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Hot Air Balloon Ride

Aug 10, 2012 | | 11 Comments

Today I was supposed to post about the Ascendio Conference but then my hubby surprised me with a hot air balloon ride. (!!!!!!!!) It was soooo romantic!

We woke up at 4:15 am and headed over to the touristy section (which normal Floridians avoid like the plague) and loaded up into vans. The company we used was Orlando Balloon Rides. They took us to this beautiful open field, which is also a hang glider community.

After they unloaded the balloons and spread them out, they fired up the tanks and away we went!

We floated over the Green Swamp, which is actually quite close to our house. The sun was rising right over Disney World as we floated up.

I was amazed how the air smelled. So fresh and crisp and green. And whenever the gas wasn’t blasting into the balloon, the air would just silently whoosh around us. I’ve never experienced that kind of silence before, even on top of mountain peaks.

Below we spotted deer, hawks, sand hill cranes, herds of wild boar, and lots of cows. Our operator called them summer cows. Some are white, some are black. *grin*

Then we landed in the middle of nowhere. We packed up the balloon as a group, avoiding the cow gifts scattered about. The craziest part was this kid blitzed out of the woods on his four-wheeler to say hi. He was looking for his dog apparently, but I was so distracted by the wild boar strapped to the front of his four-wheeler I could hardly concentrate what he had to say. Especially when the boar squealed!

Then we jumped into the balloon basket on the truck and drove out to the main road (which took nearly a half an hour on sand roads and pastures). The champagne toast and breakfast made the morning absolutely perfect.

Covers and Their Designs

Aug 9, 2012 | , , , , , | 7 Comments

There is just something about holding a new, shiny book in your hands. I think it’s because every book has a different feel, a different mood. When I went to make my vlog for YA Rebels, I decided to take a closer look at book covers and their designs. It amazed me how each book had its own distinctive look.

Some book covers have raised lettering, others with font that fits with the time period of the text, some have specific paper that fits with the storyline, while others even have reversible covers.

I also think it’s fun to check out the people who bring those covers to life. A famous illustrator for the cover design of Percy Jackson series is John Rocco.  Then there are photographers who do amazing work such as Aurora Crowley who did the photography for SHATTER ME by Taherah Mafi. Check out an interview here with Aurora.

I also have a Pinterest page here that shows all the covers that I really like.

I suppose it’s because I’m a visual person that I love how books come out. Someday I’m sure ebooks will have their own cool additions brought to them. I can’t wait to see what will come out of those in the future.

Check out my vlog on the books that I choose to highlight.

What are your favorite covers and why?

Winner of CAMP by Elaine Wolf and Upcoming Fun!

Aug 7, 2012 | , , , | 4 Comments

It’s always so fun to do contests. It’s actually one of the things that I love about having a blog is that I can give back to all the people who take the time to read Chocolate for Inspiration.

Thank you to everyone who entered the CAMP giveaway and I hope you enjoyed the interview by Elaine Wolf.

And the winner is….

Don’t forget, you still have five more days to enter my Hunger Games Contest here to win a movie size poster, the movie companion book and a lanyard.

I just got the ARC of LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead in the mail so I’ll be reviewing that and giving that middle grade away soon. Plus I have four autographed books from four AMAZING authors that I met at the Ascendio conference I went to this summer. I plan to have that ready for you this Friday.

And tomorrow, it’s Wednesday so I’ll post my vlog for the YARebels. We get to choose our topic this week. Can you guess my topic?

Exciting times!

Okay, gotta go and write. I still haven’t written my quota for today…

If You Had a Superpower, What Would It Be?

Aug 1, 2012 | | 11 Comments

On the YA Rebels today, I talk about SUPERPOWERS. Of course this was a hard question because we were only allowed to choose one! So I broke down some of the superhero categories and looked at my favorite YA books with heroines/hereos with superpowers to help me out.

One of the parts about writing fantasy is that I can give my heroines or heroes cool powers. I think that’s why it’s so hard for me not to write fantasy. I hate being confined to the real world. If only we all could do the same things as our characters, right? Although, I’m not very nice to my characters and bad things happen to them. Very bad things.

So…. maybe not.

Also, I wrote a post over at the MiGs talking about how to write characters with superpowers. Check it out!

How about you? What would your superpower be?

Hunger Games Giveaway

Jul 31, 2012 | , , | 1 Comment

Hey guys! Because I’m a huge Hunger Games fan, I’m giving away:

1. Hunger Games Movie Companion book
2. Hunger Games Lanyard
3. Hunger Games Movie Poster

Check out this vlog to see the prizes!

Fill in this form by August 12th to WIN.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Plus, you have until Friday, August 3rd to enter to win an autographed copy of CAMP by Elaine Wolf. Click here.

SCBWI Young Adult Workshop

Jul 30, 2012 | , , , , , , | 8 Comments

During the SCBWI conference in Orlando, FL, I also attended the Young Adult workshop. This was led by Noa Wheeler, editor for Henry Holt, and Nancy Werlin, bestselling author of numerous books including Extraordinary. These two ladies did an excellent job exploring ways to tackle issues we face as young adult authors.

Noa Wheeler talked about how to deepen our characters by asking questions about them. One of the best questions she asked was “Is my character active?” She says we should be asking ourselves this question all through the book.

She also had us create 100 questions for our characters. I was really excited after I finished because these questions helped me build a more three dimensional character for my current WIP.

In the afternoon, Noa discussed how to write a flap copy and gave us specific examples from the books she’s edited. She said that usually the assistant editor writes these for the books, but they are a great exercise to find what the big issues of our stories are about.

Nancy is currently revising the third book that will come after Extraordinary. She broke down the revision process she is undertaking right now which I found fascinating in how she tackled her revisions. She also explained how she used the feedback from her critique partners to write another revision.

Overall, I came away with some new ways to revise and a stack of answered questions I hadn’t known about my main character.

Have you ever interviewed your characters? Did you find that helpful and if so, which questions did you find to be the most helpful?

I’m Wednesday on the YA Rebels for August

Jul 25, 2012 | , , , , | 6 Comments

Guess what? I’m going to be a guest vlogger on the YARebels for today and every Wednesday for the month of August.

This week on the Rebels, we are talking about Independent Bookstores. There are actually two Indies in the Orlando area (Thursday is taking B&L) and I did a spotlight on The Book Worm.

So check out my vlog and then go out and shop at your local Indie!

Interview and Giveaway with Elaine Wolf

Jul 23, 2012 | , , , , , | 9 Comments

 

Every secret has a price…

I’m very pleased to welcome Elaine Wolf today. She has offered to share her thoughts on her publishing journey and what inspired her to write her book, CAMP, published by Sky Pony Press (an imprint of SkyhorsePublishing). This YA novel tackles the issues of bullying, mothers and daughters, and the consequences of family secrets.

In case you were wondering what CAMP is about, here is the blurb from Amazon:

For most girls, sleepaway camp is great fun. But for Amy Becker, it’s a nightmare. Amy, whose home life is in turmoil, is sent to Camp Takawanda for Girls for the first time as a teenager. Although Amy swears she hates her German-immigrant mother, who is unduly harsh with Amy’s autistic younger brother, Amy is less than thrilled about going to camp. At Takawanda she is subjected to a humiliating “initiation” and relentless bullying by the ringleader of the senior campers. As she struggles to stop the mean girls from tormenting her, Amy becomes more confident. Then a cousin reveals dark secrets about Amy’s mother’s past, which sets in motion a tragic event that changes Amy and her family forever.
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1. What got you started into writing?

I always loved to write, even as a child. When I grew up, I became a “closet writer.” I never shared my work, and I still have a “bits and pieces” file of story ideas, first sentences, and poems. And when I worked as the English language arts director for a public school district, I found lots of excuses to send memos to the staff––just so I could write! My husband encouraged me to enroll in a writers’ workshop at our library. Then came a Saturday morning short story class at a local university, followed by a series of summer workshops and writing conferences in New York City. And that did it! All I wanted was more time to write. So my husband, again, told me to go for it––this time by encouraging me to take an early retirement from the school district and to enroll in a novel writing class at The New School in New York. As I focused on the novel that became DANNY’S MOM (Arcade Publishing, November 2012), I joined other writers’ workshop programs, as well as a critique group. I’m so blessed to have such a supportive husband, whose favorite activity now is telling everyone about CAMP. And I can’t stop smiling!
2. Tell us a little about your journey in pursuing publication of CAMP.

I’ll tell you the truth: the road to publication was long and hard. Six years ago when I signed with my agent, she said she loved CAMP and was eager to get it out on submission. But shortly after signing me on, my agent went out on her own, and CAMP submissions were delayed. However, I hung in there because I knew my agent loved the manuscript, and I believed that she would find the right home for CAMP.

Once submissions started, several editors said that they, too, loved the manuscript but didn’t feel that bullying was a big enough story. So I put CAMP on hold and moved on to other writing projects.

In 2011, five years after I signed with my agent (see, I told you the road was long!), I asked her to please try once more because bullying was now front and center in the news. My agent put CAMP out there again. And this time, CAMP sold quickly. And then DANNY’S MOM (also with a strong bullying theme) sold to Arcade Publishing, another Skyhorse imprint.

Now I’m known as “the anti-bullying novelist.” And I’m thrilled that I’ll have two novels published this year! I hope you’ll check out my website (authorelainewolf.com) for information about both books, as well as for anti-bullying resources.

3. As a teacher and mom myself, I’ve really seen how bullying is such an issue with kids, not just here in the States, but world-wide. I love how you tackled this issue in such a unique way through the setting and the characters. What inspired this?

Thanks! I’m glad you love how I “tackled this issue in such a unique way through the setting and characters.” But, truth be told, I didn’t set out to write a bullying novel; I just wanted to write a compelling story. So I started with a character, 14-year-old Amy Becker, who’s being shipped off to sleep-away camp for the first time. And, of course, I gave her lots of problems––because a happy, sing-around-the-campfire story isn’t very gripping.

I believed that sleep-away camp would be a good backdrop for a coming-of-age story, and it’s a setting I know well. I was a camper and camp counselor for many summers. And, like Amy Becker, my uncle owned a camp in Maine. But that’s where the similarity ends. My uncle ran a terrific camp, where the bullying that happens in CAMP would have been stopped before it got out of control.  

The bullying in CAMP grew organically after a mean-girl character, Rory, stormed through my mind while I was writing the scene about Amy on the bus heading to the fictional Camp Takawanda for Girls. Rory’s voice was really loud in my head, so I just tried to get out of my own way and let the characters dictate the story. Once I had a timid first-time camper, Amy, and an alpha girl “queen of mean,” Rory, it was impossible not to write about bullying.

Now CAMP is finding its way into schools for the fall, where the novel will be a springboard to conversations about bullying. And I sincerely hope that CAMP and DANNY’S MOM will lead to discussions that will make our camps and schools safer for all kids.

4.  What has been the most difficult part for you in writing in general and how have you met that challenge?

The most difficult challenge of this whole process was the “getting published part.” I was so happy while working on CAMP and DANNY’S MOM. But, I must admit, the “getting published part” left me frustrated and anxious. Yet I never gave up because the feedback from editors was overwhelmingly positive. I learned that getting published is not only about talent and perseverance; it’s also about timing. As they say, timing is everything.

And here are some quickies:

1. Favorite type of chocolate: dark, darker, and darkest! (Chocolate is absolutely my favorite food.)

2. #1 place you’d like to visit: Greece (And I’d love to go back to Florence, Italy, where I had the best gelato I’ve ever tasted. Ice cream is my second favorite food.)

3. Favorite mode of transportation: walking (I often park my car far from where I’m heading just to walk a bit­­––which is a good thing because I eat way too much chocolate and ice cream!)

4. Preferred mode of writing (i.e. pencil, pen, computer): computer (I start every chapter with pen and paper, though––and go to the computer only when I have a first paragraph that makes me tingle.)

Check out Elaine on Twitter or her website.

I will be giving away a copy of Elaine’s book, CAMP. Comment below to win a copy and tweet about this contest for an extra entry!

I’m Back to Announce the Winners!

Jul 23, 2012 | | 5 Comments

I’m back from a writer’s conference and from our trip to Germany and Austria. These past few weeks were awesome.

Here are some pictures of my trip with my three boys:

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Innsbrook, Austria
The lake behind Neuschwanstein Castle

But I’ve got lots of fun things planned for you guys in the next few weeks including another author interview with Elaine Wolf tomorrow and two big contests as well.

But before all of that I still have to announce the winners for my giveaway of Danette Haworth’s books.

AnonymousAkoss is the winner of SUMMER OF MOONLIGHT SECRETS.

Vijaya is the winner of A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY

Winners, please email me with your email address at christinafarleyL at gmail dot com.

PROPHECY Has a Cover!

Jul 5, 2012 | , | 3 Comments

I am so excited about Ellen Oh’s YA fantasty PROPHECY! This is a book that I’ve been anxiously waiting to finally hold in my hands and put on my bookshelf. I can’t wait.

And now PROPHECY has a cover and it’s beyond amazing. Don’t you agree?

Last week Ellen Oh revealed her gorgeous cover for PROPHECY at YA Book Central. She also got two fantastic blurbs which she talks about on her blog as well as the cover process.

You can also follow her book’s progress on the Prophecy Series’ Facebook page.

And if you want to find out more about Ellen Oh, check out this interview I did with her when she first announced her book deal.

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