What’s the best book you read last month?

Since that insignificant little book called Mockingjay came out on the 24th, I can’t help but to wonder if I will be the only road-tripper not talking about it this week. But, since I haven’t read it yet, I guess I will have to skip calling it my favorite of the month.

My favorite book this month was:

“What do you want from me?” he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More.

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn’t a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.

In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

Over the past few months, I have heard a lot of hype about Jellicoe Road, especially from the YA Highway girls. I have read multiple RTW favorite-book posts over the months that have raved about Jellicoe Road being a favorite not only of the month, but of the year, and possibly ever. Needless to say, I went in with high expectations.

When I first dove into the book, I enjoyed it, but was sad that I wasn’t getting the insta-pull I had been expecting. I mean, really, if it is all that these girls had made it out to be, surely it would grab me and force me to keep reading right from word one, right? Right? But it didn’t. Don’t get me wrong: I was enjoying the book just fine, I just was a little disheartened to find that I wasn’t having that great book-chemistry I had hoped for. Sigh.

But I kept reading (’cause, again, I WAS enjoying it, so it’s not like I was going to stop). And guess what happened? Before I knew it, I was totally hooked. I found myself holding my breath as I read, afraid to let it out until I knew exactly what was happening. My pulse quickened, my mind raced. Somewhere along the line, Jellicoe Road transformed from a good book to a holy-crap-this-is-freakin’-amazing-where-can-I-get-more book.

When I finally closed the book (and wiped a few tears away), I sat in awe for probably 15 full minutes before moving. Then, after acknowledging the fact that those YA Highway girls were right about the book all along, I went to bed. But I couldn’t sleep – Taylor’s story was still buzzing around in my head. I’ve read two books since, but I still find myself looking back at Taylor Markham’s tale quite frequently. It just won’t let me go.

To me, that is what makes a GREAT book.

In case you haven’t heard (and if you haven’t, where have you been the last…uh…forever?), a little book called Mockingjay was released yesterday. And in celebration, YA Highway wants to know:

How would YOU impress (or not impress) the Hunger Games judges?

Um, right. I can’t answer this question, because I - gasp! - have not yet read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire. I know, right? Where have I been the last…uh…forever? Here’s the deal: I bought both books when Catching Fire came out with big intentions of reading them. But, since I was in the middle of another book, I let Bubba read them first. He devoured them both and was instantly salivating for the third. Of course, he still had a year to wait for Mockingjay. I talked to more and more people and always heard similar stories: Catching Fire ended with a cliff hanger and now I have to wait a whole year to find out what happens!!!

So, right then, I made myself a deal. I decided that I would not read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire until I have Mockingjay in hand ready to be read. What can I say? I like that intant gratification.

How about you? How would you impress the judges? Head over to YA Highway and share!

**On a related note: we ordered Mockingjay from Amazon, and it damn well better get here soon, unlike our copy of Dexter: Season 4 that was supposed to get here last Tuesday and hasn’t arrived yet. Apparently Amazon doesn’t understand the importance of my getting my Dexter. This is entering emergency territory here.

How do you know when a project will work out, and when it won’t?

Have you ever been in love? I have, but if you were to ask me what love feels like, I wouldn’t be able to express that to you. One would think that, as a writer, I would be well equipped to paint a word picture of love. And I can to a certain extent. My writing can lead a reader to believe that two characters are in love; on a good day, my writing may even stir up some emotions in a reader.

But I still can’t tell you what love feels like. Yet I know I love my husband. Weird how that works, isn’t it?

For me, writing is much the same way. When I get a shiny new idea and start toying with it, I usually know pretty quickly (within a few thousand words) whether it is an idea I will pursue or not. There is no solid way for me to know why an idea is or isn’t right, but I can always just tell.

Now, this is not to say that if a project gets rough,  I just abandon it. If that were the case, I would never finish anything. Every project gets tough at one time or another, but deep down I can still feel that it is one worth writing, so I push through.

Alright…how was that for a non-answer?

What’s the best book you read in May?

I actually only read a few books last month, so I don’t have as many to sift through as I did last time they asked this question. I read one book for YA book club, beta-read one, reread one, and read one ARC copy.

One really, really sticks out in my mind:

Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

What an intriguing concept! I got this book as part of a Traveling ARC Tour, and I am so thrilled that I got to read it early.

When I first started this book, I thought I wasn’t going to like it much, despite the premise. It opens with Haven looking in the mirror, describing her appearance, which instantly turned me off. I mean, not only is that an overdone thing, it just seems like lazy writing.

But…I kept reading. And by the second or third page I learned that there is a very specific reason why Haven is using the old mirror trick – that person she is looking at in the mirror is not the same person she sees in the mirror every day, but rather the one she sees only in her visions and dreams. Suddenly the mirror thing didn’t bother me so much.

As Haven’s visions come more frequently, she becomes more and more sure she is seeing memories of a past life. At the same time, her grandmother–and much of her small, bible-thumping Tennessee town–becomes more sure she has been possessed by a demon.

I won’t say much more about the plot, but I will tell you I loved it. While it is a love story, it didn’t cross into that realm where the romance is all that matters. In fact, most of the time I was way more caught up in the action than I was in the love story. Because there is great action, and great pacing to move the reader along through the action. I kept thinking I had the twists and turns figured out, but it turns out I am just not that clever. The Eternal Ones kept me guessing.

With all my raving about the plot, it might be hard for you to believe that it wasn’t my favorite part about The Eternal Ones. What was my favorite part, you ask? The characters! Kirsten Miller did such a great job on her characters. A lot of times when I read a book (especially a YA book), I notice that the main character and the love interest and maybe a secondary character or two are nicely fleshed-out, while the rest of the characters are really one-dimensional and flat. Pretty much they are just a bunch of cardboard cutouts standing in the background of what the main characters are doing.

This is SO not the case with The Eternal Ones. I love the attention Kirsten Miller gave to her characters–even ones we don’t see much in the book. Sure, there were things about Haven that irritated me (really, girl! Do you believe everything anyone tells you?!), but that doesn’t make her any less a real character. Probably I was so irritated by some of her actions because I know people like that–she was real enough to annoy me. It’s like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix–sure, Harry is a bratty little hormonal teenager in that book….but what 15-year-old boy isn’t?

Wow. I just compared The Eternal Ones to Harry Potter. It must really be good!

The Eternal Ones will be released in August by Razorbill. I highly recommend it. To read a excerpt now (how fun!) check out TheEternalOnes.com.

What photos inspire your books?

Alright! These are in no particular order, and I am not sharing which book each on is an inspiration from. Pretty much, you just get to look at fun, pretty pictures. Some of these you have seen before….

What’s the best book you’ve read this month?

Okay, so I suppose now would be a good time to come clean. Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, right?? Well, here I go:

I have a HUGE, monster-sized crush on Sarah Dessen.

Phew. I feel so much better having said that. Seriously, though: I love Sarah Dessen. I picked up Someone Like You and That Summer on a whim the summer I lived in Hawai’i (I searched for them separately, ’cause I am neurotic like that, but since How to Deal was coming out soon, I could only find the movie tie-in that had both books in one). There were only two books I read in one sitting that summer: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (well, duh) and this one. I loved Sarah’s stories, her characters, her writing, pretty much everything from page one.

So then why did it take me another seven years (Holy crap! Has it really been that long since I lived there?) before I picked up another of her books? Maybe because I was stupid, who knows… The point is, I eventually did, and I love everything I have read of hers just as much as I loved those first two.

Yeah. Big time Author Crush. Someday I hope to be as awesome as Sarah is.

Anyway, moving on. That was all just a really long preamble to say: my favorite book I read in April was…

I can’t even express how much I loved this book.  Any review I give won’t do it justice, so why don’t I just say:

Go out and get this book. Any way you can. I don’t care if you have to steal it (though many people, including the police, probably do, so I wouldn’t recommend this route). Then read it. Love it.

I think this is my favorite Sarah Dessen book I’ve read so far. Of course, I said that about the last one (The Truth About Forever, if you are curious), so I might just still be in the honeymoon period with this book. Either way, I abso-freakin’-lutely LOVE IT.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Write.

Yep, that’s it. One word can sum up the very best advice I have ever received about writing.

But, of course, I am not a woman of so few words, so I will expand the best bit of advice I’ve ever been given with the best bit of advice I have to give (aside from passing on the whole *write* bit, of course). Are you ready for me to be all profound-like? Here goes:

Have fun.

It is easy to stress out about writing: will people like this? Is it good enough? Is this going to be the book that will finally land me an agent? A book deal?

But you know what? Stressing is no fun. And one of the biggest joys of being an unagented, unpublished author is the ultimate freedom it gives. When else can we write anything and everything without responsibility? When else can be experiment so freely without having an audience to keep in mind?

So have fun with your writing now, before you have to worry about deadlines and brands and images. Try a little bit of everything that interests you without concern of how it turns out. Because at this point, who are you trying to impress?

Just have fun!

The most positive thing I see about the publishing industry is the people. Seriously, where do some writers get this idea that agents and editors are heartless fiends out to crush our dreams? I have found all the publishing folks I have come in contact with so far to be just delightful.

Agent and editor blogs have helped me so much on my writing journey. They really are an invaluable resource. And they are created and maintained by people who really want me to succeed. The agents and editors do not get paid to dispense all this information. They don’t get paid to answer all writers’ random questions. They don’t get paid to be so kind and helpful. But many of them still do it, and I am incredibly grateful for all the wonderful people who take time out of their busy lives to help me succeed.

My fellow writers also help me immensely and are just so fabulous! Since I put myself out there as an official aspiring author and really got into researching the business, I have met a ton of great writers, both agented/published and non. I meet them through blogs, the BlueBoards, the Absolute Write forums, and Twitter. I meet them when they randomly show up and leave me comments here. Some of them, though we have never met outside of the blogosphere, I consider friends.

I adore my fellow writers and love to see them succeed. When a writer friend of mine puts up a SUCCESS!! post on their blog or Twitter–whether it be about finding an agent, selling a book, or just finally nailing that scene that has been causing so many problems–it thrills me.

I love the writing community and the people in it. The internet and blogs have helped to make this group of (possibly certifiably insane) people incredibly tight-knit and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Also, as long as I am gushing here: I love my blog readers and commenters. Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your day to follow me on my little journey!

A hug for all my new buddies!

(For a list of great agent, editor, and writer blogs to check out, see the sidebar———–> )

For this week’s Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway wants to know:

Which writer’s career would you most like to emulate?

When I first read this question last week, two names immediately popped to mind. But then, of course, I had to go be me and think and ponder and fret and try to reason out what my answer really is. And you know what? In the end, I couldn’t think of anyone beyond those first two names. You wanna know who they are? I mean, do you really wanna know? Well, okay I will tell you:

J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer

Okay, wait. I am totally kidding. No way I want the kind of pressure those poor women have. What I meant to say is*:

Maureen Johnson

Shannon Hale

and

At first glance, Shannon and Maureen don’t have much in common. One definitely wouldn’t find common ground between the two by reading the synopses of their book, or by comparing their writing styles. But these women have three things in common that are very important to me:

1. Both are prolific in their writing. They have released a lot of books, both as series and stand-alone titles. It is important for me to be able to be more than a “one-hit wonder.” I have a lot of books plotted out in my head, and would like to see them on the shelves someday. My goal is to have a long, consistent career in writing; this is something both Maureen Johnson and Shannon Hale have.

2. They are well known, but not so well known as to be considered celebrities. If you were to ask a YA reader who they are, she would be able to tell you, but if you were to ask Joseph Blowe on the street, chances are he would not. This is what I want. I would love to have a fan base that loves my work; I would love to be well-known in the world of Young Adult literature; I do not want to be put in the tabloids, recognized by everyone and their grandmother, or considered a celebrity.

3. They are accessible to their fans. Maureen and Shannon both have fun blogs, and they are both on Twitter (um, is Maureen the Queen of all Twitter, or what?). They keep in touch with their fans and let us all know what is going on. I know a lot of people balk at the idea of authors putting themselves out there like that–what happened to the days of the reclusive author?–but I appreciate the time they put into connecting with the fans. I want to connect with my fans (yanno, someday when I have them).

So, this is the part where I get all mushy and talk about how I don’t want anyone’s career but** my own. Which is true. I am my own me, and it is pointless and exhausting for me to try to be anyone else. BUT. Shannon Hale and Maureen Johnson are wonderful examples of what I want in my own career as an author. I can look up to these ladies and strive to be more like them. They are a great bit of inspiration, and they remind me what I want.

Your Turn: If you are a writer, which author’s career would you most like to emulate? And if you are not a writer, who in your own career path would you most like to be like?

*I have actually only ever read one of each of their books, so I am not incredibly familiar with their writing. But that is all changing soon, as THE LIST has a lot of MJ and SH on it.

**This is why we all need to proofread our posts before publishing them. This definitely read, “…anyone’s career butt my own” before my read-through.

***Um, yeah…sorry if the formatting on this post is a wee-bit wonky. I had to do some fun HTML tricks, but didn’t take the time to check to see if they look the same across all browsers. Bad Rachel.

****I have nothing more to say; I just thought some more asterisks would be fun.

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, YA Highway wants us to all write a limerick about our favorite books and/or works in progress.

Holy commas! This one was hard. Apparently I have lost my touch since my stellar Freshman-Year-English-Class limerick. Of course, my determination to write one for both a WIP and my favorite book didn’t make the task any easier.

Are you ready? (I don’t think you really are.) Here we go…

Crime & Punishment:

He thought he could kill without guilt
Now the house of cards that he built
is starting to fall.
Now only a call
girl can help him to fix the tilt.

Jack the Reaper

There once was a girl named Jack
whose family was kind of wack.
They’d get orders to kill
and they’d have to fulfill,
’cause reapers aren’t cut any slack.

There you have it; my mad limerick skillz at work. Want to join in the fun? Head over to YA Highway and share a limerick of your own.

What are your favorite reading and writing links?

I read a lot of blogs. Seriously, my Google Reader is working overtime. Sometimes I think I read too many blogs, but I just can’t bring myself to pull any of them off the reader (I will admit to skimming some of them and only reading the ones that really jump out at me).

Remember last week when we talked about procrastination? Well, I have  learned that reading blogs is a super procrastinatory tool, which is why I am only sharing ONE link with y’all today. Because, come on, I don’t want to be partially responsible for your superb ability to not get anything done.

I thought about not putting any links in this post and just directing you to my sidebar and the YA Highway blog, but I do have one site that just begs to be shared.

YA/MG Author Barry Lyga has a wonderful series of writing advice up on his blog. If you are a writer (or are even contemplating writing a book), these are must reads. His advice is honest and funny and to the point. He covers topics in great detail that many others simply gloss over. I absolutely love reading Barry’s blogs and have learned so much about my own writing by listening to what he has to say. I admit that I have not read any of Barry’s books, but after stumbling across and reading his blog, they have been added to the top of my to-be-read list.

click for larger image

For this week’s Road Trip Wednesday, the lovely ladies at YA Highway want to know:

The ways you procrastinate. You know. If you get around to it.

I have a problem: I am a sneaky procrastinator. I don’t mean that I hide my procrastination from others. I hide it from myself. When I just don’t feel like working on my novel, I will do something like write blog post. ‘Cause my blog is important too, so it’s not really procrastinating, is it? Or I will start researching things I don’t really need to know, but they are related to the book I am working on now, so they might be important some day, right? So that’s not really procrastinating either, is it? Is it?!

See, sneaky procrastinator.

I used to have a whole roundup of websites I would check often (FML, MLIA, FAILblog, PhotoShopDisaters, WhatIWore, and a few others I can’t remember now), and those were great tools for procrastination. But one day I just stopped going to those sites. I haven’t looked at any of them in months now, so they are out when it comes to procrastination.

I am good about actually sitting down to write (probably too good…my poor house–and husband–gets neglected far too often), so pretty much, my only procrastination when it comes down to it is blogging. And sometime obsessively checking my email, but only if I am expecting something (like I am now–why, oh why isn’t it here yet?). Even so, if I find myself procrastinating too much, I just flip the little switch on the front of my netbook and turn my internet access off. Easy-peasy.

Your turn! What is your favorite procrastinatory outlet?

I had an epically tough time answering this one. Epically.

I am going to be really straight forward here: I lead a pretty boring life. There I said it. I don’t mean to say that boring in this case is a bad thing. It is just boring. Especially when I start to compare my life to the lives of all the characters I love reading about. Bubba and I have a happy, stress-free (for the most part) marriage. We go to work. We go to church. We play games. We visit friends. There is very little drama, and so far not one person/demon/monster/whatever has tried to kill either of us. Compared to many novels, our lives are quite dull.

So, when I tried to put myself into a character’s shoes, I couldn’t help thinking things like, “she has a pretty cool life, and it would be fun, but then I would have to deal with all that danger. I like my life to be pretty danger-free, so she is out,” and, “it would be great to be her! But, oh yeah, I forgot about that really devastating thing she has to deal with and all the struggles she faces, so I think not.”

Pretty much, I am a wuss and would like to stay comfortable. I can admit that.

But, I feel the need to answer the question somehow, so after much thinking I have decided that it would be pretty cool to be:

Hermione Granger

I know Hermione annoys a lot of people, not the least of all her friends, but I have always had a bit of a soft spot for her. She is smart, motivated, not afraid to be herself, compassionate, brave, awesome.

One of the things I admire most about Hermione is her intelligence. She is really super smart, but not just because she was blessed with some great gift. She works her ass hind-quarters off to achieve what she wants. She studies her brains out. When she can’t learn all that she can in a day, she adds extra hours to get more learning time (a little extreme? Yes).

I see way too many girls, both in books/movies and real life, who think that boys won’t like them if they are too smart so they dumb themselves down. Unacceptable! Hermione makes no excuses for who she is and doesn’t try to be someone else.

Another Hermione trait I love is her fierce loyalty. She never wavers on her support of her friends, even when they are not supporting each other. Even when one of them has hurt her. She is compassionate towards those whom most ignore or abuse (Neville, house elves, Luna, etc.), and she doesn’t consider appearances or how her actions towards those people will affect her social status. Hermione is just herself and never makes any excuses for who she is. There are not many people out there like that.

Yes, Hermione has to face some tough things. She loses people who are close to her and she is often in a lot of danger. She has her heart broken. So, pretty much she has to deal with all those things that I want to steer clear of in favor of my comfortable, boring life. But in the end she ends up with a man she loves (but never ever compromises herself for) and a happy life. And that is pretty awesome.

(For quite some time, Hermione is incredibly uptight. But she eventually learns balance and is able to let loose–and even break some rules–with her friends. I want to be post-uptight Hermione. )

***

I just learned that the lovely Kate Hart would also be Hermione, for many of the same reasons I listed. She also brought up the fact that, in the movies, Hermione is played by Emma Watson, who aside from being beautiful and talented is just a good human being. I love Emma Watson.

Yeah, I stole this off Kate's blog. What of it?

Yeah, I don’t like to play favorites. Probably because my favorite changes depending on what mood I am in. So I don’t think I am going to really answer this question as much as I am going to just ramble on (hopefully on the subject at least).

I see a lot of romance in YA books. I get why that is: adolescence is a time of heightened emotions, increased hormones, and exploration. First love comes along and the feelings that accompany that are intense. It only makes sense that we see a lot of this in YA literature – it is real to life.

There are a lot of relationships I would like to see developed more in YA though. I would like to see more affection between parents and their kids, between siblings, between friends.

The parent issue: in a lot of YA I read it seems that the parents are just mysteriously gone. I know that the story belongs to the teenager, so that is where the focus is, but I would like to see more parents. (I should also admit straight out that I am guilty of this as well – the parents in Incubus are all but nonexistent it seems. But I make it up with a strong father/daughter bond in Jack. ) Aprilynne Pike did a great job writing a solid relationship between a teenager and her parents in Wings.

Siblings: When we are teenagers, our siblings are often our worst enemies. But, they are also often our best friends. The bond between two siblings is a strong one, and one I would like to see explored more in YA. Only Child Syndrome seems to be running rampant in YA. I love when I find a book where siblings interract, show affection for each other, even fight. The dynamics between siblings are interesting and something that adds depth to YA. I am looking forward to Jackson Pearce’s Sisters Red because of the relationship between the two sisters.

Friends: Often times I see friends portrayed in books as just being there – someone to shoot the breeze with, a catalyst for the conflict, a trusty helper. But what I really love seeing is when friends show affection for each other. When you can read their story and know that these two characters really care for each other, that they would make sacrifices for each other. And they show each other that. The Harry Potter books are great at showing this.

So there you have it. I would like to see more non-romantic affection in YA. Don’t leave the romance behind – I still like some good old snogging as much as the next reader – but let’s add some other affection as well.

If you have any recommendations of YA books with strong parent/child, sibling, or friendly affection, I would love to hear them!

I am not even going to pretend I know what the next big thing will be. I am not a trend analyst, and honestly I try not to think about upcoming trends too much. It is a lot harder to just be alone with my work when I have suggestions coming from all sides.

*Write steampunk–it’s the next big thing.*

*You should try your hand at writing about angels–they’re the next big thing.*

*Why don’t you try a Yeti romance–it’s the next big thing.*

I don’t know what the next big thing in young adult literature will be. And I really don’t want to know. I just want to work on writing the very best book I can, regardless of whether it will fit the trends or not.

While I don’t want to guess what will be big next, I do have some things I would like to see more of (all of which I have in one–or more–of my stories…curious ). I would like to see more:

• YA novels from a male POV
• gothic YA
• Southern gothic YA
• family bonds
• focus on friendship over a romantic relationship
• strong, independent female protagonists

“What’s everyone’s reaction when they find out you’re writing a book?”

I talked ranted about one of the most common things I hear last week, so I won’t talk about that one again.

Aside from that, the number one response I get when I tell people I am writing a book goes something like this:

“Oh, how nice. I have always wanted to write a book. I will have to do that someday.”

To which I reply, “That’s awesome. Do it.” And almost immediately regret saying so*. Why do I regret it? Because what follows usually irritates me and then I have to use all my willpower to not hop up on a soapbox and start preaching screaming at the nice person who was just trying to hold a conversation.

Oh, okay. Because you asked nicely, I will let you in on what follows my suggestion to actually write the book you have always wanted to write. the possible responses are:

“I would, but I really just don’t have the time.” News Flash: When God gave us 24 hours in a day, he didn’t secretly dole out extra hours to novelists, rocket scientists, or goat herders. Everyone gets the standard 24 hours each day (if I am wrong about this, please please please tell me how you scored your extra hours). Sure, some people have more responsibility than others, but everyone is busy (and if you are not, please tell me how you managed that also). You know how you find the time to write a novel? You make the time. Give up watching TV (except Dexter, let’s not go crazy here). Spend less time on the internet. Stay up a little later or get up a little earlier. Write during lunch breaks and when in lines. If you really want it, you make the time for it.

“Well, I just don’t know how to write a novel.” Does anyone know how to write a novel? I don’t think so. No two novelist have the exact same approach to writing. The only way to learn how to write a novel is to put the words on the paper (or on the screen, as we are wont to do in this hoity-toity technophilic era). Start with a couple different approaches. Write one novel on the fly, no outlining allowed. Write one with an extensive outline. After you have written a few books, you will know what works best for you. Even then, you won’t have a definitive answer on how to write a novel.

When in doubt, remember Stephen King, who says, “When asked, ‘How do you write?’ I invariably answer, ‘one word at a time.’”

“Yeah, I guess someday I will get around to it.” It is more the way this one is said than the actual statement that gets to me. This one always comes across with an air of apathy, like the person doesn’t really care about writing but, yanno, getting published would be cool so why not? Guess what? Writing is hard. Editing? Hard. Getting an agent? Hard. Getting published? Hard. If you don’t want it, and I mean really want it, then there is no sense in doing it. This sense of apathy makes me think you don’t really want to write a book at all, in which case why in the name of Mork did you say you have always wanted to write one?!

Ahem. Okay. Calming down now.

So, there you have it: responses I get when I tell people I am writing. And my responses to those responses. Maybe someday I will write about the responses I get when I tell someone I write Young Adult Fiction, but I will have to save that post for a time when I want to really get my blood boiling. Like maybe before my next cage fight.

*Someday I will learn the causality of this regret and stop answering this way. Perhaps I should just shorten my response to, “That’s awesome.”

Today is my first RTW, but since I have a bit of a blog crush on YA Highway, there will certainly be many more to follow. Today’s RTW is a nice little (really hard to answer) Q&A.

What are the three best books you’ve read this year?

1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This is one of the best books of all time! That sounds like total hyperbole, I know, but I don’t know how else to say it. This is easily the best debut novel I have ever read, and, in my opinion, the best contemporary novel out there (and let’s face it, it holds it’s own against the timeless classics pretty well). It is beautifully written with a compelling gothic plot. Really, really an unputdownable (not a word? Whatever; I am a writer, I am allowed to make them up) novel. I recommend it to everyone.
2. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Wow. Wow. Wow. I had heard the ravings about this one for a while before I picked it up. It seemed interesting enough, but a novel narrated by a dog could easily go into gimmick territory, and I didn’t want to read a gimmicky novel. This one does not go into that territory. It is poignant and heartbreaking. Clever. Funny. Beautiful. Real. I love this book and will read it again and again.
3. Wings by Aprilynne Pike. As a YA writer, how could I not put a YA book on this list? I have read a lot of great ones this year, but Wings really sticks out for me. I can’t really pinpoint what it is about this book that I love so much; I just know I love it. Maybe it is Aprilynne’s clean, crisp, clear, concise writing (really, all the Cs came naturally…I wasn’t trying to overdose on the alliteration). Maybe it is the simple, yet compelling plot. And maybe, just maybe, it is my soft spot for science-geek David. Whatever it is, there is something about Wings that sings to me. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Wow. Only three allowed? That was tough.

If you could meet one author (living or dead), who would it be?

Fyodor Dostoevsky. After I learn my Russian, of course. What good would it do to resurrect the dude and meet him if I couldn’t understand him? Dostoevsky’s mind amazes me, and he led quite an incredible life. I would just like to shoot the breeze for a while. Maybe pick his brain a bit. That would be quite the conversation, I think.

What book are you most looking forward to in 2010?

Hmmm. Just one? That is TOUGH. I think I am going to have to go with Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. It just sounds so intriguing, and Evie’s voice is great! I am super excited to read that one.

Of course, there are rumors circulating that Diane Setterfield will have her sophomore effort on the shelves next year. If that is the case, Paranormalcy might be bumped down the anticipation list. Sorry, Kiersten. You are great, but come on–it’s DIANE SETTERFIELD!

And thus concludes my first adventure with Road Trip Wednesday.

P.S. Have you entered the awesome contest over at YA Highway yet?