Tip of the Day: Get ready for WriteOnCon 2014, the free online kidlit writing conference August 26-27. I'm excited to check out the buzz again this year!

I want to start with a huge THANK YOU to all A2A readers who have read BLACKOUT or DESERTED! I am so grateful for the support and excited to work on book #3, which I never thought I'd say. (Me? A trilogy?)  I plan on releasing an unrelated YA contemporary novel this winter, and then Jenny and Zak's story in August 2015.

To celebrate other summer 2014 YA novel releases, I want to give away two of them that I loved:

 

THE FOURTH WISH by Lindsay Ribar is the sequel to THE ART OF WISHING but it also stands on its own. Why did I love it? Because Margo loves Oliver, a genie, regardless of the exterior form he takes. Margo is a positive, uplifting character who is fun to follow through her own transformation.

THE BRIDGE FROM ME TO YOU by Lisa Schroeder is by our very own former A2A contributor! Why did I love it? Because the love story is sweet and non-angsty, and the dual povs from both Lauren and Colby are expressive and connected, but also unique.

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a review on Amazon or B&N for BLACKOUT, DESERTED, or both, and leave the link to the review in the comments! You'll get one entry for each review you write and post below (for a total of 4 possible entries). Enter in the Rafflecopter below between 8/18-9/18. Sorry, open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
For links to the books on Amazon and B&N, go to www.DeenaLipomi.com.

Happy Second-Half-of-August!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*with apologies to The Romantics

Tip of the Day: Only 82 days until the Rochester Teen Book Festival! If you are anywhere near Rochester, NY on May 17th, you must come to this FREE event featuring 30 authors!

As a book reviewer for VOYA, Genesee Valley Parent Magazine, and the RACWI newsletter, and after commenting on a thread about starred reviews in the SCBWI Discussion Board (as created by picture book author Verla Kay), I've been thinking lately a lot about how I approach reviews.

Of course we all have favorite genres of books, topics we'll gravitate towards without question, and authors we'll pick up no matter what the book is about. But within those books there are aspects that make us really, really like some more than others.

*Please note that I'm focusing on novels in this discussion.*

And in books that are not part of my usual repertoire, I can still fall in love with them if they rock in one or more of three areas.

What are those three things?

Why voice, characters, and page-turning plots of course!

So if a book in any genre stands out in any of these areas as compared to the 150-200 other books I read each year, then I'll give it an above average rating or review. And if it stands out so much that I can't stop talking about it or telling others that they must read it, then I'll give it a glowing review.

A recent read that has made this most latter list?

Not only is main character Mo LeBeau smart, funny, honest, and caring with a sharp voice that makes me smile on every page, but she's joined by a cast of additional fabulous characters. If you enjoy middle grade novels at all, you must read this book and THREE TIMES LUCKY (the first Mo LeBeau book) as well.

For the sake of more examples, I'll tell you what I love about each of the Author2Author Misses' work and why they stand out to me. :)

Kate -- her plots are smart and make me think about new worlds, and her characters have witty lines that make me laugh out loud and want them to succeed.

Emily -- her plots are high concept and seem to write themselves, and her first-person voice is hilarious.

Tina -- her plots are well-crafted and fit together like a sharp puzzle, and her characters' honesty and naivete are refreshing and fun to follow as they get into hijinks.

Megg -- her characters kick butt and lead the plots instead of letting the plots lead them.

What aspect of a novel make you love them more than others you have read lately?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Leave reviews for books you buy. They don't have to be long, drawn-out affairs - just a simple, "Loved it!" is good enough.

So I had kind of sad thing happen this week. A writer-friend, someone I trust a lot, asked me to do a crit for her. I happily said yes because I love, love, love editing.

It was a very early version of her story. I wanted to help, so I thought I'd be as brutal as possible. As a critique partner, I felt it was my job not to pull any punches. Because if I lie, and stroke her ego, what good would I be doing? The point of a critique is to make things better, not to pat someone on the head.

Things kind of spiraled out of control. In my attempt to be honest, I came off as harsh. In my attempt to apologize, I came off as sarcastic and mean. In my attempt to back off and explain, I came off as self-deprecating and pitiful.

She misunderstood me. I misunderstood her. Let's just say it wasn't pretty and I had a bad week trying desperately to scramble out of the black hole our friendship had suddenly fallen into.

This is one of the big risks we take in this profession. Writing is filled with emotional pitfalls. Our work is dear to us, as precious as a new baby. Expectations are high, but at the same time it's like balancing on a ball while holding a rod with a dish on top. No one wants that dish to crash to the floor and shatter in a million pieces. Not me, the person telling them how to balance; not the person on the ball, trying desperately to make everything perfect.

I had a talk about it with a guy friend, who is also involved in the arts. It was short, done via text, and very matter-of-fact. He told me this happens everywhere. He told me I shouldn't take it so damn personally. That was about it. Guy logic. Gotta love it. It's very grounding.

So, I put on my man pants, wrote her a simple email explaining that I hadn't mean to be mean, or sarcastic, or pitiful, and nothing I wrote was in anger. I also said I valued our friendship.

All of this lead to a great realization about myself - something I'd been suspecting for quite a long time now - I SUCK at developmental editing. Give me a manuscript with typos and missing commas and grammar issues and I am all over that baby. But taking a story and trying to help someone mold it? Not my forte. It's not a reason to be down on myself. It's simply a truth that not only serves me better as a writer, but also helps me realize where my strengths are when my friends ask me for the help I'm always so happy to give.

Want to know what happened? My friend and I made up. I hope we move on happily and put this behind us like two dudes who just beat the shit out of each other, then went out for a beer.

Moral of the story? Be kind. Be honest. Be true. Be willing, always, to say you are sorry - even if you never meant to offend.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Please silence your cell phone and remain disconnected from it when inside the library. Nobody wants to hear what you're planning for dinner, what time your son needs to get picked up from hockey practice, or how much you hate your ex.

While reading the February 2012 VOYA, I noticed something in the reviews of realistic fiction: Five of them featured teens in mental hospitals.

I read one prior to seeing this month's VOYA:
TRY NOT TO BREATHE is a lovely YA of friends, family, health, truth, and healing. The main character is already released from the mental hospital when the novel begins, but he has a connection to two friends he made there and flashbacks to his institutionalization.

The other four VOYA reviewed novels contain characters visiting their friends in mental hospitals, girls recovering from OCD, etc. Different approaches with a similar theme.

As a teen, I loved GO ASK ALICE and other books that explored mental health issues, especially since I liked to diagnose myself with hypochondria, OCD, and whatever else was in the news. I'm sure teens today think about the same things.
But do we need five new titles with this theme? Maybe we do. Or is the mental hospital setting just another avenue for the dark, realistic contemporary YA novel that sells today? Is it a "trend," or is the market just ready for these novels to simultaneously hit the shelves? Is this simply the progression from all of the books with MCs seeing shrinks a couple years ago?

Some other patterns I noticed in VOYA were:
--teens getting ready to graduate from HS who have plans for their studies/futures (often involving the arts), but a death/break-up/parental decision throws them off course and they don't know what to do with their lives.
--not much realistic historical fiction at all (there is more in the fantasy/sci-fi/horror section)

What patterns are you noticing on the shelves? And do you find the themes "worthy?"

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: If your local public library has to raise its fines/fees, please don't be rude to the library staff about it -- we agree with you that it stinks! Instead, take out your frustrations in a letter to the state budget cutters -- and library staff will thank you for your support.

One of my awesome teen volunteers this summer wants to do a Mock Printz Club with some of her friends. She asked me what some of my top reads of 2011 were. I went to my handy LJ book log and easily picked out these as "Printz worthy" out of the 116 books I've read this year (not that all would qualify for the award):

BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young
When Saba's twin brother Lugh is stolen by bandits, she resolves to get him back and travels through the sandstorm ridden wastelands to find him. This dystopian future novel doesn't spend any time explaining what happened to the world to cause the new landscape; it delved into the characters and plot, the heart and meat of the story, and felt like it was missing nothing. Saba is a fabulous narrator who fans of Katniss (HUNGER GAMES) will enjoy. The voice takes a little getting used to at the beginning of the novel, but is strong and real and carries the book through. Great adventure YA. (M. K. McElderry, 2011)
*This book stood out to me because in a glut of dystopian, BRR didn't dwell on the "catastrophic event" that made the world what it was; it just went forward with strong characters, visuals, and story.

RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer
Brooke and Kathryn became friends as juniors, but jealousy and misunderstandings tore them apart and one year later, they will be competing for a prestigious singing prize that may move them from rivals to enemies. This book is so well done for many reasons. First, because of the great alternating first-person pov that shows how neither girl is stereotypically bad, wrong, or evil, but that misunderstandings happen; second, because of the accurate portrayal of girls who are so similar in desires, thoughts, actions, and skills that those same things that make them bffs are the things that make them in competition with each other; and third, because of the relatable description of the confusing feelings/jealousies related to both points above. I loved this contemporary, realistic, relatable YA. (HarperCollins, 2011)
*This book stood out because of its on-point, realistic portrayal of teen girls who have lots in common without any added drama for drama's sake.

OKAY FOR NOW by Gary Schmidt
Doug moves to "stupid" Marysville with his sad but beautiful mom, angry dad, and pain in the butt brother, but when he discovers John Audubon's bird pictures, a love for drawing, and a pretty girl, even his injured oldest brother's return from Vietnam might make everything okay for now. I loved loved loved this book even more than GS's TROUBLE and WEDNESDAY WARS which I also loved. The combination of Audubon's birds with what was going on in Doug's life, the relationships between Doug and his family members and neighbors, and the way Doug wanted to be better than his abusive father made me love his character and fear for him when things went wrong. Reading this just pulled at pieces of me. Amazing upper MG to YA. (HMH, 2011)
*This book stood out because of its heart, its truth, its worrisomeness that will resonate with many, its hope, the way it still gives me chills to think about the main character.

IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma
When she was 14-years-old, Chloe tried to swim across the resevoir that buried an old town when her older sister boasted she could do it, but instead she discovered a dead girl; two years later, Chloe's sister claims she has fixed everything and they can be together forever, but Chloe knows she's hiding something. I should've been revising my own novel but I couldn't put down this book or skip over any words. This atmospheric tale of magical realism was captivating, sweet, and sad, but most of all addicting. Great YA. (Dutton, 2011)
*This stood out because of its atmosphere and hinted mystery and lovely magical realism, all of which made me *need* to keep reading.

What books do you think are Printz worthy so far this year? What makes a book really stand out to you among all the YA novels to choose from?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Check out the informative interview social media master (and former agent now writer) Nathan Bransford did this week.