Censorship...or, "Oh how that makes me MAD!"

Note: This post was originally written for and posted on Bewitched Bookworms

I started seeing the "Speak Loudly" twibbon earlier today. I wasn't really paying much attention to it until I realized that this #SpeakingLoudly trend was about banning books. Then I had to find out more, because, as a fan of books (and freedom for that matter), I kind of get cheesed off when people go off and ban them.

So here's the scoop: Banned Books Week is next week and it seems that while many of us will spend this week celebrating both the First Amendment and the freedom we all enjoy as Americans (in this case the ability to read any book we like), a few people are going in the opposite direction and pointing out books that we shouldn't be ALLOWED to read.

One such instance that has gained visibility on Twitter is that of Associate Professor Wesley Scroggins and the opinion piece he wrote advising parents to "be cautious and inquire as to the nature of the material that their children may be exposed to" as the new school year begins. In this piece, he points to three books that the high school students in his community are being exposed to (either at school or by library recommendation) which he feels are particularly offensive: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.

I do agree with him that as parents, we should be involved in the ideas that are shaping our children and do our best to make sure they are raised with strong values. Unfortunately, where Associate Professor Scroggins and I differ is that I don't believe censorship to be a core value. Which is what I understand he advocated in the June School Board meeting he refers to in his opinion piece.

I also am forced to disagree with anyone who would describe a book that contains scenes describing a young girl's rape as pornographic. Disturbing? Yes. Something I would want to discuss with my child should any of them read it? You bet! But pornographic? As in sexually titillating material having no artistic or intellectual merit? I have to say no on two counts: rape isn't sexy and it is only through shining a bright light on this dark topic that we emphatically state that it is wrong.

I genuinely believe that Associate Professor Scroggins' motives are in no way nefarious, although I would question their logic. I also agree with his call for the parents of his area to get involved. But I would say that a county that restricts basic freedoms in order to feel safe is not free. And it's not the sort of country I want to live in.

Be an involved parent. Talk with your children. And please, I beg you, tell them that censorship never solves problems. It is only through open and healthy debate that our country has ever moved forward. And THAT is old style....just ask Benjamin Franklin who said:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

And what is more essential to us as a nation than the liberties given us by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States?

It's almost here! It's almost here!!!!!!

I'm just about ready to jump out of my skin because Beautiful Darkness is almost released (38 days and counting as of this post)!!!

And SO many things are being planned in the lead up to the big night when the book is FINALLY available. As I mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of Beautiful Darkness from the fantabulous Drea over at Traveling ARC Tours. So keep your eyes peeled for my SPOILER-FREE review over at Bewitched Bookworms which may or may not be scheduled to post a month before the release date AND may or may not be launching some additional Beautiful Darkness loveliness of our own.

Speaking of Caster Chronicles pimpage and loveliness in general, The Caster Girls are spreading the word about how Beautiful Creatures (the first book in the Caster Chronicles) is a YALSA Teens' Top 10 Nominee for 2010. This is SO deserved!!!! Never heard of the YALSA Teens' Top 10 before? Allow me to explain....

Teens from all over nominate their favorite books from the previous year. Nominations are posted on Support Teen Literature Day during National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their three favorite titles. Readers can vote online from Aug. 23rd -September 17th. The winners will be announced in a webcast featuring WWE Superstars and Divas during Teen Read Week, October 17th-23rd.

So please go out RIGHT NOW and vote for Beautiful Creatures because it really should be in the hands of every teen you know (or don't know)! Just click on the link below and you'll be taken to the voting survey. Voting is open NOW and will go until September 17th.

Want even more pimpage and loveliness????

The Caster Girls are hosting a contest to promote Beautiful Creatures YALSA Teen's Top 10 for 2010 nomination!! Want to enter? Here's what the women at The Caster Girls are asking you to do:

1) Add the Beautiful Creatures Teens' Top Ten Button from www.beautifulcreaturesthebook.com to your blog, site, FB page, or all three! The more places you add the button, the more points you earn.

2) Once you place the button on your blog, e-mail us at castergirls@gmail.com. When e-mailing please include your name, blog/website URL, twitter name, and your name. We will verify you have placed the button on your blog.

3) Tweet, Tweet, Tweet and encourage people to vote for Beautiful Creatures or add the button to their blogs. But don’t tweet the same thing multiple times a day. No one enjoys spam. Be creative! When tweeting, we ask that you simply add an @reply to @castergirls so that we see your tweet. The more tweets and @replies we see, the more points you’ll earn.

4) Post a message on your blog, site, Facebook page, or all three! If you post anywhere other than twitter, please e-mail us and let us know.

* We will keep track of your efforts. It's simple - the more you promote, the better your chance of winning.

Contest runs from September 1st – 17th. Winners will be notified by September 18th. If there is anything we can help you with, don't hesitate to e-mail us! If you know someone who wants to join TEAM CASTER, please ask them to e-mail us! We don’t know every blogger & website admin that loves BC.

If you do this, you have the chance to win:

Grand Prize (1 winner)

• A signed copy of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES & BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS
• 2 different BC/BD Posters.

Second Prize (4 Winners)

• A Signed Copy of the new BC paperback
• A BD poster
• 1 set of BC/BD buttons
• 1 set of BD Dog Tags
• 1 BC Key Chain

Good luck, enjoy and keep an eye out for more news on the Beautiful Darkness front in the coming days!

Happy Birthday, Uhyesplease!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the birthday of my one and only Lemon Sister!!!



Uhyesplease, you are a tireless friend!!
You frequently volunteer your time
betaing the writing of others,
cheerleading more than one writer along,
writing your own works
as well as fabulous book reviews on our beloved Bewitched Bookworms
and are, in general,
an all around wonderful woman!

Uhyesplease, I'm so thankful to call you my friend and sister
and I wish you the very best of birthdays
filled with all sorts of lemony debauchery!!!

If you would like to help me celebrate Uhyesplease's birthday on Twitter,
please feel free to add the following ribbon to your twitter icon for the day!



The ribbon, designed by Danny (of course), highlights
three of the most important ways I got to know
Uhyesplease:
because of ....

her love of Twilight (because we all share this here!)...
her asking me to join her as a Lemon Sister (because twi-girls need love too!)...
and her signing up as a bookworm (because literate girls are HOT!)

So please take a moment and send uhyesplease your birthday wishes!
It will definitely make her day!

Happy Birthday, Danny!!!!

Today is one of our favorite bloggy-girl's birthday!!!



We love Danny so much,
from blog that she writes as Mrs. Vanquish
where she used to tease us with
lovely RPattz videos such as this:



to her latest work as the amazing designer of blogs such as this:



to her MANY fabulous book reviews!

She's so much fun to have around
and we're so very grateful to call her our friend!

Thank you so much
for being such a wonderful friend
and we wish you
the happiest of birthdays,
Danny!!!

If you would like to help us celebrate Danny's birthday on Twitter, please feel free to change your twitter icon to the following for the day!



Love,

Uhyesplease and Pushy

PS - The lovely erikasbuddy was thoughtful enough to pass along this scrumptious present....ENJOY!!!!

Beautiful Darkness is coming!!!

I know, I know, October can't get her fast enough if your a fan of the Caster Chronicles as I am! And what could me more exciting than reading an advanced copy of the book?

Yes, one of the hands on Beautiful Darkness is mine
and that bad boy is sitting next to me RIGHT NOW!

I so very excited that I was able to sign up for the ARC tour of Beautiful Darkness on the ARC Tour site that is co-run by one of my book bloggy friends, Drea. The site is called Traveling ARC Tours and what I love about this site is that for the cost of shipping the book to the next person in line (normally less than the cost of the book itself) and the promise to review it, you can get your hands on some really incredible ARCs!!! And Drea, Sara and Sharon do all this work pro-bono! God bless these women.

I had the chance to meet up with Drea this afternoon for lunch and to chat about bloggy things. Drea is so laid back and fun and just easy to talk to that I had a fabulous time! And I was able to pick up the ARC for Beautiful Darkness (which I was thrilled to find out that I was first in line for on the tour because I jumped all over the post the second it went up). Here we are grinning like fools over the wonderment that is Beautiful Darkness:

Isn't Drea adorable?!?!
Plus, she's like the coolest librarian ever.
She gave away candy to one of her kids
(which she affectionately calls them)
while I was outside her office.
This woman clearly loves her job and is so very awesome at it!

I will DEFINITELY be reviewing it over on Bewitched Bookworms, assuming my fellow bookworms don't beat me senseless for scoring a copy but not being able to share it. *sad panda* So please keep an eye out for that.

But to keep your excitement level revved up, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl are hosting a contest on their Beautiful Creatures blog where they'll be giving away custom made Beautiful Creatures buttons.

Definitely go check it out!

So that's it for now. And now I have to go spend time with my Diet Coke and lime, my Kit-Kats and Beautiful Darkness....oh Ethan, how I've missed you!

Want to win a Beautiful Creatures or Clockwork Angel ARC???

Yeah, I thought that might get your attention. Well...here's the deal, my lovelies!! The super wonderful WonderGirl12

who runs the great blog The Here, The Now And The Books is hosting a contest giving away TWO ARCs of Clockwork Angel and one ARC of Beautiful Darkness!

So fly on over to her site and sign up for your chance!

FREE WRITERS' CONFERENCE!!!

I know so many aspiring writers would love to attend a national conference but, as we're aspiring writers with out the bankrolls of say, JK Rowling, most of us can't afford it.

THIS IS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE!!!!

The lovely Shannon Messenger, Jaime Harrington, Elena Johnson, Casey McCormick, Lisa and Laura Roecker and Jen Stayrook have put together an online, totally free conference where you can get advice from other authors and meet agents!!!! These women are AWESOME!!!!

Read all about it in Shannon's post here. Then head on over to the conference's website and SIGN UP!!!!

Birthday Mania!!

So as most of you know, yesterday was my birthday. Yup, this old fox turned 35. I am happy to say that I got many things I was expecting, not the least of which was my annual call from my mother telling me the story of the day I was born (which is pretty interesting, in my humble opinion, since she delivered me at home, essentially by herself, at the age of 19). But as is usually the case, it's the many things I was NOT expecting that made the day grand.

For example.....

Some of my favorite tweeple dressed up in foxy finery on twitter:



The Lemoniest Lemon Sister that there ever was wrote me a HBD post on TLS:



My beautiful Bewitched Bookworms wrote me a HBD post on BB,
noting my love of glitter text and complete with a Hendrix ode to, well, ME!



The AWESOMETASTIC Betti pimped a story I wrote for her for Christmas, prompting me to post it on FFn due to all the wonderful work she put into making this AMAZING banner for it!


Seriously I'm not worthy!!

My sweet, good morning, coffee girl, Danny,
sent me a loverly Beautiful Creatures inspired bracelet
from Mary Tippet Designs:

>

The amazing erikasbuddy wrote me a sequel to one of her fics, Broken, that I adore!!

I cannot even express how humbled and touched I am that so many of you went out of your way to make me feel special on my birthday but I can say, heartily, "Mission Accomplished!!!"

No, no, really, much better than this!
I just couldn't resist! tee-hee!

Thank you, over and over, from the cockles of my little, vixen heart!!!

Vampires in CHICAGO???

Yes, it's true...vampires have come to the Windy City. And my fellow Bookworms, Heather and Danny, have ARC fever, bad! They even wrote a post about it. And you can read it right now because it was a great review, and then you can start reading the books.

But why am I posting about this here, when it was obviously covered over at Bewitched Bookworms? Because Chloe Neill, the author of the Chicagoland Vampire Series books Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites, is offering a chance to win the ARC of the next book in the series: Twice Bitten. And even though it's being released on July 6th, we'd love to read it and give you the scoop over at Bookworms early so you can pre-order with an easy mind.

Oh, and what's more, Heather and Danny (and maybe me if I'm really lucky) will be interviewing her over at Bewitched Bookworms on July 10th and yes, that's just a few days after the book releases. Woo-hoo!

So definitely check out the review of the first two books and keep an eye out over at Bewitched Bookworms for all the news on Twice Bitten.

Being A Writer

My husband knows me better than I know myself. This can be an odd sensation when we have a conversation in which I learn something about myself that is apparently common knowledge to him. A good example would be how I learned I like to write.

The first conversation, from the fall of 2007 went something like this:

DH: Have you heard of NaNoWriMo?
me: NaNoWhatOh?
DH: National Novel Writing Month. You know...write a book. You should do that.
me: *incredulous stare*

How on earth did he know I should write? I'd never written anything before. And I had just emerged from my year of craziness (a.k.a. the year after my twins were born). Why on earth would I commit to write a novel in a month?

But he was right. I did have something in me. An admitedly HORRIBLE romance novel, but I wrote it. And he was SO SUPPORTIVE of the whole process (and has been every year since) even though he's never been allowed to read a word of it.

NOT. ONE. WORD.

Fast forward to the other day, when he sends me the following because he loves me, which I wanted to share with you, dear reader, because I love you!

60 Writing Tips by 6 Great Writers

Please click on the link to see all of this great article, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. Enjoy!!!

ORWELL'S 6 QUESTIONS
In every sentence that you write, ask yourself,

What am I trying to say?
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
Could I put it more shortly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

ELMORE LEONARD'S 10 TIPS FOR NOVEL WRITERS
1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
Which can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. A prologue in a novel is back-story, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.
3. Never use a verb other than ''said'' to carry dialogue.
Said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ''said'' . . .
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
6. Never use the words ''suddenly'' or ''all hell broke loose.''
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
For example, thick paragraphs of prose.
11. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

ROBERT HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING
You Must Write
Finish What You Start
You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order
You Must Put Your Story on the Market
You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold
Start Working on Something Else

STEPHEN KING’S 7 TIPS FOR BECOMING A BETTER WRITER
1. Get to the point.
2. Write a draft. Then let it rest.
3. Cut down your text.
4. Be relatable and honest.
5. Don’t care too much what others may think.
6. Read a lot.
7. Write a lot.

Have I mentioned that I adore Stephen King? 'Cuz I do. But I have to say my favorite thoughts on this topic are by Kami Garcia on her blog post, The Rules Of Writing, where she talks about how sometimes you have to break the rules. Definitely check it out!

Happy Writing!!

Author Appreciation Week:Titans

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

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

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

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

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

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

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

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!