It's Valentine's Day and what better day to chat about writing romance in young adult books. One of the big areas that editors were asking for in the last three conferences I have been to is more romance in YA. I think it's important for us writers to remember that...
Last weekend I went to New York City for the SCBWI conference. It was an amazing weekend. I'm just now able to start wrapping my head around everything that happened. As promised, I'm going to give you a recap of my weekend, but it's going to have to be in a number...
There is nothing that kills a story quicker than when it's set in the same old setting. Like the school cafeteria or the locker scene. Don't get me wrong, you can use those settings, but my challenge to myself if I'm going to use those settings is to find something...
It's finally here! PROPHECY by Ellen Oh. I am beyond excited for this book and I have so much love for it and Ellen herself.I read an early draft of this book way back when Ellen and I manuscript swapped. She read GILDED and I read PROPHECY so it's kind of an amazing...
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned pulling out my plot grid when I was revising a manuscript and promised to talk more about that later. Now that NaNo is finished and many of you have a very rough draft in place, it's key to pull out or create a plot grid.Why have a...
I have been excited to review for you SANCTUM by Sarah Fine. Honestly, I wasn't sure how Fine would deal with the issue of suicide, which is ultimately what this book was about. But she creates characters and a world that are both intriguing and so real that I was...
So you’ve written the story of your dreams. You’ve stamped your soul’s signature onto it. With all your heart, you believe it’s publishable, unique and marketable. It just has one itsy problem. It’s a big fat mess. Yep. That’s me with my latest WIP. It’s a new series...
I've been tagged by Justina Ireland, author of upcoming VENGEANCE BOUND, and Tara Gallina.I'm supposed to answer all kinds of questions about the book I'm working on. I'm actually working on two other projects, one a sequel to GILDED, and another is a dystopic...
Every day we as writers face fears. Fear of rejection, fear of reviews, fear you'll never land an agent or editor, fear that your next book won't sell, fear your agent or editor won't approve those edits. The list is endless. But the only way to overcome those fears...
Last week was a big week for Cory Jackson with the release of IF I LIE. So many great books coming out this fall!Here's the blurb of IF I LIE:Cheater. Traitor. Slut. Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got...