Last month I read a book that set loose the dichotomy of emotions in me more than ever before.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is all at once beautiful and ugly. Funny and Heartbreaking. The story of Hazel and Augustus is one plagued by inevitable heartbreak, yet it is a love so fresh and new that one can’t help but to cheer them on. This book is a one-sitting kind of book; you’ll be loathe to set it down at all.

Go get this book, y’all. Read it. Love it. You won’t regret it.

Just be sure to have a box of tissues handy, because the laugh-to-cry ratio in The Fault in Our Stars is pretty much 50:50

(This is part of YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday, a weekly blog carnival where this week they are asking: What’s the best book you read in January?)

Anyway, Wednesday! Woot. And, shockingly, another month has passed us by. SO today the gals at YA Highway are asking:

What was the best book you read in October?

Normally when we do best-book posts, I have to go back and look at all the books I read that month and debate over which was my favorite. Not this month. This month I don’t even have to think about it – there’s a clear winner. My favorite book this month:

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

I won’t lie, I pretty much expected this to be my favorite book of the month before I even read it. I loved Anna and the French Kiss SO much, how could I not love a companion novel as well? And you know what? I think I like Lola even more, if that’s possible.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I KNOW I like Cricket Bell better than Etienne St. Clair. Gasp! How is that even possible? you ask. I don’t know, friends, but it’s true.

This one is a must read. Must.

Geek Husband is sick. Really sick.

Baby Caveman is healthy, happy, energetic, and climbing the walls.

This is why there have been no posts of late.

Anywho, it’s Wednesday and that means ROAD TRIP! And it’s the end of another month (really?), so YA Highway wants to know:

What’s the best book you read in August?

In the zombie-infested world Benny has grown up in, every teenager must work once they turn fifteen—or they’ll lose their food rations. Benny isn’t interested in taking on the family business, but he reluctantly agrees to train as a zombie killer with his boring big brother, Tom. He expects a dull job, whacking zombies for cash. What he discovers is a vocation that will teach him what it really means to be human.

As Benny’s worldview is challenged again and again by the lessons he learns from Tom, he is forced to confront another horrifying reality: sometimes, the most terrible monsters are the human ones.

Critically acclaimed author Jonathan Maberry crafts a terrifying future vision of the zombie apocalypse, brought to life through the rich emotional struggles of a teenager trying to find his place in a tumultuous new world.

This was our YA Bookclub pick for this month. I LOVED it. My favorite thing is that in this world that has been totally overrun by zombies, the most dangerous thing out there is other people. It’s a fresh take on the genre.

I was thrilled to learn that the sequel, Dust and Decay, released this Tuesday! Woot.

Now I am returning to being sick and eating cookie dough (because, well, that will make it better, right?).

Anyway, it’s Wednesday, so it’s road trip time! This week the lovelies at YA Highway want to know:

How do you beat writer’s block?

Truth be told, I don’t have time for writer’s block these days. I am so busy wrangling Baby Caveman (who is now trying to climb walls, so I have to watch him carefully and constantly) and taking care of other things that I don’t get much time to write. This makes me cherish my writing time so much that I  don’t get a chance to get stuck. It’s funny; it’s almost like the less time I have, the more productive I am in my writing. If I don’t have time to dilly-dally then I just get words out. I think the block only comes when I am able to hang out thinking too much about what is getting put on paper.

A couple months ago, I went to a book signing with Aprilynne Pike. Someone asked her what advice she had for a writer with writer’s block. Her answer was one of the best I’ve ever heard: she doesn’t believe in writer’s block. Some may call her naive, she said, but she just doesn’t believe it exists, so she doesn’t have a problem with it. I think she has a great point; I mean, writer’s block is pretty much all in our heads, yes? So if we don’t allow it in, it can’t get to us. Easy peasy.

(I can’t imagine I’ll be the only one posting this today, but I can’t help it. Because Jackson Pearce is that awesome.)

What’s the biggest writing / querying / publishing mistake you’ve made?

Well, this isn’t actually embarrassing for me, since I haven’t gotten to the querying stage yet, so I don’t have any serious blunders under my belt yet. Reading the Twitter feed answers to this question made me cringe for those poor souls out there. And then cringe for myself because I know that, no matter how hard I try not to, I will inevitably make one of these mistakes for myself eventually.

So, today I will talk about my biggest writing mistake:

Early on after I started writing seriously, I made the same mistake quite a lot. I would hit a rough point and go back to the beginning to fix things. And end up rewriting it from the beginning, sure that this time I would be able to fly right through. Funny thing…turns out I would get about to the same place and it would get hard again. Huh. Weird, that.

My other big mistake was very much like the first. When I would hit the rough patch in a WIP I would let the shiny new idea pull me away. “This one isn’t working,” I would tell myself, “the new idea will be much better.” But you know what? Eventually the new idea would start to get hard. And along would come an even shinier, newer idea.

Pretty much I was on a fast track to never finish anything.

So now when I write a book, I write my first draft from beginning to end. No editing as I go and no going back to rewrite from the start. Once the draft is done THEN I can look at the beginning and give it the cosmetic surgery it needs.

As for jumping from project to project…that’s not allowed anymore anyway. I still won’t finish everything I start – some things really, really just don’t work. But I need to give it a concerted effort and a lot of thought before putting a project in the drawer.

What about you? What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in this crazy journey? 

What’s the best book you read in June?

June was a super light reading month for me – I only read three books, and I am not even halfway into the third one.  For someone who regularly reads 6-10 books a month, that’s nothing.

Even so, I had a tough time picking which was my favorite. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was a beautifully written take of the fairy tale, and I loved it. But, I think Courage in Patience wins the race.

Nine-year-old Ashley Asher was pleased when her mother started a relationship with Charlie Baker. Charlie, Ashley thought, would be the father she never had. She was 9 then; now 15, she recounts the story of how her dream life soon turned to nightmare, commencing with the first time Charlie touched her inappropriately. For years she tolerated it—not only the sexual abuse but also the emotional manipulation her stepfather inflicted on her—until one day she confronted both Charlie and her mother. To Ashley’s horror, her mother sided with Charlie, leaving the teenager to find her own way, prompting her to reestablish a connection with her biological father. Though the subject matter is undeniably dark, Fehlbaum manages to keep the tone surprisingly light and hopeful. This hard-hitting but readable story about an infinitely troubling subject will resonate with all readers but especially with other survivors of abuse or with those who work with those survivors.

This book dealt with some pretty tough issues – it wasn’t just about Ashley’s abuse; the people in Patience, Texas also have to deal with racism, bullying, and censorship.  Fehlbaum deals with each issue with grace, while not overshadowing the importance of it. She doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff at all. Somehow she is able to keep up a nice, lighthearted feel throughout the narrative.

Courage in Patience was a smaller release, and chances are you won’t find it in your local bookstore. You can find it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, though.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Do you like to make a detailed plan before you start a project? Or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants and make it up as you go along?

I’ve talked about this before, but it’s been a while, so I figured why not? I’ll go ahead and do it again.

I’ve believe it’s really, really important for each writer to find her own method of writing. What works for one won’t always work for another. So I suggest every person try a few different things and figure out what works best.

In the past, I’ve written completely by the seat of my pants, not knowing at all where I was going…then I got thousands and thousands and thousands of words in and realized I was just wandering aimlessly and didn’t know where to go. Editing was a mess. I’ve also written  an incredibly detailed outline, much like the Snowflake Method, before drafting. The first draft went super quickly, but I didn’t have nearly as much fun writing it. And writing should be fun (not always, let’s be honest, but as much as possible).

What works best for me is somewhere in between. I need to have a loose idea of where things are going, but enough freedom to explore along the way. Now, before I start a project I need to know three things:

• my opening scene
• my final scene
• my climax

Once I have those three scenes in mind, I sit down and get writing. I know about how much time I need to get from the opening to the climax and the climax to the end, so I let myself wander and explore my world and characters on the way. It’s the perfect set up for me.

What about you? How to you approach a new project? Let me know in the comments, then head over to YA Highway to see how others do it!

It’s Wednesday again (already), so we are off on another roadtrip. This week, YA Highway wants to know:

Which book character would you like most as a next door neighbor?

Okay, this is where I get all fangirly again. Yanno, in case I haven’t gushed on and on about Sarah Dessen enough in the past, I am going to do it again in this post.

Pretty much I would love to be neighbors with any of Sarah Dessen’s secondary characters. They are all so fun and vibrant and the kind of people I would love to hang out with. I tried to just narrow it down to one or two, but I couldn’t do it. I *did* get it narrowed down to just three books though.

I want to be neighbors with:

• Morgan and Isabel from Keeping the Moon.
• Boo and Stewart from Dreamland
• Kristy and Monica (and WES) from The Truth About Forever

And a whole myriad of other characters in Dessen’s books, but I will stop there.

How about you? If you could be neighbors with any book character, who would it be?

It’s Wednesday again – that happened fast! – and that means it’s time for another road trip. I vote we go someplace warm and sunny. With a beach.

This week YA Highway wants to know:

Who (from real life) have you written into a book? Be honest.

True story: an old coworker has this sweatshirt. It made me smile so big every time she wore it.

Really, just about everyone I meet gets put into a character at some point or another. Sometimes I do it on purpose because I really like (or dislike) a certain aspect of their personality or a particular quirk they have, but more often it is a subconscious decision.

As a writer, I can create any character I want. I don’t, however, have the ability to completely make up new character traits. I am not a God. I can create worlds and people and stories, but I have to pull those creations from things I have encountered and experienced in the real world.

So the checker at the grocery store with the great eyebrows and crooked smile? He gets a small part of one of the characters. The cynical lady who makes snide comments from the back row in church? She makes an appearance.

Despite my best efforts, I show up in my characters now and again as well. Sure, I never write a cut-out of myself, but there is inevitably a character who is a bit of who I was (or wished I was) in high school. I think will happen no matter what.

I never take one person and try to base a character completely off of him. My characters are all a mash-up of traits from different people I know. The closest I have come to making a character a real mirror of a person I know is with Earl.

Earl is Kyle’s boss in Incubus. He is a funny, kind man who is always willing to help out, no matter what inconvenience it is to him. When I first wrote him that way,  I didn’t have anyone in mind.

Then, a few weeks back, Geek Husband’s uncle Bob passed away. Bob was a funny, kind man who was always willing to help out, no matter what inconvenience it was to him. On the trip back from the funeral, I found myself writing the scene where we first get a physical description of Earl. And before I even knew what I was doing, I had described Uncle  Bob. I think it fits perfectly, and Earl will stay that way.

For this week’s Road Trip Wednesday, the lovlies at YA Highway are celebrating the release of Highwayer Kirsten Hubbard’s debut, Like Mandarin.

Kirsten says:

In Like Mandarin, 14-year-old Grace Carpenter would give anything to be like 17-year-old Mandarin Ramey — the bold, carefree wild girl of their small Wyoming town. Many people I’ve spoken to experienced that sort of longing as a teen — a longing to be like someone else. A friend, a sister, a celebrity, an acquaintance, a cousin, a teacher or, as in Grace’s case, a girl you thought had no idea you existed. I know I did!

And so, this week’s prompt is:

Looking back at high school, I can honestly say I don’t think there is a person I wanted to be just like. I found traits in others that I liked and wanted more in myself, but even when I found myself daydreaming about what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes, I also found myself finding reasons why I didn’t actually want to be that person.

But, there were definitely traits I envied.

I envied the people who were absolutely, unfailingly unapologetic for who they were. They were completely comfortable in their own skin, despite what others might say about them. They live life the way they want without trying to impress anyone else. I wanted to be like that.

But, here’s the funny thing – if you were to ask my high school friends, I would be willing to bet money that they would say I was the one in our group who was like that. I was the one who was my own person, doing things my way without thought to how others viewed me. And I totally wasn’t – I envied those who were.

Which makes me think that those people I envied probably were not quite how I viewed them either. That’s the thing about people: what you see on the surface is rarely all that’s there. A person might look wholly confident but be riddled with insecurities. The girl who is all smiles and cheer at school might have hell for a home life.

People are inherently good at wearing masks and projecting what they want others to see. So it’s really no good looking toward someone else and wishing to be that person. Because the person you see – the one you think you want to be like – is probably not the person who is really beneath the mask.

So, um, yeah…didn’t so much answer the question at all, did I?

CONFIDENCE

You are afraid you are not good enough. That your idea is not good enough. That you will never be able to finish a full book. That nobody will like it. That you will never get an agent. Never sell a book. Nobody will read your work.

You lack the confidence to go boldly forward and just do this thing. It is a common problem for writers (and other artsy types, I would imagine…and probably everyone else as well). I would be lying if I said I had never been hit by that crippling self-doubt that makes me wonder if I can really be an author. It is something all of us struggle with, each and every one, but let me assure you:

You ARE good enough.

I have read your blogs, and in some cases your books. You are good enough to write books. Your ideas are uniquely yours. Your writing is strong. People will want to read your words. Some will declare yours their favorite book. There will be one reader out there (and maybe more) who will make your whole world when she tells you your book changed her life.

So keep going; keep writing the stories that are clambering to get out of you. Don’t let fear hold you back. Write for all you are worth, because nobody else can tell your story the way you can. Keep trying, keep writing, keep loving your work.

You ARE good enough.

You are this AWESOME

When writing, what is the biggest obstacle that stands in the way of you actually finishing your book and how do you tackle that obstacle?

My biggest obstacle is definitely plot bunnies. With every book I write, at just about the time the honeymoon period wears off and writing becomes work, my brain is flooded with a ton of shiny, new ideas. Every one tries to convince me that it is way better than the current book, that it would be way more fun to write, and that I should drop everything and work on it now.

If I listened to all the plot bunnies clambering for my attention, I would never finish a book. Sure, I would have a ton of beginnings, but without middles and endings they would be worthless. So I need to ignore the plot bunnies. Unfortunately they are persistent little buggers, so just straight out ignoring them rarely works.

Instead, I need to cage them – to wrangle them into a holding pen stocked with all the plot bunny feed they will need to be placated for a while. I do this by giving them a few minutes of my time. When a plot bunny comes knocking at my brain, I take just a few minutes to write down everything about the idea that comes to me. This might be a plot synopsis, or a few lines of dialogue, or a quick character sketch, or a full opening scene. Whatever comes to mind gets written down. BUT. I only allow myself ten or fifteen minutes to do this. Then I email what I wrote to myself and file it into the handy little GMail label “Plot Bunnies” where it lives peacefully until I can devote more time to it.

How about you? How do you deal with your biggest obstacle?

Who are your favorite literary couples?  (You know – the ones you like by themselves, but LOVE together!)

I would be lying if I didn’t mention Ron and Hermione here, because I love them together (and apart, but mostly together). I was so excited when they finally got together after all those years of build-up.

Love, love, love.

But, I also have another favorite coupling, and it’s one that is not so obviously awesome. My favorite couple, even above Ron and Hermione, is:

Raskolnikov and Sonya from Crime and Punishment.

Raskolnikov and Sonya meet under terrible conditions – after the death of her drunkard father. She is a very spiritual woman who is forced into prostitution to support her crazy step-mother and younger siblings. When the two meet, Raskolnikov is suffering from immense guilt and Sonya, through her faith, helps him cope.

The two come to love each other and eventually Raskolnikov confesses to her that he murdered two people. Even though one of his victims was her friend, Sonya stands by him as he confesses to the authorities and then follows him to prison. How’s that for a dedicated couple?

What is your favorite line from your WIP?

I don’t know if this is my favorite line, but it is the one that jumped out at me, so I am going to use it. Also, I find it interesting that in all my rewriting and editing and messing around with Incubus, this is one of the only lines that has not been changed from the very, very first draft (back when I was just free-writing and didn’t even make the connection yet that what I was writing was melding into that idea I had for a book). Funny, that. Anyhow, here it is:

What are the FIVE best books you read last year?

AND

If you had to sum up 2010 in a book title, what would it be?

I went back over my list of books read in 2010 to try to pull out my five favorites. It is funny how objective this is. Not just objective in the sense that three or four different people could easily have three or four vastly different opinions on the same book, but objective in that different timing and different moods will pull out different answers from the same person.

I notice this because, as I go through the list now, the ones that jump out at me the most aren’t necessarily the ones that I listed on a monthly what was your favorite book of the month post. And one would think that by declaring a favorite book of the month for twelve months, I would be narrowing my list of favorites of the year down to those twelve. Except that is not exactly how it worked out.

Maybe it is because I read a lot of my favorites right close together, so while one got beaten out in the monthly poll it is back in the running for the full year. Or maybe the time away from the books has helped me look at them again with a different perspective. Or maybe, just maybe, the mood I am in today – at this very moment – has a huge pull on how I am going to answer this question.

And maybe, also, I am way over-thinking this and should just get to my favorite five books of the year (that I read…not necessarily released in 2010).

Or my favorite a-lot-more-than-five books. Because, well, I cheated. Here they are, in no particular order:

I haven't read much Stephen King, but I sure loved this one. The story was creepy and compelling, but not over-the-top. It drew me in and wouldn't let me go even after the book ended.

The world Carrie created is so terrifying, yet compelling. Her narration is beautiful - it is amazing how beautiful one can be while writing about zombies. I can't wait to read the next one!

The characters in this book were so real as to be maddening at times. Everything about this book spoke true to me - the plot, the characters, the setting. I read it months and months ago but find myself thinking of it often still.

I rediscovered Sarah Dessen in early 2010 and have since read everything I could get my hands on. I have yet to read one of hers that I didn't absolutely LOVE (and there is only one I haven't read, so I have a feeling that won't change). I have a serious, serious author crush on Sarah Dessen.

I gushed about this book just the other day, so there is not much more to say here. It is amazing - go read it!

And, hmmm….if I had to sum up 2010 in a book title, it would be…uh…

Well, to be truly, truly fan-girl-y I have to go with a Sarah Dessen book here, too:

This year I learned to Just Listen to myself, my instinct, and my intuition. It is the best lesson I have learned in a long, long time.

What’s the best book you read in December?

I read a lot of books this month, and I can honestly say I adored each of them. It is nice to have a streak of so many good books in a row. When I think back on the month, though, there is one book that stands out above the rest:

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all . . . including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

You know how sometimes you anticipate something so much, and so many people have hyped it up to you, that when you finally get around to experiencing it…well, it just isn’t all you hoped for?

This book was nothing like that.

I have been looking forward to reading Anna and the French Kiss for a long, long time. I hadn’t heard anyone who had read it speak anything but great things about it. When it was released, it took just about everything I had to not go buy and read it right then (I knew I would be getting it for Christmas, so I had to wait – at least not for long).

Anna was everything I had been hoping for and more. It was sweet and funny and sad and wonderful. The characters were rich and real – and they were amazing despite their flaws. And Paris is a character in itself – just as fleshed out and real as the people living in it.

The writing in this book is strong – Stephanie expertly combined the light romance and comedy with some much heavier plot elements. I have heard people compare her writing to a mash-up of John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Sarah Dessen, and I couldn’t agree more (and we all know how much I love Sarah Dessen). I can’t wait to see more from Stephanie – starting with Anna‘s companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door coming out next year.

What was the best book YOU read this month?

Now it’s my turn! YA Highway wants me to write my six-word memoir. Here it goes:

Might be crazy, but that’s okay!

Your turn! How would you sum up your life in six words?

What’s the best book you read in November?

I slowed down in my reading a bit this month, so I don’t have many books to choose from. I have been reading through The Dark is Rising Sequence and am on the last book right now. They are really good books and I am enjoying them.

But…they just aren’t the best I’ve read this month. That award (no surprise here) goes to:

Click on the cover for more information

I LOVE this book. For my thoughts on it, check out this post, where I pretty much gush all over the place about how great it is.

What’s the best book you read in October?

Easy-peasy. If you couldn’t tell by my review how much I loved this book, maybe I am not transparent enough. I would have babies with this book if I could (and it that wouldn’t be really, epically weird). My favorite book I read in October was:

In case you missed all my DUFF love, go read my review (er…rave).

Your turn! What’s the best book you read this month?

What are your favorite first lines? How do your own WIPs start?

To be honest, I don’t usually take much stock in the first line of a book. I know how important everyone says the first line is to setting the tone and drawing a reader in, but I guess I always just give books more of a chance. So the first line just blends in with the rest of the book. Because of that, I thought this would be a really hard question to answer.

But then I went to my bookshelves. I stared for about two minutes, and in that time, five books jumped out at me and reminded me how much I love their openings. Most are just first lines, but I did cheat on one, because the first three lines are really what did it for me:

The day I broke up with my boyfriend Evan was the day he wrote the song. You know, the song. I'm sure you've heard it.

Gestures are all that I have; sometimes they must be grand in nature.

I've been called Bone all my life, but my name's Ruth Anne.

Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.

The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive.

And now! Onto my own first lines. Since I am knee deep in Incubus right now, it is only fitting that I share that one. It could change in edits, but here is where it is now:

The painting was meant to be of a sunset.

Now, you tell me: do you have any first lines that stand out to you? How do your favorite books start?