea for the story, she was pretty focused on the first book, but when she got to the conclusion of that she knew there had to be a sequel. Initially plotted out all three books, but you learn so much about the characters as you go along that it’s not good to plot too much toward the end because hopefully you’ll discover things as you go along the way.

-Typical workday: Gets up, grabs cereal, and starts working as soon as possible because the more distractions at the beginning of the day, the harder it is to focus on the story. She works until she is tapped out, usually early afternoon. Some days are spent staring at the wall, but that can be productive when working out character and plot developments.

-There was a complete embargo on Mockingjay being sent out before its release date, even to School Library Journal.

-About Mockingjay, Collins says that, thematically, this is the place she was headed in all three books. She feels that it is the story she set out to tell.

-Since so much of her background is in scriptwriting, she still feels very new to writing prose. There is a lot of unexplored territory, she thinks because she started it later in life but maybe it’s like that for everyone always. She has a very “How do I do this?” feeling.

-It’s easier to write dialogue than description, probably because of her 27 years of scriptwriting. Dialogue and action sequences are like stage directions, but descriptive passages can feel like hitting a wall.

I’ll continue to update this as new youtube videos and written interviews come out. If you have any links or tidbits, feel free to share.

Friday Five

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1. Most importantly, I am back from the dead. At least I hope. I was brought down hard by a stomach ulcer which started earlier this month, but decided to try and kill me this week. I wasn’t even able to start school, which means I didn’t get to don a cute back-to-school outfit. Bummer. Anyway, I’m catching up on life now and am feeling pretty good. Nothing like an angry belly to remind you of your limitations.

2. I’ve been really into books-on-tape recently. Will we ever stop calling them books-on-tape? B/c mine are definitely on cd. I will hopefully someday graduate to iTunes audiobooks, but right now I’m not that fancy. I owe my newfound obsession to the local library, which happens to have an awesome selection of YA/MG grade audiobooks available AND doesn’t cost me $40 a pop. Recently, I’ve been listening to The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I have to say that this is one of the better audiobooks I’ve listened to because I enjoy the narrating voice. Oh-so-important as I’ve discovered. I plan to do a few audiobook-specific reviews, probably all heaped into one, b/c annoying background music and weird voice choices can totally ruin the experience and make it not worth the listen.

3. Writing-wise my progress has been slow–which is actually a euphemism for virtually non-existent. However, today has been a particularly productive day school-wise and that usually leads to general productivity. I’d say anything is possible. Stay tuned…

4. I’m particularly excited about some interviews that Realm Lovejoy has done for a bunch of my writer friends. You should go check them out. Realm has done lovely renditions of each author’s main character. Isn’t that a cool way to promote?

5. Ummmm, Catching Fire comes out so so soon! September 1 to be exact. I can’t believe it’s already (or finally) here. It’s supposed to be even better than Hunger Games. I was not lucky enough to get an ARC, but you can bet your pants I’ll be reading asap!

Give Up the Ghost

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Short break from Weekday Warrioring to remind y’all about an awesome author who came on and shared her road to publication earlier this year. Megan Crewe’s Give Up the Ghost is coming out from Henry Holt next month! You can pre-order here on Amazon and I highly recommend that you do.

GiveUpGhost

Not only do we love to support our debut authors, but this book sounds really, really fun!

Don’t believe me? Check out her awesome book trailer.

And, oh yeah, as part of the countdown to release, she’s giving away swag. Enter her Spill Your Secrets Giveaway before August 24 and you could win these:

A large GIVE UP THE GHOST prize pack, including:
-A signed advance copy of GIVE UP THE GHOST
-All five ghost scent samples
-A GIVE UP THE GHOST tote bag
-A 10″ LED paper lantern (from the book: Get [Paige] interested, though, and she brightened up like a Chinese lantern.)
-A friendship bracelet (from the book: I’d kept thinking of Danielle as my real best friend. We had the extra four years between us, that back history of friendship bracelets and sleepovers and secret sharing.)
-A sticker set featuring the main characters of the novel
-A GIVE UP THE GHOST bookmark
-A GIVE UP THE GHOST button (not pictured, but I should have them by the time the contest is over)

and…

First choice of THREE of the ARCs pictured above (ALPHAS by Lisi Harrison, ONCE A WITCH by Carolyn MacCullough, CRAZY BEAUTIFUL by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, TRICKS by Ellen Hopkins, SOULSTICE by Simon Holt, CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins, RIOT by Walter Dean Myers, DEMON PRINCESS by Michelle Rowen, FOREST BORN by Shannon Hale, DEVIL’S KISS by Sarwat Chadda, and ONCE WAS LOST by Sara Zarr).

2. The second prize is for everyone who submits any sort of story, and it’s pretty awesome too! It includes…

A signed advance copy of GIVE UP THE GHOST

A medium GIVE UP THE GHOST prize pack including
-All five ghost scents
-Small paper lantern
-Friendship bracelet
-Sticker set
-Bookmark
-Button

-Second choice (after the grand prize) of TWO of the additional ARCs

3. Five additional winners will receive a small GIVE UP THE GHOST prize pack (same as medium but only one ghost scent) and choice of ONE of the remaining ARCS!

Since I’ve been seriously wanting to get my hands on CATCHING FIRE and ONCE WAS LOST, and RIOT (ok, you get the picture), you can bet I’ll be entering. Maybe y’all can guess which secret is mine.

And finally, if you want to read the Fumbling with Fiction interview she did several months back, click here.

Saturday Six

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1. Finally told my agent about the new project. He loved the title and seemed genuinely excited about seeing the new project whenever I was ready. So, of course, that made me feel good! I feel sort of illegitimate if I haven’t touched base with him in awhile and it had been about a month. I feel much better now. P.S. Can I just tell you how wonderful it is to have an agen who always responds the same day? It’s wonderful.

2. I’m having a “pretend writing retreat” this weekend. I can’t figure out why it’s pretend exactly other than that I’m in my house alone and going nowhere special. My goal is 7k words this weekend, the weekend being from Friday evening to Sunday at midnight. So far I’ve written 1, 800. Not great, not horrible.

3. Books I so, so badly want to read: Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Wings by Aprilynne Pike, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, Story of  A Girl by Sara Zarr, Canterwood Crest series by Jessica Burkhart, and The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner. There are others, but I will spare you. The ARC that I already have in my hot little hands for which I am most excited is My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent. That book is coming out this fall from the brand spankin’ new Harlequin Teen imprint. I’m looking forward to seeing what type of book that line will offer.

4. Fellow Hopeful Karen Duvall just won First Place in the HTH Romance Through the Ages contest for her new manuscript, MYSTIC TAXI! Congrats again, Karen!!!

5. Another friend, Theodore Quester, turned me onto this resource: AR Bookfind. You can use the site to look up wordcounts for virtually any book. This was really helpful to me. Not that you should aim for a specific wordcount necessarily. But, of course, there are industry standards. And it might even give you an idea of how a book should be paced by giving you a point of comparison to see how many words it took to tell a given story. Knowing y’all you’ve probably known about this resource forever, but I thought I’d share just in case.

6. Happy early birthday to my critique partner, Jen Hayley!!

Review in Questions: The Hunger Games

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In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one by and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteeen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

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  On Amazon

 

 

Favorite thing about the book?

This is probably my favorite YA read in a couple years at least, so naturally, there are a lot of highlights. But I’d have to say my favorite thing about the book was how much it scared the pants off me! Now, I’m a girl that hates the feeling of being chased during tag, but honestly, I think the feeling of being hunted would just be the most terrifying thing ever. 

Make a book out of that feeling and you have a novel that literally won’t let you stop turning the pages. 

What makes this work so well is the humanness of the characters’ reaction. The concept may be *hopefully* quite unrealistic, but the authors offers the gamut of true, honest, human reactions in an extraordinary situation that make the book come to life. 

Obligatory least favorite thing about the book?

In the climax, the author offered an element that I thought was unnecessary for how naturally she’d woven the story. If you’ve read I bet you know what I’m talking about. Feel free to comment, but make sure you place a spoiler warning at the top of your post. 

What was most surprising about the book?

Gender role reversal. 

Favorite Character?

Rue, I think. Katniss, the narrator, is great, too, though. I was so impressed with how Suzanne Collins laid the groundwork for her character in the beginning, knowing how it needed to pay off down the road. 

Underlying themes?

The overwhelming instinct for humans to survive

Oppression–maybe some throwbacks to slavery in the US, the futility of revolt

A bit of Girl Power, but perhaps more gender equality

Definitely social commentary on American Idol and reality shows in general

After this book you felt…?

Mostly sad when I thought about it.

Who would you recommend this book to?

Everyone? 

More seriously, I think this is a great book for boys looking to read more YA that is not slanted so heavily geared toward teen girls. Don’t let the female narrator scare you away. 

Lovers of action and social lottery books. 

Adults that want to see what YA is all about.

If you love horror, but want to get away from zombies, etc., try this. It’s a different kind of scary.

Finally, how long did it take you to read? 

My sweet friend had heard me talking about this book. She’s not a YA reader or a writer, but she remembered and knew I’d had a tough weekend so she ran out an bought it for me. She gave it to me Saturday night. I had to break for homework, etc. but finished it Sunday. 


Friday Five

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My Friday Five is short this week but a couple points carry a lot of Pow! So Happy Friday, y’all. 

 

1. The Fabulous Gretchen McNeil was mentioned today on Nathan Bransford’s blog. Very cool. Y’all will want to check out her interview with Tina Wexler. 

2. Fellow Purgatorian Kari Stewart got her first book deal this week. Not one, not two, but a three book deal!! So exciting. Definitely go congratulate her. We love to hear about those debut sales!

3. Film rights for Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games sold to Lionsgate this week. If you haven’t read it here’s the back cover copy. I know a lot of folks are excited about this movie.

 

COULD YOU SURVIVE ON YOUR OWN, IN THE WILD, WITH EVERYONE FIGHTING AGAINST YOU?

Twenty- four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

 

4. Still waiting on agent notes. I’ve dipped into the the WIP again. And am about done with Chapter Eleven. I’m thinking of trying Write or Die. Have y’all tried this program? Any thoughts? Right now, I think it just makes me nervous!

5. I got a job with the Dallas Cowboys today and will be working there this summer! Hooray for good news. Momentum? Let’s hope.