BUT!

I have someone else’s fabulousness to share, so it’s all good.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harrie has a cover!!! And it is AMAZING. I love it so much – I would definitely pick this up just based on the cover (though I already wanted to read it before the cover). I can’t wait to have one on my shelf at home.

Behold, Bad Taste in Boys:

Amazing, right? Now head on over to Carrie’s blog and SQUEE! with her.

1. The fabulous Kiersten White has a cover for her book! It is beautiful–totally my kind of cover.

2. Kate Hart, the wonderful blogger behind Two For Tuesday, gave me an Aweseomesauce Award! What’s that, you ask? Well:

Rules if You Get Sauced: Basically: define awesome, and then name 8 people you think fit that definition. You don’t have to pass the award on if you don’t want to. This is really just for my own amusement.

Awesomesauce: the quality of being awesome with ease, ie: just as spaghetti sauce flows easily from the jar, so does the awesome flow easily from them.

My definition of AWESOME is:

Anyone who makes me laugh, supports me, understands my bizarre humor, and is just generally, er…awesome!

My 8 people are:

1. Lilah Pierce – ’cause she is one of my oldest friends, the first person to read my new writing, and a real natural blonde! Her blog is still just a wee baby, but it is fun.

2. Abby Stevens – ’cause I thoroughly enjoy reading her blog, I am jealous that she gets to live in the South and write full-time, and because she is a fellow Britney Spears fan.

3. Kate Hart – ’cause she gave me the idea for Two For Tuesday, then gave me this award so I had a topic for today, and because I love, love, love reading her super fun blog.

* *and now, the end of links* *

4. Cathie – for being a non-evil stepmother, even when I was kinda an evil stepchild. For teaching me the joys of Southern cuisine. And for getting us a great deal on a fabulous new car.

5. Mi Madre – for believing in me, answering all my tax questions (and, well, doing my taxes for free), for passing on her love of books. Also, for giving birth to me.

6. Dad – for always pushing me to be better and making me work harder. And for having a great (though weird, and kinda gross) sense of humor.

7. Rani – for being a cool older sister, even though she made me take the blame for everything when we were kids. For feeding me all those times I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain and the house was still a mess.

8. Bubba – For being the most loving, supportive, wonderful husband a girl can have. And for putting up with me. I know it can’t be easy.

]]> http://rachelbateman.com/2010/03/two-for-tuesday-the-awesome-edition/feed/ 9 http://rachelbateman.com/2010/03/run-dont-walk/ http://rachelbateman.com/2010/03/run-dont-walk/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:31:57 +0000 Rachel http://rachelbateman.com/?p=1379 …to the nearest bookstore to pick up The Dead-Tossed Waves.

Okay. I started writing a different post, but I just can’t get Carrie Ryan’s world and words out of my head, so I scrapped that post in favor of this recommendation.

It is no secret that I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth, so I was eagerly anticipating its companion novel, The Dead-Tossed Waves.

This book blew me away. I could not put it down. Could. Not. I was reading every spare second of the day. And even when that meant I was neglecting my own writing, I did not care. I just wanted to read more and more and more of Gabry’s story. I finished it two days ago, but I still think about it regularly. Even one of my lessons in church yesterday made me think of Carrie’s zombies (really–it was connected, I promise!).

Now, since The Dead-Tossed Waves is a companion and not a direct sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, it is not necessary that you read Forest first. However, I think Waves is a much richer book for having read Forest first and I definitely suggest reading them in order.

So, as long as you are at that bookstore picking up one, why not grab the other as well?

1. Getting e-mails from teens who read my blog and want to read my books is awesome.

2. Getting e-mails from high school teachers who read my blog and want to use my books in the classroom is possibly even more awesome.

3. I am secretly still 15 at heart. I don’t wanna grow up, and with YA I don’t have to.

4. I get to experience all those exciting firsts of the teenage years over and over again through my characters.

5. I can do things like watch One Tree Hill and just chalk it all up to research. (I told you I would explain that picture!)

Your turn: what are five reasons why you love doing what you do?

It's a little bit of heaven right here on Earth

Yeah, that’s not going to work. Turns out that while I had images of Neil and I sipping tea and eating crepes while we wrote our novels together in his library, he just had images of a creepy stalker.

So, Neil’s library is out.

But! I found alternatives. Public alternatives. I am pretty sure nobody can call me a creepy stalker if I take up residence in any of these places:

City Library of Stolkholm, Sweden

El Ateneo bookstore in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Le Bal des Ardents bookstore in Lyon, France

Shakespeare & Co bookstore in Paris, France

Shakespeare & Co even offers a place for me to sleep!

For even more pictures of even more awesome bookstores and libraries, check out Most Interesting Bookstores and Most Interesting Libraries.

They’re, um, interesting.

…and pick up a copy of Jackson Pearce’s As You Wish. Seriously, go now. Unless, of course, your local bookseller is as lame as mine is and doesn’t carry it. (In all fairness, I normally love my local shop. But I have been peeved about the lack of As You Wish for months.)

As You Wish came out in August. I went immediately to my favorite bookstore to pick it up. But they didn’t have it! I immediately complained to my sister (who works for the same store, but in another town). I could have checked the Barnes & Noble in town, I suppose, but I have pretty specific reasons for shopping where I do. And I am just not ready to change my habits now.

So there I was last weekend, nearly four months later, standing in a Barnes & Noble (I had to kill some time before Avatar and it is next door to the theatre). I decided to suck it up and just get the book there instead of being stubborn any longer. So I made my way back to the young adult section–only to discover As You Wish is nowhere to be found! I was devastated.

Later that night, after watching the movie (which, by the way, is awesome), I had an early Christmas celebration with my Dad, Step-mom, and the bookstore employee sister. My very last gift was from my sister. And it was my very own copy of As You Wish!! YAY! She remembered my complaints about her store not carrying it, so she special ordered it for me (and then hoped I didn’t get it before she could give it to me).

To make a long story short maybe a little less long: this book rocks! I picked it up last night and told Bubba I was going to read a chapter or two before getting on with all the millions of things I need to do before we leave town again Wednesday. Three hours later, I put the book down. I didn’t move once until it was finished. The story is so great, the emotion so real and wonderful, and the writing so crisp! I just want more and more of it.

I cannot wait to read more from Jackson Pearce. Her next book, Sisters Red, comes out next June. It seems like such a long time to wait!

What a great cover! I can't wait to read it.

Sadly, I think the above graph is way more accurate than it should be.

Life is a wonderful thing. There is so much surrounding us all to be happy about. Negativity just breeds more negativity and gets you nowhere. Sure, bad things happen in life, and everyone has rough times, but being negative about these things helps no one. A positive attitude alone doesn’t fix problems, but it sure helps put one in the mindset to go about fixing them.

Today, in honor of National Positivity Day (or, as it may be, Rachel’s Positivity Day), I am taking a few minutes to mention the things I have been blessed to have in my life.

• Bubba. Seriously, he is the best husband ever. I am lucky to have him.
• A great job. I have fun at work every single day. Would I rather be at home writing all day? Probably, but it will be hard to say goodbye to this job when the time comes. I love it.
• Timothy. He might not be much of a car, but he is reliable and gets me from point A to point B just fine. Oh, who am I kidding? Timothy is kind of an eyesore. But he is MY eyesore, and I love driving him!
• My writing. I am not published, and I don’t have an agent. For some, being where I am is devastating. All that hard work and nothing to show for it! Well, agent or no, publishing contract or no, I am blessed to be able to write.
• My brain. I love to learn. It makes me all kinds of happy to know that, as long as I apply myself, I can learn whatever I want.

Five seems like a good number. The list goes on and on (and on and on and…). There is so much for me to be happy about, I just don’t have the time to be negative.

**Warning: cliche’ city ahead**

When live throws the proverbial curve ball, wind up and knock it out of the park. Or, if you do swing a strike, learn from it so you can hit the home run next time around.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or lemon meringue pie. Just be sure to share some with me!

Dear Immune System;

It has come to my attention that you have been severely slacking on the job. Germs are not being blocked, and viruses are partying behind your defense post. Your behavior is completely unacceptable, and there is no reason for it.

Immune System, the administration has decided to give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Prove yourself worthy of your position as Head of Defense; block all future germs, and expel all viruses. If you step up to your responsibility and do these two things, no further action will be necessary.

I look forward to an improved working relationship. Do not let me down.

Rachel

*Sigh* I am going back to Great Falls tomorrow to visit some friends I haven’t seen in years. I really don’t want to be all grossified and sick for the weekend.

(Also, it makes me happy to see that others love this cover as much as I do. How awesome is this*?)

*Yeah, that’s sidewalk chalk. Wow.

I totally judge books by their covers. All. The. Time.

There are books out there I know I want to read solely based on the cover. And there are books out there that I would pass up on because the cover didn’t catch my eye, but have read because of recommendations (and some I have passed over because of a non-stand-out cover and never come back to).

It is sometimes a scary thing (as a writer) to think about book covers. The author of the book (with few exceptions) has little to no say in what the final product looks like. It is scary to send your baby out into the world without having any control over the first thing people see.

When it comes down to it, covers are about a lot of luck for an author. Luckily, the design team knows what they are doing and knows what sells. Authors are in good hands.

And, because a post is always better with pictures, here are a few covers* I LOVE:

*click on the thumbnail to see the full, awesome cover image.

Natalie has been writing and querying for a long time-she sent her first query to Nathan back in 2007. When she was rejected, she kept on writing. And writing. And writing. Relax, I’m a Ninja is her eighth novel. That’s right-eighth.

Natalie didn’t give up. She kept writing, she kept learning, she kept improving.

That’s right: persistency pays off.

Head over to Natalie’s blog to read her story and congratulate her!

Oh how I wish I was writing this post about me, but I am not.

Oh well, I am super excited just the same!

It was announced yesterday that the wonderful and talented Kiersten White sold her debut novel! Not only did her wonderful agent, Michelle Wolfson, sell it–she sold it in the best possible way. Kiersten just landed a 3-book deal with HarperTeen. HarperTeen!!! No one tells it better than Kiersten herself, so head over to her blog to read the great news!

Now, as much as I would love for it to be me, I am so happy for Kiersten. It is great to see someone (especially someone as nice-and down right funny-as Kiersten) get a great payoff for all the hard work she has done. Also, this little bit of news has just motivated me to work that much harder on my own writing. I am off to do some edits now!

Look for Kiersten’s debut novel, Paranormalcy, in bookstores Fall 2010!