Author Appreciation Week:Titans

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So I thought I'd end the week with the titans of YA that drew me into the genre as a kid and then back again as an adult.

As a kid I was always reading; a passion I inherited from my mother and one fostered by my Aunt Sheryl who endlessly supported my intellectual life. These two women introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, William Golding and Francine Pascal.

photo obtained at Wikipedia


photo obtained at Wikipedia


photo obtained at Wikipedia


photo obtained at Random House

Fantasy, horror, mystery and romance. These authors filled my days with stories that transported me to other worlds and built me into the self confident girl I was.

As a teen, I veered away from authors that would now be considered YA and moved into horror, romance and beyond. But when my younger sister began picking up the Harry Potter books, I got hooked again.

First by J.K. Rowling's amazing world and then a decade later by the love story that Stephenie Meyer dreamed up. And I'm so glad I came back.

photo obtained from Best Fiction Books


photo obtained from EclipseMovie.org

YA is the best of all worlds: it has romance and fantasy, horror and mystery. Whenever I pick up a YA book, I know I'm in for something special.

So a big, end-of-Author's-Appreciation-Week thank you to the amazing titans of YA. I really do appreciate each and every one of you!

Author Appreciation Week:Carrie Ryan

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photo by Darren Cassese, courtesy of Carrie's website

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead Tossed Waves.

What I appreciate most about Carrie is that her first novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth was written for National Novel Writing Month in 2006. When I saw her at her book signing early this week she mentioned how she was discussing writing a novel for NaNoWriMo with her fiance, JP, to whom the book is dedicated and she was bemoaning how the rules state that you must start a new project. She wasn't sure what to write and her brilliant fiance gave her the best piece of advice a writer can get, "Write what you love."

Deciding that she not only loved her fiance but zombie stories, The Forest of Hands and Teeth was born. She told us how she would get home a few hours before her fiance each night, so her NaNoWriMo routine consisted of writing until JP got home and then reading him what she'd written that day. Am I the only person who thinks that's one of the most romantic things ever????

So if you haven't read her spectacular, spooky and riveting books: Run! Don't walk to your nearest bookstore and pick them both up! You won't be disappointed. She's also fabulous and witty on twitter (@carrieryan), her blog, and in person (definitely check her out at one of her remaining author appearances in Michigan tonight, Washington stage Friday and Saturday and California's Bay Area next Monday and Wednesday).

Hush, Hush contest over at RoaWS

That's right, folks! The lovely Shannon over at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe is hosting a contest to give away a signed copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

And did I mentioned that it's SIGNED by the lovely author?

So if you are a resident of the US or Canada (sorry, Danny!!) and want a shot at winning a signed copy of Hush, Hush, hurry on over to her blog. And if you're not already a member, please tell her that I sent you!

Author Appreciation Week:Maggie Stiefvater

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photo courtesy of Maggie's flicker album

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Maggie Stiefvater author of both the Books of Faerie series: Lament and Ballad and The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series: Shiver, Linger (out July 20, 2010) and Forever (planned for Summer 2011).

What I most appreciate about Maggie are her blogs. I adore reading her personal blog, Words on Words, and the one she shares with Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff, Merry Sisters of Fate.

As a struggling writer myself, I really appreciated this post Maggie wrote on plot bunnies because they stalk me like crazy and they're so hard to resist!!! I am now the proud owner of a notebook that goes everywhere with me and where my plot bunnies are firmly caged for further use. So thank you, Maggie!!!

I haven't had a chance to read any of Maggie's books yet, mostly because funds are short and there's an ENORMOUSLY LONG waiting list for them at my library! Seriously, I've been waiting on Shiver for months!!! BUT my bloggy BFF uhyesplease has read Lament and she could not be stronger in her praise for it, which is good enough for me to endorse Maggie's books.

Other things you should know about Maggie:

1) She's very active on twitter at mstiefvater. She tweets about book stuff, blog stuff and just random things too, all of which are way witty and fun! If you don't follow her already, you're seriously missing out!

2) She's going to be in a new anthology coming out, Kiss Me Deadly, which is planned to release this summer on July 27.

So if you don't follow Maggie already, you should definitely check this awesome lady out!

Author Appreciation Week:Melissa Marr

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Photo by John Marr, obtained at Melissa Marr's MySpace Page

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Melissa Marr, author of the Wicked Lovely Series of books: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity and Radiant Shadows which will be released April 20, 2010!

While I of course adore Melissa's writing (that's pretty much a given), what I want to particularly highlight in today's Author Appreciation post is that Melissa Marr is one of the driving forces behind the Smart Chicks Kick It tour. This series of events will bring her, her authors-in-crime Alyson Noel and Kelley Armstrong, and sixteen additional authors to twelve cities across the USA, including back to Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL, an event I will DEFINITELY be attending!

Animated gif most respectfully borrowed from
fellow author and tour participant, Rachel Caine's website
where another, equally cool banner for this tour can be found here.

I love the whole girl power vibe behind the event, I love that it's a group of women getting together to support each other and I love the seriously kick ass group of women who joined up. And I love Rachel Caine's button for the event! Seriously, I squeed when I saw that thing.

I also appreciate that, like yesterday's #AAW Authors, Kami and Margi, Melissa has a strong twitter presence (@melissa_marr),which allows her followers to see in real time that she's equally comfortable engaging in witty e-repartee with authors and fans alike.

I had this post all scheduled to go when Melissa tweeted the following this afternoon:

This is exactly the sort of thing I love about author's who are on twitter. Not that every author has to give books away (that would be wicked expensive and just a pain in the behind) but that she had some to spare and thought of her followers. SO NICE!!!! And yes, for full disclosure, I was one of the lucky winners. WOOT for me! But keep your eyes peeled over at Bewitched Bookworms, because you know how I love to spread the wealth. *wink*

If you haven't picked up the Wicked Lovely Series yet, do so IMMEDIATELY! You won't be disappointed!

Author Appreciation Week:Kami Garci & Margaret Stohl

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Photo by Alex Hoerner, obtained at Reading Underground

For my first Author's Appreciation post, I wanted to shine a light on Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

They are the authors of a enthralling book, Beautiful Creatures, which I loved so much I have convinced my husband, my two nieces, my best-friend and her daughter to read it. You may have seen a post or two about this book here on the blog. But in addition to that, I appreciate these authors because....

1) They have already written the sequel, Beautiful Darkness, and have promised their readers two more books after BD in what has now come to be known as The Caster Chronicles. This is HUGE for me, since when I turned the last page in Beautiful Creatures I had SO MANY unanswered questions and I wanted more! I can't describe how happy I am that I will get not one, not two but three more novels worth of time in the world that these lovely ladies have created!

2) They are EXTREMELY supportive of their fans online. If you follow them on twitter(@kamigarcia and @mstohl), you know they are always chatting with one fan or another, causing teenagers and grown women alike to devolve into squeeing fangirls left and right. They also are amazing at helping us spread the word about fan driven Beautiful Creature book discussions and contests.

3) They are UNBELIEVABLY lovely, witty and gracious in person. Seriously, if you haven't caught them on one of their book tours you should do so when they go out again! They have a great rapport with each other (which might be expected since they DID WRITE A BOOK TOGETHER) but they also convey a sense of easy camaraderie when interacting with the crowd. And they hugged me when we met, so I will always love them. The end!

So, Kami and Margi, here's to you both! Thank you so much for taking your kids up on their dare to write a novel! I couldn't be happier with the results!

Author Appreciation Week:The Set Up

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I love to tweet. It's seriously an addiction. For example, I wake up every morning at 5:30am in order to write a bit before I have to start my day. But of course I need to check my email first. Oh and Twitter, because all of my online friends hang out there. Cue the clock chiming 6:30am and my husband telling me I need to scramble if I'm going to get my daily workout in. Gah! And my word count....uh....100 words? Yikes! Lame! Twitter, why do you suck me in?!?!

But today's post is not a tale of my slacker ways. Nope! Today I am here to tell you about a week long blogging AND twitter extravaganza thought up by the inimitable Heidi R. Kling, the author of the soon to be released YA Novel, Sea.

You can click on the book above to go to Amazon to pre-order.

I follow her on Twitter and she came up with the brilliant idea (in the shower of course, where all good ideas show up) of doing a week long love fest to our favorite YA/MG authors. She wrote up the non-rules here at her blog, but I'm listing them below, mostly so I'll remember to follow them:

WHEN: March 15-19

WHAT: Write a blog post each day of next week about the authors you appreciate and why!

RULES: There are none. Be creative. If you want to pick five, pick five. Ten favorites? Go for it! Can't choose between your top twenty? Well, then you'll be doing a few a day. And they'll love you for it!

Avatars & Graphics: Feel free to use the one Sara from Novel Novice made (below), there's a few on Twitter, or make your own. Remember to credit the generous, book-loving artists!

What is an "author": Ideally, someone that has sold a novel to an established publishing house. I suppose it could be your cat, if she's purred her way into a contract. For our purposes let's do authors of YA/MG.
How do we spread the word? Post this post to your blog, link back here.

Go on facebook and twitter and use the hashtag #AAW (Author Appreciation) and @ the others you have chosen so they can go back and read your words of praise.

Twitter Avi

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So, I have decided to give this a shot. Please check back through out the week to see which authors THIS fox appreciates. You may find that you appreciate them too!

National Read Across America Day

I love to read.

All my life, through good times and bad, books have been a refuge, a special spot where I could loose myself in another world and bask in the wonder, beauty and sometimes horror of another person's words. When I was small, I was fortunate enough to have a mother who read to me. She read us Tolkien, one of her favorite authors, and I have a particularly vivid memory of being curled up next to her and my older brother, listening to her read to us in Smaug's voice from the Hobbit. It was entrancing.

As a teen, when I couldn't relate to people and vice versa, books were my escape to worlds where there were others like me. Stephen King, Margaret Weiss and Henry Miller all fed my soul and my imagination and I am a better person for it, even if I've never succeeded in being normal.

Nowadays, as a woman who works from home and has three tiny, demanding and frequently irrational bosses, fiction has become my refuge again. I read romances, science fiction, horror and intrigue, YA or adult, so long as it takes me from my world into another. Preferably one where with strong heroines and witty dialog!

Every year there are even more great books, in every genre, as writers keep doing that thing they do. And today is National Read Across America Day, in honor of that icon of early childhood literacy, Dr. Seuss.

So please, in his honor and for the benefit of all humankind, take a few moments out of your day today and read. Read for yourself, read to a child, recommend a great book to a friend. When we read we become better people, if for no other reason than we have listened to a new voice.