What Makes A Story Great?

So I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and I've been thinking (always dangerous). Sometimes I'm reading along, and something amazing happens and I think, I love this book.

Which makes me wonder: What makes a story great? When you're reading, when do you know you love a book? Can you fall out of love after having that I love this book moment?

What I Learned About Teen Readers

Dude, so I met several librarians while I was in New York City last week. I love talking with book people. They really get things, and I enjoyed learning from them.

Biggest thing I learned: Teens have very little time to read for enjoyment. I'll admit, I was sort of shocked by this. But the librarians said that teens have so much required reading for school, that they don't have much time for recreational reading.

This surprised me, though it feels true inside. I mean, there are a lot of YA books out there. It seems to be a happening market. So to hear an industry person say that teens aren't actually reading for fun made me stop and think: Then who's reading all the YA novels that are being published?

So I ask you: Who's reading all the YA novels that are being published? And do you think it's true that teens are overburdened with required reading for school that they don't have time to read for fun?

New York Picture Recap

Okay, so I'm planning to fill you in on a lot of things New York, but today, I'm just giving you the best of NYC in pictures.

Saturday:

Me and my mom at the airport.

Sunday:

Me on top of the Empire State Building.

Monday:

Me with my editor, Anica Rissi, and fellow author, Terra McVoy.

Tuesday:

Does this need a caption?

Wednesday:

Ahhh!

Central Park in the mist. There's something I love about mist... Remember my buffalo post?

Thursday:

Me with the wall of Possession at S&S. Totally surreal.

I love the city. I mean, absolutely, 100% love it. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

EARTHLING HERO by Anita Laydon Miller

Anita Laydon Miller recently left a sought-after literary agency to e-publish her middle grade novel. She's here today to talk about the setting of her sci-fi and to show us a short video of one of the settings.

So let's welcome her to the blog today!

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Hey! Thanks for having me! First off, bear with a short description of EARTHLING HERO and then I’ll explain things in a bit more detail.

Imagine waking one summer night to see someone standing beside your bed. The “someone” is a complete stranger, but looks exactly like you. That’s what happens to eleven-year-old Mikey Murphy. The next few days are filled with adventures—breaking into a high-security military installation, engaging expert assassins in hand-to-hand combat, searching for an evil alien’s hideout in the middle of a national landmark—all with two new alien friends at his side. Can Mikey and his friends survive their adventures and save the world?

EARTHLING HERO is set in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area. The “high-security military installation” mentioned in the description is NORAD. It’s a real-life facility that’s built inside a mountain. I went on a tour there to pump myself up for writing those scenes. In the scenes, Mikey, his alien clone Axe, and Axe’s sister Aurora break into the facility to retrieve a much-needed device.

Mikey also fights a group of nasty assassins. The fight scene occurs within a CIA agent’s Black Forest, Colorado home. Agent Alvarado is fictional, but the home is based on one I’ve actually visited.

In another section of the book, Mikey, Axe and Aurora search for an evil alien’s lair in Garden of the Gods. (Oh my heck! I just visited Garden of the Gods last October, and it is GORGEOUS!) Technological information points the kids in the direction of the Siamese Twins rock formation. The short video below shows me at the rock formation. I’m pointing out the area where the kids searched, and then I read a short segment from the scene, while sitting near the formation.

Thanks for joining me on this journey! Please visit my blog for a link to buy EARTHLING HERO for just $.99.

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Also, I'm leaving for New York City tomorrow! I've never been more excited in my life! So while I'm off touring and lunching and learning to walk in high heels, I won't be blogging. But you can count on me plastering my blog with pictures when I get back!

So what'd you think of Anita? Go check out her book!

Tag, You're It

Dude, only two more months until POSSESSION debuts! You know what that means. Or maybe you don't. But it's contest time!!

This month, I'm revealing a little bit more about the world of POSSESSION. It's set in the future, and everything is coded. The people have cards with bar codes. The government uses iris recognizers. They can even implant you with a bar code bracelet if you're particularly troublesome and they want to keep their eye on you.

It's called a tag.

From POSSESSION: "In the Goodgrounds, that's really, really bad. Every scanner, every reader, will pick up the tag. Alarms will wail. Everyone will know what you are. A loser. A criminal."

The main character, Vi, and her prison buddy, Jag, get sentenced to be tagged. This is what Jag has to say about that: "No way. You will not touch me with your Goodie tech crap."

This is what Vi thinks: "No way in hell they're tagging Jag."

So, we're having fun with tags this month in the "Tag, You're It" contest of epic awesomeness!

On the POSSESSION Facebook fanpage wall, participants will “tag” someone they would do anything to keep from getting tagged. Would you bust them out of prison? Stand in a cold shower so they wouldn’t get marked? Endure eating mushrooms to save them?

Anyone who “tags” someone else on the FB fanpage wall AND fills out the form on the “Welcome” tab will be entered to win a prize. What's up for grabs?

Three levels:
1. Exclusive, sneak-peek at an author-notated first chapter of POSSESSION (many)
2. POSSESSION prize pack: bookmarks, bookplates, stickers, and/or postcards (10 prize packs = 10 winners)

3. Signed ARC of POSSESSION + prize pack (1 winner)

Winners will NOT be announced. You’ll just get something fun and amazing in your email inbox. And you won’t know if--or what--you’ve won until you get that email.

The requirements:
1. Post on the FB wall
2. Fill out the form on the "Welcome" tab on the fanpage
3. "Like" the FB Possession page

If you spread the word through blogs/twitter, you can add an entry in the form.

Easy to tweet!
Tweet

And grab this badge for your blog!



<center><a href=" http://on.fb.me/ikBgsg " target="_blank"><img border="0" src=" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIo88fPo-2hTy55kARXc0z8C1DGMknuqsL2FUixSZibXlD4VV7NBn6wGUcSvK5UWNKGizxbSTpTa1TtKa28Kwdbry_seaJh0HmFMF06U0sWrfvtCgv-Mjmgaa9bfeGZ51_RK3pknrzdlI/s320/Tagged+badge.jpg " width="150”" height="150" /></a></center>

So? How'd I do? Excited? You should be, because the email notifications for prize winners are going to be FRAWESOME. Above and beyond a regular email. Just sayin'...

Who would you save from taggage? (Be sure you put this on the fanpage as well!)

This Dream I Had

Okay, so I don't dream all that often. And I've never had this flash of lightning for a story whilst dreaming/sleeping.

But the other night, I had this dream. Full of weird stuff, and people I know from all different areas of my life. Some high school friends. Some characters from books.

And Beth Revis.

That's right. So there's Beth, and she's the music teacher at this school where I was teaching too--just what I was teaching is a mystery. But Beth was hosting this like, live sing-in as a protest against the Westin's.

Who are the Westin's? I wasn't really sure, but I knew they were BAD. They were trying to take over our part of the country. Or something. So I sat down at the sing-in, where Beth was strumming away on her guitar, and some of my old high school friends were there.

So, of course, I morphed into a teenager. And then this boy sat down next to me, and we really hit it off, and he asked me out, and I said yes.

Then I walked, seriously, like ten feet from the sing-in to the door of my apartment, where I lived with my sister. But she wasn't really my sister. Well, she was, but it wasn't my real, biological sister--it was this character from a book.

Weird, I know.

And she hated me (she was one of the mean girls in the book), and we didn't talk, and when this cute boy came to pick me up--hours later, mind you--my sister had her two friends over. And he introduced himself since I didn't exactly know his last name, as Chris Westin, and my sister paled and her friends stared.

I knew the name should me something to me, but Chris was cute, and suddenly we were in college, so I could do whatever I wanted, and so we left the apartment.

That's when I woke up. And my first thought was: "I should write a book about this."

My second: "About WHAT, exactly? Beth Revis playing the guitar? There's no story here, you moron."

My third: "Man, I'm tired. My head feels fuzzy... zzz."

So yeah. Those are the kinds of things you think after you've had a codeine-induced dream. Weird, yeah?

Where do you get your story ideas? Dreams? Random places? Narcotics? Do tell.

Tell the Truth Tuesday: Zombie Flu Edition

Holy Undead, Batman! It's amazing how completely ruined I was last week. I'm thankful for all the well-wishes, but mostly, I'm thankful for:

1. Codeine.
2. Antibiotics.
3. My bed and pillow.
4. Water.
5. Chap-stick.
6. Fast food.
7. Sick days.
8. Substitutes.
9. My family.
10. Ally Condie and Carrie Ryan. (For making Wednesday fun.)

Photo by Heather Gardner (@fireicephotos)

ZOMBIES! I am actually scared of myself in this picture...
(And those are some fabulous Utah book bloggers, and Utah authors Brodi Ashton and Bree Despain!)

Things I Know I Missed:
1. The WriteOnCon chat of awesome.
2. Anything pop culture related.
3. Commenting on your blogs.

As a result of #3, tell me! What's going on with you right now? What are you most thankful for this uh, tax season?

Bookanistas Give Back

Okay, so today we're going deep and personal and hopefully awesome. It all started with Myra McEntire (HOURGLASS, Egmont, June 14), who all by herself deserves a post of amazingness. She's a member of The Bookanistas, and she's spearheading our very first "Bookanistas Give Back" event.

About a year ago Myra had a crazy writer dream.

Charlie Bewley, Demetri from the Twilight Saga films, walked into it. He promptly demanded that she cast him as the villain in the book she was working on.

Since then, through several sets of strange circumstances, Myra has gotten to know Charlie Bewley. He's wickedly smart, very kind, and all-in-all a precious human. A few weeks ago, Myra learned that he was running an ultramarathon in an attempt to raise funds for a cancer hospital. Read this gorgeous post to learn why. His heart on the matter came through so truthfully and authentically, that Myra wanted to find a way to help.

And she recruited all of us, inspiring us to go beyond ourselves. Brilliant.

Charitable donations are a very personal thing. There are so many ways our hard earned money can help others, and lately our world seems to be breaking into pieces around us. Needs are many and great. The Bookanistas want to give back, so in the coming months, we're going to be looking for ways to pour into communities, both bookish and worldwide.

Logo by Elle Sharp

For the month of April, we've chosen to spotlight Run For Your Life, largely because the framework is already set up (we'd like to keep it simple our first time out), and also because of personal connections to the cause. Most everyone knows someone who has battled cancer or lost a loved one to it.

To encourage you to donate, we're going to give away some sweet prizes! Here's how it will work:

1. Go to the Run For Your Life page.

2. Make a donation. $5 is suggested, but lower or higher is fine. (Also know that for every dollar you donate, you'll be entered to win a private, advance screening for twenty people for Breaking Dawn. The Bookanistas have NOTHING to do with that part - that's all Charlie and Summit Entertainment.)

3. Come back and fill out the entry form on this page.

We're trusting you to be honest about giving, and about the amount you give.

4. The Bookanistas will be giving away a selection of prizes (see list below). You will be entered one time for each dollar you donate ($5 = 5 entries). If you wish to be entered to win a specific prize, let us know in the designated section of the entry form.

5. We're following the guidelines set forth by Run for Your Life, which means this particular event will only be open to those in North America. Entries will be closed on April 30th, and we will contact randomly selected winners shortly thereafter.

6. Spread the word. Tweet, post the Run For Your Life logo (code below) with a link to Charlie's site on your blog, or Facebook about the event, and receive an extra entry. Place a link in the place provided on the entry form.

Tweet here! Easy as clicking.
Tweet

Badge: simply copy the code to put in your sidebar.




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HERE'S THE LIST OF BOOKANISTA PRIZES:
From Shannon Messenger:
A signed copy of WHITE CAT and a signed copy of RED GLOVE by Holly Black

From Carrie Harris:
A 50 page manuscript critique

From Jessi Kirby:
A signed copy of MOONGLASS

From Gretchen McNeil:
A swag pack of POSSESS goodies and a query critique

From Corrine Jackson:
A 50 page manuscript critique

From Stasia Kehoe:
A signed ARC of AUDITION

From Shana Silver:
A query and first chapter critique

From Lisa and Laura Roecker:
A signed copy of LIAR SOCIETY and bookmarks

From Shelli Johannes-Wells:
A box of ten mystery advance reader copies

From Megan Miranda:
Query letter + first chapter critique

From Christine Fonseca:
Signed copies of EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS and 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS

From Myra McEntire:
A signed copy of DEMONGLASS by Rachel Hawkins, a signed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, a signed copy of TORMENT by Lauren Kate, a unicorn, AND a one of a kind, signed and annotated advance reader copy of HOURGLASS.

From Veronica Rossi:
A 50 page manuscript critique

From me, Elana Johnson:
A Dystopian Trifecta of Awesome - a signed copy of THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan, a signed copy of MATCHED by Ally Condie, and a signed ARC of my own POSSESSION.

Enter below, and THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY. It takes so little to help make a difference.

One Piece of Advice

In celebration of the early release of Christine Fonseca's 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids, I'm offering up some advice today.

If I could give a child one piece of advice for life, it would be: Take many classes, explore many options, travel many roads so you can find what it is you like. Then do what you like.

What would you say?

Grab the graphic if you want, post on your blog!

MEMENTO NORA by Angie Smibert

This week is the epic launch of MEMENTO NORA by Angie Smibert, which comes out tomorrow! From Angie's website:

Summary: Nora, the popular girl and happy consumer, witnesses a horrific bombing on a shopping trip with her mother. In Nora’s near-future world, terrorism is so commonplace that she can pop one little white pill to forget and go on like nothing ever happened.

However, when Nora makes her first trip to a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic, she learns what her mother, a frequent forgetter, has been frequently forgetting. Nora secretly spits out the pill and holds on to her memories. The memory of the bombing as well as her mother’s secret and her budding awareness of the world outside her little clique make it increasingly difficult for Nora to cope. She turns to two new friends, each with their own reasons to remember, and together they share their experiences with their classmates through an underground comic. They soon learn, though, they can’t get away with remembering.

Fascinating, yes? YES. I mean, pop a pill and forget? To help Angie celebrate MEMENTO NORA, I'm going to spill a memory I never want to forget.

Mine feels small, but it's important to me. It's sort of what launched me into my critique group, and how I squirm my way into many conversations--and thus, friendships--on twitter or wherever.

It's called eavesdropping.

That's right. I met my critique partners by eavesdropping on two fabulous girls in the lunch line of my very first writer's conference. I'd been "a writer" for approximately three months, and I attended the conference alone.

The girls were talking about doing a YA group, and I stood up straighter and listened harder. Then I just inserted myself right into that convo, got their information, and the rest is history.

I don't ever want to forget that sometimes, all it takes to get/do/become something amazing is to speak up.

What memory would you never want to forget?

You can enter to win a nice prize pack o' stuff, including a signed copy of Memento Nora, a purse charm bracelet, temporary tattoos, and other swag.

How? Simple. Each week, leave a comment on the featured blog--that's THIS POST. And over on Angie's site. Each weekly comment earns you a point (which in this case equals an entry in the random drawing). In other words, if you comment on every week, you get 8 points... er, entries. Angie will randomly select a winner and announce it April 7.

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• Beth Revis features Between Shades of Gray all week--with giveaway!
• Christine Fonseca gives a Guestanista video review of 11 Birthdays
• Jamie Harrington is giddy for Texas Gothic
• Myra McEntire introduces "Bookanistas Give Back" - with prizes!
• Sarah Frances Hardy delights in Divergent
• Jessi Kirby wants to be Like Mandarin
• Megan Miranda gushes over Blood Magic
• Bethany Wiggins Praises the Princess of the Midnight Ball
• Gretchen McNeil sings about Spoiled
• Carrie Harris loves The Lipstick Laws--with giveaway!
• Rosemary Clement-Moore is ensnared by The Demon Trapper's Daughter
• Veronica Rossi marvels at Moonglass
• Stasia Ward Kehoe raves about Rival

I'm Sick

I seriously can't even see straight. I'll spare you all the details, but I just wanted you to know that I'm taking a few days off blogging. Mostly because I can't think past the raging fever and rampant headache.

I'll be back on Thursday and Friday this week! Hope you have a good one!

And don't forget about our WriteOnCon live event today with literary agents Jim McCarthy and Michael Bourret. I may or may not be there, depending on dizziness level.

The Power In Us All

With every action and with every spoken word and with every blog post/comment and with every Goodreads review and and with every tweet and with every Facebook status:

You have the power to hurt or heal.
You have the power to fix or fumble.
You have the power to advocate or attack.
You have the power to discourage or encourage.
You have the power to deliver or to deny.

What will you do with that kind of power?

(This hangs in my classroom. It was given to me by my principal and inspires me daily in all aspects of my life.)

And hey! Today is the last day to ask a question (for my trip to NYC) on Theresa's blog.

And I was interviewed as part of the Cornucopia of Dystopia on Jenny's Supernatural Snark blog today. (You wanna go over there. I may or may not be wearing a special T-shirt...)

AND today is the last day to post about your greatest POSSESSION on the Facebook fanpage. Winner announced later today.

Whew!

The Eleventh Plague

OH MY HECK! YES, THIS REQUIRES ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

LOOK!

LOOK!

YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK, STAT.

THAT IS ALL.

Comments? Reactions? Want to be Jeff Hirsch? (It's okay, I sort of hate him too.)

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• LiLa Roecker wonders What Happened to Goodbye
• Christine Fonseca wants to be Like Mandarin
• Jamie Harrington falls for Falling Under
• Shelli Johannes-Wells visits Dark and Hollow Places
• Beth Revis discovers Lost and Found
• Carolina Valdez Miller is wild about Wither
• Megan Miranda swoons for Anna and the French Kiss
• Bethany Wiggins commends Ketura and Lord Death
• Shana Silver gushes over What Happened to Goodbye
• Carrie Harris is mesmerized by Memento Nora
• Matt Blackstone visits The Ninth Ward
• Jen Hayley peers into Clarity
• Stasia Ward Kehoe spotlights Strings Attached

He Can't Handle the Truth!

Okay, so I'm terrified of today's post, but I asked for it. Give a warm welcome to Mr. J aka, my husband. I'd give you a whole bio complete with picture, but well, I don't really have one. He teaches sixth grade, and he puts up with me. That should be all the bio you need. Ha!

And he's tackling protags in YA fiction... so *gulp* here we go.

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It’s not that I don’t like teen fiction; it’s just that it scares me. Or, to be more specific, the protagonists scare me. Now I don’t mean to offend anyone here. I’m truly curious to know if my point of view is inaccurate in some way. Elana and I have argued this point many times (true) and I think I’ve finally convinced her I’m right. At least that’s what I tell myself in order to successfully fall asleep at night. (Ha!)

Why don’t I like the protagonists? Simply put, I don’t want my daughter, or the girls I teach, turning out like many of the female protags I see in teen novels. This point of view stems back to my first and only reading of Twilight. (For the record, I liked Twilight, and this is in no way a free pass for anyone to bash Twilight.) I was surprised that so many people loved a book whose main character is a young girl basing her entire self worth on the attention of a dude.

My concern is that many teen novels are filled with examples of unhappy or unfulfilled adolescent girls who are waiting for some pubescent boy to come along and make them feel good about themselves. Really? That’s not the woman I married or the kind of girl I’d like my son to fall in love with. My Elana is tough. She’s strong. She’s beautiful and quite frankly magnificent! Our lives twist and turn together as we support each other and try to build each other up. I hope to be a compliment to her. But never do I think I made her. I just try to keep up!

I want my daughter and my young students to read about girls and women like that! I want my boys to want to be around females like that! Is that so wrong?

Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there are some YA novels filled with examples of strong teenage girls. Perhaps all of Elana’s loyal readers (thank ye) can help me understand if this is my problem or an actual issue with the genre. Point out the error of my ways. I CAN handle the truth!

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So...can he handle the truth?? Are YA novels somewhat centered on girls looking for validation? Someone to love them? Can they love themselves without being reassured by a boy? Lots of things here, people. Discuss (nicely).

Waiting For The End

Dude, there is nothing I like better than writing and editing to music. If I hear the perfect song, I can listen to that sucker on repeat for hours. Just ask my kids.

For editing my last project, my song was "The Herald Song" by Ke$ha. It's not one of her more-known, you know, techno thingies, but it's full of angst. And so was my project, so it was perfect.

For this new project I'm starting, my new fave is "Waiting for the End" by Linkin Park. The angst?

Through the roof.

Here's the proof:

We say Yeah!
With fists flying up in the air
Like we're holding onto something
That's invisible there, (I love this image of holding on to something invisible, unable to let go)
'Cause we're living at the mercy of
The pain and the fear (oh, the angst)

I know what it takes to move on, (do you??)
I know how it feels to lie, (powerful feeling)
All I wanna do
Is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven't got (chillz. I haz them.)

What was left when that fire was gone?
I thought it felt right but that right was wrong (who hasn't felt this? Every runner-up on The Bachelor, that's for sure.)
All caught up in the eye of the storm
And trying to figure out what it's like moving on (and here's the real angst)
And I don't even know what kind of things I've said
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead
So, picking up the pieces, now where to begin?
The hardest part of ending is starting again.

And dude, that's it. That's life. Relationships. Writing. Starting a new job. Everything.

The hardest part of ending is starting again.

Every time I hear this song, I can't help but think of my MC and the terrible things I'm about to do to them. The lyrics, the music, everything, just fits. It's "the one." Chill-worthy.

Have you ever just heard a song and gotten chills? Like, "This. THIS is it!"What song is it? What is it about that song makes it so perfect for your project?