Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Play Hooky With

It's that time again. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday theme: Top Ten Books You Would Play Hooky With. I love it already.

Okay so here's the list. 

#10

Yes. It's on the list. Because something about this book is like crack. It's completely addictive. Although it may have been forever ruined by the horrid movies. Perhaps one day I can again pick up the book and not picture Kristin Stewart or Rob Pattinson and their painful acting. Perhaps.

#9

I'm not sure if this is the exact book, but I love Jenna Black and this is one of my fav urban fantasy series. I could get caught up in it again.

#8 

Yep. Harry Potter also had to make this list. The Deathly Hallows is my second favorite book in the series. I've listened to the audio book many a times while at work. 

#7

Oh how I love, love, love this book. I also love the fact that the audio version is narrated by Jim Dale which just reminds me of Harry Potter. I can and have listened to his voice for hours!

#6

Okay, this is my all time favorite HP book. There is something so fantastic about that moment when Harry realizes that despite all odds, his name has been entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And when Dumbledore finds out...so fantastic.

#5

I don't read much of her stuff anymore but once upon a time I was obsessed with all things LKH. This was one of my favorite books in the series and I have a very worn out copy on my bookshelf as a result. If I was going to play hooky, I might have to do it with this book.

#4

Mr. Eric Northman. Shower. Nuff said. ( Side Note: I really wish True Blood had used that scene in it's original form).

#3

The movie is great. The book is better. I've read it multiple times and each time I open it up I am blown away by what Suzanne Collins is able to accomplish. There are so many different things at work that the average reader would probably not catch and yet it is part of what makes this book work so well. It is such a well done YA book.

#2

This entry proves that you don't have to write well to make it to the top of a list. The book is full of grammatical errors, typos, and very basic writing blunders. It is also at the top of the NY Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. It's also ten times more addictive than Twilight. I read the first two books in less than five days. If I was currently working, this would be the book I'd play hooky with, because everything else just doesn't seem important when you are lost in the world of Christian Grey.

#1

Okay so this is not actually a cover, it is a filler for this post. This is the inspiration for Chai Macek the main character in my Love Sex Magick series. This book has the number one spot because let's face it, I deliberately use vacation days just so that I can get lost in this book. I'm cool like that. Fingers crossed: the book has caught the eye of a couple of editors. Let's hope one of them bites. Maybe then I'll add a cover. Though I would still be willing to play hooky to read the published version of this book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Reading LIst

If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you? Would the consequences be worth it? Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time. 

THREE FEMALE FRIENDS FACE MIDLIFE CRISES IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED EXPLORATION OF SEX, MARRIAGE, AND THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE.Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-athome mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny. Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds? Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever

It's that time again. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday theme: Top Ten Books On My Spring To-Be-Read list (Note: could be new releases or just books you hope to read this spring). 

My list in no particular order:

 From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress. 

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . 

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night - dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

 

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield "protects" them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there's nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says...

Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a "dark party" to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves the most.

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Rule #1: Do not show fear.
Rule #2: Do not show pity.
Rule #3: Do not engage.
Rule #4: Do not let your guard down.
Rule #5: They lie.

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

So that is it. What is your number one read for spring?

March Madness: The Month of Submissions

A few weeks ago I planned and attended a retreat for a group of development (aka fundraising for those of you unfamiliar with the non-profit world) staff members, where we challenged each individual to bring in two 5K gifts each week for a match challenge. Now I won't get into all of the details of what a match challenge is or why this idea was particularly revolutionary to our staff. The bottom line is that as I sat in the room watching all of my peers getting psyched up about their work and the ability to set small weekly goals I realized that this was a simple tactic that could translate into my writing life.

And thus the March Madness: Month of Submissions began. Each week since I have challenged myself to submit at least two pieces of writing. Just two. That's it. And it can be any kind of writing. It is not limited to professional markets. It's not limited to fiction. It's not limited to current projects.  Just identify two possible markets and submit.

So now on March 16th, I've just finished my second week of submissions.  I had been sitting on some poems that I was rather proud of but had no idea what to do with. So I used this opportunity to research some online e-zines, literary blogs and lit journals that would make a suitable home for my work. Once I had a list of a handful of markets I simply referenced it weekly pulled from my catalogue of work and hit submit.

Here are some of the other items I intend on submitting in order to meet my goals.
--Flash Fiction.
--Poetry.
--RWA Newsletter Articles
--Queries for Novels
--RWA Contests

It's an exciting feeling, knowing your work is out there, on the verge of being seen by fresh eyes.  And I would encourage other writer's out there to give it a try. Not only does the submission goal require you to put yourself out there, but it also means building a steady body of work that you can draw from when submitting. If you want to become a daily writer a good motivation is hard deadline for submissions. You don't have to wait for a whole novel to be completed and polished. Do something fun on the side.

Top Ten Tuesday: Genre Books

I'm joining in on a new meme that sounded like fun. It's called Top Ten Tuesday and its run by the Broke and the Bookish Bloggers. Here's a quick explanation from their blog on how it works:

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

So, this week's theme was top ten books in any given genre.  Now I'm a genre junkie, so this was really difficult to do.  Because I am taking a class in YA fiction this term I have decided to use that as my springboard. So without further adieu, my top ten books (in no particular order!)

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (Okay, so there is a little bit of an order here!) I've been a huge fan of these books since they came out and am so excited about the movies. It's great for guys and gals, has incredibly strong characters and great action. I wish I wrote these books.

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Yep. I have to include it. I plan on reading these books to my children, and my children's children....and my children's children's children....

3. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. There is no use in denying it. I once was a victim of the twilight craze. All you have to do is search through some of my old posts to see my once great love for the books.  The movies may have killed that passion off but I'll give the books their rightful credit (even if the pages are laced with crack).

4. The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. I don't understand why more people aren't talking about these books. At least the first four. Cassandra Clare is fantastic and just like the Hunger Games, these books have serious action and romance.

5. Matched by Allie Condie. The second book in the series may have been a dud, but this first book, Matched, was awesome. Dystopian fiction done well, in a world where so many others have tried and failed.

6. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. This is an oldie but goodie. It wasn't required reading in my high school though I wish it had been. Such a political novel full of power, control and manipulation. It's also a quick read. A plus in my book.

7. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is a great book for slightly younger YA readers, I'd say 7th grade-9th grade or so.  Don't let the cute sketches full you. The story is full of emotional drama that may cause you to shed a tear more than once. It also deals with the very delicate issue of race in a very delicate manner. Powerful stuff.

8. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Dystopian fiction when it wasn't so cool. I remember being intrigued by this book when I read it and years later I still find myself comparing newer Dystopian novels to this book.

9.  The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.  The only, and I mean only, Zombie book I have ever enjoyed.  It is beautifully written and she even manages to introduce a romance into the plot.

10.  Red Glove by Holly Black. This is actually the second book in the series. The first I found incredibly slow and if it were up to me I would have combined books one and two because they make a much stronger story together.  Anyway, the Mob and Magic? How can you go wrong?

So there it is? Do you have any faves that I should have put on this list?

SXSW 2012!!

It’s that time again. SXSW is kicking off in Austin today and will be taking over the city for a full week and a half. As a writer, it may seem like this annual event has little to offer. It certainly isn’t an opportunity to do pitches and mingle with agents and editors. But if you are interested in technology, trends in e-publishing, or innovations in the publishing industry in general this could be a great space for you.

If you aren’t familiar with SXSW, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.

What is SXSW?

An annual music festival in Austin TX that has expanded to include a trade show, film competition, conferences, parties and more.

How big is SXSW? 

Big. Picture the biggest crowd you can possibly think of willing to venture to Texas for the week and double it. Maybe triple it. It’s not the Super Bowl, but the stats are still impressive:

—There are 92 music stages featuring more than 2000 bands

—The interactive conference (SXSWi) hosts approximately 20,000 people with more than 900 sessions

—An estimated 293 films will be screened to an audience of 66,000 people

—There will be 103 “official” SXSW partiers sponsored over the week and a half.

—There are 74 official hotels!

All in all the event brings in more than 160 million dollars to the Austin economy.  Cool, huh?

So why on earth am I writing about a music and film festival that takes place in a city I’ve never visited? Because of those 900 sessions at the interactive conference several of them are focused on publishing, the future of publishing, the technology of e-books and various other industry innovations that as an author I am completely intrigued by.  

Over the next week I will be virtually stalking Twitter and Facebook to find out what all these cool peeps attending these sessions are actually talking about. Some of the most intriguing sessions for me include:

• Potterize It! Sharing the Magic of Fan Culture 
• Unstuck: Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing 
• How to Become a Next-Generation Media Company  

• Books Win the Attention Economy
• Tracking Trends to Make Great Content
• Multiplatform Storytelling: Frontline War Stories
• Publishing Models Transforming the Book
• Storytelling Beyond Words: New Forms of Journalism

• Discoverability and the New World of Book PR
• Mother Goose Got Punked: Next Gen Visual Stories
• 140 Characters vs. 14000 Words: The New Long Form

If You’re curious check out the following article on the Publisher’s Weekly 

Blog: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/50953-sxsw-preview-what-to-see-do-attend-for-publishing-folks-headed-to-austin.html 

Or this additional post on ePublish Unum:
http://epublishunum.com/2012/02/the-definitive-digital-authors-guide-to-sxsw-2012/