Best of 2010

Well, another year is nearly over.  It's been a good one for me, really.  Launched my book, sold my second book, and generally had a kick-ass time doing it.  So, without further blubbering, here are my favorites of 2010.

Books:
1.  Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness.  He gave us an ending to the Chaos Walking trilogy that was bold and beautiful and hopeful.

2.  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  People either loved or hated this book.  I was on the side of love. Also, you just knew Peeta had to be the one.

3.  The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith.  Andrew Smith is my hero.

4.  Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.  This book just blew me away with its beauty and strength.

5.  Unwind by Neal Shusterman.  Months later, I still think about this book.

I also want to shout out to all the Tenner books that kicked butt all over the place.  There's way too many to list but I've loved every single one that I've read.

Movies:
I have to say that this year sucked for movies as far as I'm concerned.  Nothing really blew me away.  Despite that, here are my favorites.


1.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  My favorite of the franchise, I only wish they'd showing the halves back to back.

2.  The Social Network.  A great look at success in the internet age.

3.  Let Me In.  The original was still better, but I felt like this was the first import that wasn't Americanized to death.

4.  Kick-Ass.  Welcome to the modern superhero.

5.  The Other Guys.  Mark Wahlberg's finest work.  Despite some out there subplots that feel flat, this movie made me laugh.

2010 movies I want to see but haven't:  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Black Swan, Tangled, Despicable Me, and Rabbit Hole.

Overrated 2010 movies:  The Kids are All Right and Inception.


Music:


1.  La Roux - La Roux

2.  April Smith and the Great Picture Show - Songs for a Sinking Ship

3.  Hellogoodbye - Would it Kill You?

4.  Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep

5.  Arcade Fire - Suburbs

TV:
Most of my favorite shows this year came from across the pond.

1.  Sherlock Holmes - Steven Moffat did an amazing job modernizing Holmes and Watson.  It's a shame we only got 3 episodes.

2.  Doctor Who - With Moffat at the helm, Matt Smith as the Doctor, and new companions Amy and Rory, Doctor Who is better than ever.

3.  Misfits - Season 2 deepened this show about outcasts with superpowers, while still maintaining its outrageous humor.

4.  Rubicon - Yeah, it was slow moving, yeah it's cancelled, but damn was it ever brilliant.  Sitting around collating data has never been so tense.

5.  The Walking Dead - Can a show about zombies make you cry?  Damn right it can.

Honorable Mentions:  Terriers, Inbetweeners, Vampire Diaries, Supernatural.

Should be cancelled:  Weeds (please cancel it soon), 30 Rock, The Office.

So that's it for me.  What were your favorites of 2010?

To Cool for That

When I was younger, I was an idiot.

In more ways than one, but the way I'm thinking about today is how stubborn I was about reading specific kinds of books.  You couldn't tell me anything.  In high school, I refused to read books when assigned and frequently only read them after I'd failed the test.

I thought Harry Potter was stupid for the longest time.  I considered Stephen King too pedestrian.  Horror was for morons, kids books for dimwits, mysteries for old ladies, biographies for old men, romances for women, and literary fiction for snobs.  I mostly read sci-fi/fantasy or obscure philosophy books.  In short, I was an idiot.

With age, I've seen the folly of my ways.  I've read some Stephen King, fell in love with the wizarding world of Harry Potter, cracked open some great Agatha Christie, and even read some books that might border on the romantic.  Right now, the hot trends in YA are dystopian fiction and paranormal romances.  Neither of those are my particular cup of tea, however I've read some really great ones.  The Hunger Games trilogy stands up as one badass set of books, and Dia Reeve's Bleeding Violet is one of the sexiest, funniest, freakiest paranormal's I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

I think that people who cut themselves off from particular genres on principal are doing themselves a disservice.  I almost didn't read Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall because it felt like a chick-lit kind of book to me.  And I'll be honest:  all the mean girl nonsense was a huge turnoff to me.  However I'm glad I read it because it was beautifully written and well plotted and Oliver achieved what she'd set out to do in a really great way.  And at the end of the day, I'm glad I read it.

And it goes doubly for writers.  If you write, then every book--good and bad--has something to teach you.  I may not be a fan of Dan Brown, but the guy knows how to spin a story.  Agatha Christie may seem outdated, but she can set up a mystery.  Being a writer and not reading as widely as possible is like going to college but only studying medieval literature.  Sure, you think, I write hardcore realism, what could Harry Potter have to teach me?  The answer is:  everything you ever needed to know about world building.

I'm still an idiot, but at least now, I'm a widely read idiot.  

I bought the whole bookstore

I hope you all enjoyed whatever holiday it is you celebrated.  I'm still working hard under the ever looming threat of deadline, so I'll be popping up occasionally to check in.  Later on this week, I'll be posting my favorites of 2010.  But today I just wanted to share all the bookish goodness I got (and got myself) for Christmas.

House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo

The Agency: A Spy in the House by YS Lee

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

Everlost by Neal Shusterman

The Healting Wars: Book 1: The Shifter by Janice Hardy

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride (I bought this one based on the strength of the title alone).

I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip by John Donovan

Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Minder by Kate Kaynak

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Draw the Dark by Ilsa Bick

Ever After Ever by Jordan Sonnenblick

So tell me:  What books did YOU buy?  Which ones are you eagerly awaiting?  I'm currently in the middle of both |-1| by Steve Brezenoff and How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (both of which are amazingly brilliant) and next up is The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston.  

Holiday Hiatus

I watch too much TV.  I admit it.  I love TV but I watch too much of it.  Whenever I watch my favorite shows, I always wonder how the people in TV shows get so much done.  They always seem to have so much free time.  Finally, it struck me:  It's because they don't watch TV.  I almost never see people in TV shows watching TV.  Their living rooms aren't built around TV's like most normal people's are.  They say that TV doesn't teach you anything but I say they're wrong.  TV is obviously trying to tell me that I shouldn't be watching TV.

I am not, by my nature, a social person.  I have difficulties keeping up social interactions.  Some would say that I am an introvert.  They're probably right.  My brother is an extrovert.  The difference between us is that constant interaction recharges his batteries, whereas it drains mine.  So in order to recharge my batteries, I'm taking a little hiatus from being on-line.  I'll still do my end of the year post, but I won't be tweeting or FBing or blogging for most of the rest of the holidays.

Thank you all for your support this year.  It's been really amazing.  And I hope that next year and the year after will continue the trend.  I hope you all enjoy the holiday season and don't get stressed out.  Holidays are about hanging with the people you love, not fighting the hordes at the malls to buy someone something they're probably going to regift anyway.

Enjoy the holidays and I'll see you all in 2011.

Oh, and turn off the TV and go outside, it's supposedly awesome out there.

A Tale of Two Parties

I can finally announce it.  Here goes:

I'm so totally psyched to get to continue working with my editor at Simon Pulse.  All my Pulse peeps rock. I'm also over the moon that I get to keep writing.  This whole thing is a dream that I don't ever want to wake up from.

Judging Books by Their Covers

This has to be short because I'm swamped, but I wanted to make a confession:  Sometimes I judge books by their covers.

The most recent was Dia Reeves BLEEDING VIOLET.  She's a fellow Tenner, a fellow Simon Pulse author, and an all around amazing person.  If you read the books I'm dying to read in 2011, then you know that her second book SLICE OF CHERRY is on my list.  But something about the cover of BLEEDING VIOLET made me think it was going to be a chick book.

I know, I know, that was the sound of hypocrisy.  I'm guilty of it.  I'm a terrible, terrible human being.  And it's not even that BLEEDING VIOLET has a bad cover.  In fact, I think it's pretty badass.  It's dark and moody and sexy.  It just didn't appeal to me.

Except that I finally picked it up and started reading it.  And it's awesome.  It's beyond awesome.  Hanna is funny and sexy and weird.  The prose if twisty and beautiful.  This is not a chick book.  This is an amazing book.  I'm actually mad at myself for waiting this long to read it.  I'm only about 40% finished so I'll want to wait to do a proper review, but damn.  It just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

2011 Books I'm Dying to Read

Later on in the month, I'll do up my favorite books, music, and movies of 2010, but right now I want to tell you about the books that are making me wish for a speedy end to the year so that I can get my hands on them.

Hannah Moskowitz has 2 books on this list:  ZOMBIE TAG and INVINCIBLE SUMMER.  I think I've made it pretty clear that if you're not reading her work that you're an idiot.  She's versatile and amazing and not shy about saying what she thinks.  BREAK was such a refreshing novel about brotherly love that I can't wait to see what she does with ZOMBIE TAG (a book about brothers and spatulas and zombies) and INVINCIBLE SUMMER (which I'm already hearing amazing things about.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis - This is a book that's already gotten two starred reviews.  I remember seeing this book come up and being really, really excited.  I thought, "now here's a book that can bring sci-fi back to YA."  I fully expect this book to ignite some serious sci-fi love in the future.

SLICE OF CHERRY by Dia Reeves - Sisters? Serial Killers? I'm in.  Dia Reeves is seriously awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on this book.  The cover alone is enough to make me want to devour it.  If this book doesn't make you a fan of Dia, then you have issues.

C-SIDE TALES by Tara Kelly - More from Tara?  Yes please.  Tara killed me with HARMONIC FEEDBACK, and I can't wait to read her tale of Jasmine who tries to live her dream of becoming a musician.  If you love music and you love reading, you should love this book.

STICK by Andrew Smith - I have no idea what this is about.  All I know is that I loved THE MARBURY LENS and I'm half done with IN THE PATH OF FALLING OBJECTS, which I also love, so I'm expecting nothing but brilliance from the 2011 release by Andrew Smith.  He could probably write about Ecuadorian tree frogs and I'd read it.

DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver - I had a hard time with the "bad girls" in Oliver's first book, but her writing was beautiful--lyrical almost--and Delirium looks like an amazing story.  Like a million other people, I'm drooling to get my hands on this.

THE MIDNIGHT TUNNEL by Angie Frazier - This looks like the kind of book that would have made me play sick in middle school so I could lay in bed and read it.  Frazier's YA, EVERLASTING, was a sweet, adventurous tale, and I expect that THE MIDNIGHT TUNNEL will be just as fun.

DROUGHT by Pam Bachorz - Bachorz's first book, CANDOR, was about a perfect subdevelopment in Florida. DROUGHT looks to be another awesome examination of strict societies and the subversive elements that threaten to tear them apart.  I, for one, can't wait.

YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE by Sean Beaudoin - "He's come to do a job. 
A job that involves a body.
A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field."

Who wouldn't want to read this?

Margie Gelbwasser's next book - She hasn't settled on a title or a release date, and I've already read a draft, but you should be looking forward to her 2011 release from Flux.  Just saying.  

So what about you? What are some books that you're dying to read in 2011?  

I Didn't Finish

I don't like to rant. I think it's pretty unbecoming.  But there's something that bothers me that I just have to say:

I don't think it's fair to "rate" or "review" books that you don't finish.

There.  I said it.  Now let me explain.

I detest Hemingway.  I think his prose is wooden, I think his characterizations are cheap and ineffective, and I think he's a horrifying misogynist. I once told a college professor that if an infinite monkeys writing for all eternity on an equally infinite number of typewriters would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare then it should only take ten monkeys ten minutes with sticks in the sand to produce the works of Hemingway.  Needless to say, I feel pretty strongly.  I also feel as if I've earned the right to bash the guy's writing because I've read pretty much every story he's written.  I felt that in order to justify my strong dislike, I needed to be sure there wasn't some nugget of awesomeness buried within his writing.  Sadly, I didn't find what I was looking for, only what I expected I'd find.

I think public discourse is beneficial.  I think people have every right to dislike anything they want and to bash the crap out of if it that's what gets them off.  But I think you have to earn that right by at least finishing the stinking novel.

Two examples:  It took me nearly twice as long to finish the first 200 pages of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay as it did to finish the rest of the book. It was tough to get into.  It was also one of my top ten favorite books ever.  If I'd given up before I got through those two hundred pages, I would have missed out. If I'd gone on to shout about how horrible it was or to rate it poorly on Amazon or Goodreads or one of those other sites, I'd have been doing the book and myself a serious disservice.  Another book is Jellicoe Road.  This is another book that I'd have on my top ten best books, but I was so confused throughout the first hundred pages that I thought about giving up.  Turns out that "flaw" actually became the book's greatest strength: Marchetta's ability to weave a million disparate threads into a brilliant tapestry.

So I guess my point is that I don't care if you hate a book.  My book, someone else's book, all books.  All I care is that before you run out and tell everyone how much you hate it, have the decency to finish it so that your opinion is informed and thoughtful.

And if you do choose not to finish a book for whatever reason, and you have a burning desire to "review" it, then maybe just say why you didn't finish.  If you picked up a book full of profanity and you hate profanity, I'm okay with saying that.  Or if you thought the beginning was slow and you wanted a fast paced novel.  I've quit plenty of books, not because they sucked, but because they turned out to be something other than what I was looking for at the moment.

Okay, rant over.

Blog Chain - Words, Words, Words

Happy Sunday!  I hope you have some coffee handy because I'm back on the blog chain.  This time around, the Mistress of Mischief, Michelle, has decided to have a little fun.  In her own words:

In 100 words or less, write a story using the words ride, post, soulless, local, dehydrator, girdle. Your story may take on any form you wish. The only two rules are 1. you can't simply list the 6 words; you must actually craft them into something creative, and 2. you must use ALL six of them.

I think I used to do this in creative writing classes in HS.  All righty then.  I'm game.  And feel free to play along in the comments.  Here goes:

It was hot out. So hot that the sweat collected on the underside of my girdle and chafed in places you don't want to know about. But I stayed at my post, watching the local folk go by. Most people are soulless puppets who wouldn't give your granny a ride to the hospital if she was sprawled in the middle of the road covered in dollar bills. Either way, by the time I got out of that crazy getup, my torso was gonna look like jerky fresh out of the dehydrator my dead sister got me last year for Christmas.


There ya go.  100 on the nose.  Be sure to head on over to the Awesome Abby's blog to see what kind of story she's going to brew up for us!

The Kindle was Made for Teenage Boys

No, it's not the newest porn delivery system.  In fact, I'd hazard to guess that it's probably not so good for the porn.  But I think that the Kindle and the Nook and all the other e-readers out there might be the best way for us to reach boys who don't read because of peer pressure.

There's clearly very little financial reason for publishers to consider more gender neutral covers or printing multiple covers, so that leaves teen boys having to either suck it up and buy the book that might get him bullied, or just not read.  As you've probably heard, lots of boys are choosing route 2.  I've talked about this before, so I won't go into it again.  But I think e-readers might be an elegant solution.

Not only are e-readers cool because they're portable and can carry a lot of books, but they're also gender non-specific.  A kid can sit in class, reading his Kindle, and no bully is going to know if he's reading some awesome biography or the latest, greatest vampire romance.  Not unless they steal the e-reader, which is a whole separate problem.  But think about it:  one of the major reason (I feel) that teen guys stray from YA is fear.  If no one can see what he's reading, I think it might help bring guys back to YA.

I don't know, just a thought.

What Are You Trying to Say Here?

When I got my first editorial letter back on Deathday, one of the things I noticed was that my wonderful editor wanted me to trust my audience more. I was all like, "Garrrrrr!!!!! How will they know they're supposed to be VERY VERY SAD!!!! if I don't tell them they're supposed to be VERY VERY SAD?" There's this thing called subtlety that I'm not particularly great at. After I write a first draft, I frequently have to go back and cut out all the lines that beat my audience over the head with meaning.

I recently watched the movie THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. I'd been wanting to watch the movie since it came out and was psyched when iTunes had it early for rental. By the end, I felt like I'd been beaten over the head. Like someone had been screaming at me, "LOOK! We're Lesbians! We're ALTERNATIVE!!! We work on co-ops and compost and watch PORN, and our kid aren't any more messed up than YOURS!!!" I'll leave out of this discussion my annoyance that they bollixed the lesbian relationship by having one of them sleep with a man (because for some reason everyone thinks all a lesbian needs is a man anyway). But for serious, I wanted to love this movie. I'm the target audience. I'm young and concerned about our environment and alternative and I have lesbian/green/hip/alternative friends. But I felt like the movie was trying SO frickin' hard to make its point that I wasn't able to see the performances. There were no nuances, no subtlety.

Contrast, for example, the movie LET ME IN (or the original LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, which is better than the original but only just). The movie never stops trying to be a creepy fucking vampire movie. It's designed to scare you, creep you out, and generally make you never want to get in your car in the dark or swim in a public pool AGAIN. EVER. But hidden under that is a terrible tale of isolation and love and humanity (or lack thereof. This is the movie that TWILIGHT should have been--about the cruelty that is being in love with someone who sees you as food. About the horror of living with a killer who will never age. You leave the movie breathless and scared and only days later, after you've tried unsuccessfully to banish the movie from your mind, do you begin to see what the film maker was trying to say. There are subtle points that surface slowly, as they worm their way up from your subconscious.

So what's MY point? Let your story speak for itself. Write a damn good story. Plot the hell out of it. Make your characters so real that they bleed off the page. And then get out of the way. Readers are smart. They already picked up your book, trust them to pick up what you're trying to say without bludgeoning them with it.


*please ignore any crazy spelling errors...I'm testing working exclusively on my iPad, which has a crazy auto-correct, and I'm too lazy to proof this morning.