10th YAppiest Giveaway! “Out of Reach” by Carrie Arcos

31 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Book Reviews, YA, YAppiest, Young Adult

Tags

bothers and sisters, Carrie Arcos, contemporary, drug abuse, Elizabeth Fais, lies, methamphetamine, Out of Reach, runaways, twelve steps, YA, YAppiest Giveaway, Young Adult

17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

If you couldn’t make The YAppiest Day on Earth, never fear! The YAppiness keeps rolling with epic read giveaways by each of the 17 authors.

This is the 10th YAppiest Giveaway! For a chance to win a FREE copy of this book, see the “Here’s How” section below. For a complete list of upcoming giveaways, go here.

How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found?

Rachel learned how to lie by watching her older brother Micah. She idolized him, and they had an unspoken pact. They lied for each other. The truth about lying is that it always catches up with you.

Rachel saw the signs of Micah’s downward spiral into drug addiction. Still, she told her parents about where Micah was going, and what she knew he was doing. She told herself that he had it under control. And she almost believed it. Even after his forced stint in rehab, she believes he can handle it. That is, until the night that Micah doesn’t come home…

That’s when reality hits and Rachel’s terrified. She feels responsible. For lying to her parents. For not confronting Micah about his using. She wishes that she’d listened to Micah when he tried to confide in her.

So when she receives an anonymous note telling her that Micah is in serious danger, she jumps at the chance to make things right. Rachel reaches out to Micah’s best friend Tyler, and with nothing more than a slim lead and a lot of hope, they set out to find him. Along the way Rachel must confront her own dark secrets, her growing attraction to Tyler, and the reality that Micah isn’t going to come home until he’s ready.

This Book Should Be “Required” Reading for All Teens

I don’t make this statement that lightly. It comes from my own personal experience with a relative who was an addict. This story tackles the sad topic of drug abuse with honesty and candor. An issue that many teens deal with, but are afraid to talk about. If there’s a teen who doesn’t know an addict, they are certain to have a friend who does. Reading this story can help anyone better understand what the friend or relative of an addict is going through.

Rachel feels responsible for what happened to Micah, and that she can save him. Through the course of her search on her road trip to San Diego with Trevor, Rachel finally sees that her bother’s situation is not her fault and it’s not her job to save Micah from himself.

The power of this story is in its honesty. But as gritty as the topic of drug abuse is, this story doesn’t use it as an excuse for gratuitous violence. Rachel gets a view of the drug world into which her brother descended, but she remains a safe witness with the protection of Tyler and his friends.

Here’s how to win…

NOTE: The FREE giveaway of a copy of this book is open to residents of the United States only, due to shipping costs. My sincere apologies.

Leave a comment on this blog–explaining WHY you want to read this book— by midnight, September 7th (1 entry).
Tweet about this giveaway, including #yappiest in your tweet (1 entry).

I’ll tally the entries and choose a winner, then announce it on this blog on Monday, September 9th. Good luck!

Stay tuned for more YAppiests Giveaways!

The “Dog Days” Get a Royal Makeover

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Animals, Dogs, Humor, Summer

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Al Pacino, Bulldog, Butterfly, Canis Major, Dog Day Afternoon, Dog Days, Dog Days of Summer, Dog Star, Elizabeth Fais, equinox, Greeks, heliacal rising, precession, Romans, Royal Makeover, Sirius, Summer

Ah, the lazy days of summer…

Summer’s almost over and I haven’t done an official “summer” blog post, yet. It just seemed wrong to let the season that’s known for strawberries, road trips, fairs, amusement parks … and so much more … slip by without an official shout out.

This post will set things right.

Last year I tipped my hat to historic roller coasters, the ultimate “summer” experience. This year I wanted to do something different, to turn a summer standard on its ear … or nose, as the case may be.

The “Dog Days” of Summer

What is up with that expression, anyway? I mean, seriously. It never made any sense to me, so I did a little research…

I discovered that Dog Days refers to the sultry days of summer, which in the Northern Hemisphere is July and August. I also learned that the Dog Days go back to Greek and Roman times. The Romans associated the hot weather with the star Sirius, also known as the “Dog Star” — the brightest star in Canis Major (Large Dog). That’s because originally, the Dog Days marked the time when Sirius rose just before, or at the same time as, sunrise (heliacal rising). This is no longer the case due to the precession of the equinoxes.

Back in the 1800’s, the Dog Days took a dark turn. People believed the Dog Days were a time of great evil, when the sea boiled, dogs went mad, and people went flippin’ nuts. Hence, the title of the film “Dog Day Afternoon” starring Al Pacino.

Personally, I think the Dog Days are due for a royal makeover. I vote for happier, friendlier Dog Days…like the puppy in following clip. How about you?

The Bulldog and the Butterfly

Ghost Buddy ~ Zero to Hero by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver

26 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Book Reviews, Ghosts, Middle Grade, MMGM, Paranormal

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Book Reviews, Elizabeth Fais, Ghost Buddy, Ghosts, Hank Zipzer, Henry Winkler, LA13SCBWI, Lin Oliver, Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday, Middle Grade, MMGM, Paranormal, SCBWI, Scholastic, World's Best Under-Achiever, Zero to Hero

Billy Broccoli is starting middle school at the same school where his mother is the principal. As if that’s not bad enough, he’s also dealing with a new step-father, a bratty older step-sister, a new house—that’s really old–a new neighborhood away from his old friends.

What were the chances things could go that wrong? Apparently, a lot. Because they get worse.

His step-sister took the best room in their new-old house, leaving Billy with the lavender and pink bedroom. He soon discovers that the rainbow and pony wallpaper is the least of his worries, when a ghost materializes insisting it’s still his room, and that he’s Billy’s personal ghost.

You can see me because I’m your ghost. To everyone else, I’m invisible.”

“You’re not my ghost! I never asked for a ghost. I asked for an iPod, I asked for my own cell phone, I asked for a red BMX bike with black trim. But never, on any list, at any time, anywhere, did I ever ask for a ghost,” said Billy.

“Lucky you. I show and you didn’t even have to ask. You hit the jackpot, ducky.

Hoover Porterhouse II is a fourteen year-old ghost—going on 114—with a tweaked sense of humor and a whole lot of attitude. So much ‘tude, he’s failed his celestial progress reports for 99 years. The thing is, if he doesn’t clean up his spirit-ual act fast, he’ll be haunting the same plot of ground for eternity. And the Hoove would rather die again than let that happen.

So when an obnoxious school bully sets out to trash Billy’s reputation, the Hoove swoops in with an action plan for revenge. The Hoove helps Billy find the courage to set things right, and the Billy shows the Hoove the honorable way to stand up to a bully. In the end, the Hoove’s grade in Helping Others shows improvement, Billy rules the school, and it all comes down to the Hoove’s Rule Number Forty-Two: Stay cool.

Wholesome Hilarity & A Lot More…

They had me at Ghost Buddy, and Zero to Hero clinched the deal. I had to read this book. Since I’ve already ~~gushed~~ written a lot about this story, I’ll keep this briefer. Here’s what makes this story special:

The quirky characters: The cast of secondary characters are as quirkily fun as Billy and the Hoove. There’s the geeky dentist step-father with his “teeth ties”, the diva older step-sister with her own rock band, and the school-bully neighbor who has a secret you won’t believe.
The family conflicts: The interactions between Billy, his mother, step-father, and step-sister all ring true. It’s easy to empathize with Billy and his adjustment to the new family dynamics and his new neighborhood, home, and school.
The blast-from-the past culture clash: The colloquial language gap between the Hoove—who turned 14 ninety-nine years ago—and Billy adds an amusing layer of texture.
The gender-neutral fun: Billy’s anxieties and dilemma’s will be as appealing to girls as they are boys. I bought this book for my eight year-old niece, and I know that she’ll love it.
The lesson without a lecture: This story does an amazing job of addressing the topic of bullying—along with the appropriate way to stand up to a bully—with ease and grace.

Luckily, we don’t have to wait to find out what happens next…

About the Authors

Henry Winkler and Lin Olver are the New York Times Bestselling authors of the Hank Zipzer: The World’s Best Under-Achiever series.

Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler have accomplished some amazing things in their exceptional careers, but they’re most proud of the books they write for young readers.

They gave a workshop on Writing Humor at the recent Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Summer Conference, that I’ll do a blog post on soon. Promise! In the mean time, you can read the Official LA13SCBWI conference blog here. [Photo by moi]

9th YAppiest Giveaway WINNER! for Lish McBride’s “Necromancer” Books

25 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Books, Giveaway, Winner!, YAppiest, Young Adult, Zombies

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Elizabeth Fais, Hold Me Closer Necromancer, Lish McBride, Necromancer, Necromancing the Stone, Paranormal, Snarky Horror, Winner, YAppiest Giveaway, Zombies

17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

The 9th YAppiest Giveaway! is for the two “Necromancer” books, by Lish McBride: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing the Stone. These books are beyond amazing!

And the Winner Is…

~oOo~

… Drum roll please …

Dalene Kolb

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

*** Tosses copious amounts of confetti! ***

~oOo~

I’ll contact you for your snail-mail address.

Coming Up Next!

The 10th YAppiest Giveaway! for Out of Reach, by Carrie Arcos is just around the corner, so…

Stay Tuned!

For a complete list of YAppiest Giveaways, go here.

Demystifying the Logline with the “ACME Instant Logline Generator”

20 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Blake Snyder, Save the Cat!, Story, Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

ACME Instant Logline Generator, Blake Snyder, Elevator Ptich, Elizabeth Fais, Hollywood, LA13SCBWI, Logline, Matthew Wright, Save the Cat!, SCBWI, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Story

The Illusive, and Often Anxiety Inducing, Logline

We writers spend months, sometimes years, slaving over a novel in order to get the story just right. Then we’re told we have to boil down our labor-of-love—with its three-dimensional characters, intricate plot and subplots, and dynamic dialog—into one sentence (of 25 words or less).

This is known as a logline, or elevator pitch. Some say it is what you have to have to get your dream agent / book deal. Yeah, no pressure there. Right. Tell it to this guy.

Believe it or not, publishing gremlins did not spend months dreaming up loglines as a new and entertaining way to torture writers, both published and pre-published. Hollywood has been using loglines since Hollywood became… well … Hollywood. That’s because, loglines are a quick way to test out story ideas.

The secret, I learned from Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat!” approach to story structure, is to perfect your logline BEFORE you write your 400 page tome. This is because…

If you don’t have a solid logline, you don’t have a solid story.

Loglines Aren’t Just for Hollywood Anymore

At the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference in Los Angeles (check out the #LA13SCBWI blog), the topic of loglines came up in several workshops. Children’s authors are not immune from needing a good logline anymore.

Blake Snyder aptly described the value of a good logline:

A good logline is the coin in the realm of Hollywood and can be traded like currency with those who appreciate it.

“How do you grab that illusive gold logline coin for your story?”

It’s easy! Use the ACME Instant Logline Generator.

I’ve come across several logline formulas, but the easiest and the most fun is the ACME Instant Logline Generator.

I wish I could take credit for the genius behind the ACME Instant Logline Generator. But this unique and humorous one-from-column-A and one-from-column-B method of demystifying the process for creating a logline was devised by M.J. Wright, an author whose blog I follow. You can view the originial blog post here. Or, read the reblogged version here…

The ACME Instant Logline Generator

All novels need a logline, sometimes also known as a hook line – a single sentence that describes the plot and acts as a sale pitch to agents and publishers.

The form is usually “[Character name], [character description] has to [action] in order to [result].”

The result usually has an emotional content. Hard to winnow your story down to it? Try this. Begin with the logline instead. All you need, in fact, is a six-sided dice. Roll once for each variable and complete the sentence:

1. Roger Dodger the old Codger,
2. Peregrine Hyphen-Hyphen Folderol,
3. Snoot,
4. Adele,
5. Eric,
6. Heinz Dasistwirklicheinesehrdummelangeswortistesnicht von Abernatürlichistesjaabsolutichdenkeso of Sehrgutwerdeichgehenundhöreaufmeinekraftwerkalben,

1. a world-renowned horologist,
2. a rock god,
3. an up-and-coming railway enthusiast,
4. a truck driver specialising in cab-over series Macks,
5. an unemployed random-generator writer,
6. a rodent exterminator,

has to

1. win a challenging drag race
2. build a box-girder bridge with a toothpick
3. write a vampire fan-fic novel
4. learn how to sing and dance
5. cook a souffle
6. defeat the evil Thog monsters from Planet Zil

in order to

1. become the Ruler of the Universe.
2. rescue beloved from certain doom.
3. be home in time for tea.
4. get to Buckingham Palace and receive a knighthood.
5. audition for ‘America’s Got Talent’.
6. finish up at the beginning again, only better for it.

Have fun.

If you need more intel before tackling a logline, no worries! Nathan Bradford wrote a great post on How to Write a One Sentence Pitch that you can read here.

Easy peasy? You know it!

Your dream agent/book deal is just a logline away.

9th YAppiest Giveaway! TWO “Necromancer” Books by Lish McBride

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Book Reviews, Giveaway, Supernatural, Thriller, YAppiest, Young Adult, Zombies

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Bigfoot, Elizabeth Fais, Garden Gnomes, Hold Me Closer, Lish McBride, Magic, National Book Award Winner, Necromancer, Necromancing the Stone, Seattle, Sherman Alexie, Snarky Horror, Washington, Were-Bear, Werewolves, Witches, YAppiest Day on Earth, YAppiest Giveaway, Zombies

17 YA AUTHORS + DISNEYLAND = THE YAPPIEST DAY ON EARTH!

If you couldn’t make The YAppiest Day on Earth, never fear! The YAppiness keeps rolling with epic read giveaways by each of the 17 authors.

This is the 9th YAppiest Giveaway! For a chance to win a FREE copy of these books, see the “Here’s How” section below. For a complete list of upcoming giveaways, go here.

Lish Dishes Snarky Horror at its BEST!

I was only going to feature Necromancing the Stone, the second Necromancer book by Lish McBride, in this giveaway. Then, I read the jacket flap for the first Necromancer book, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, and had to read it first. Am I glad I did! The two Necromancer books compliment each other perfectly. For optimum satisfaction, you should read them both.

To paraphrase (and only slightly change) a quote for the first Necromancer book made by Sherman Alexie, National Book Award Winner:

This is a funny scary book [series] OR a scary funny book [series]. In either case, it’s a GREAT book [series]. I LOVE it.

The [series] additions are mine. But trust me. This quote sums up both books, and that’s why I’m giving them away as a set to one lucky winner.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Book 1)

Sam hates his underwhelming life—a college drop-out facing a life sentence as a sometimes-fry-cook and most-of-the-time-counter-jock at Plumpy’s burgers.
But that changes when a bad shot in rogue game of parking-lot-potato-hockey damages the wrong car, introducing Sam to the one man who can, and will, make his life hell.

Sam knows Douglas Montgomery is dangerous the moment he sees him. Expensive suit aside, Douglas is a psychopathic killer and necromancer who raises the dead for cash. Not the kind of guy you want to piss off. Something Sam accomplishes by just being who he is: bad at hockey and a necromancer Douglas sees as a threat. The thing is, Sam didn’t know about his necromancing heritage, leaving him at an extreme disadvantage. Thanks, mom.

Douglas kidnaps Sam to eliminate his competition, and perform a few torturous experiments. The upside to being trapped in a magical cage in a scary basement is Brid, the amazing female werewolf he’s forced to share his cage with. The only chance Sam and Brid have at surviving, is for Sam to defeat Douglas by embracing his necromancer powers. Yeah? That’s a long shot. The good news is, they’re in in Seattle where there as many paranormal types as coffee houses. Plus Sam’s good heart is a wildcard that stacks the deadly deck in their favor.

What I loved most about this book:

I didn’t know what a necromancer was before I read this book. Even so, McBride’s seamless world building, realistic characters, and witty banter created a charmed suspension of disbelief from the first page to the last. I loved the snarky humor and the quirky cast of characters. The tight pacing kept me on the edge of my seat, and that fact that this story never took itself too seriously had me laughing while I kept turning the pages.

Necromancing the Stone (Book 2)

Sam is shocked that he defeated Douglas, inherited his seat on the paranormal council, as well as his house (more like mansion) and material wealth—including a shape-shifting servant. Then there’s Sam’s werewolf girlfriend Brid, who’s next in line to lead her pack. He never thought he’d score a girl as amazing as that.

From fry cook to financially independent. Sam LaCroix is having to get used to his new life. But things were looking up, right?

Um . . . not so much.

His girlfriend’s pack insists on training Sam so he can protect himself, and he’s tired of getting beat up by everyone, even the garden gnomes. Douglas’ house is downright creepy, his best friend is a were-bear (because of him), and someone is threatening his sister. Sam knows he’s got powers, but doesn’t know how to use them. An epic fail waiting to happen.

When Brid’s father and leader of their pack is murdered, all signs point to Sam. When everything else starts falling apart, Sam is forced to step up and take control and only finds more questions. Like, is Douglas really dead?

What I loved most about this book:

The cast of characters gets quirkier and their antics laugh-out-loud funnier, especially the garden gnomes. The snark keeps rolling too, keeping a refreshing balances with the intensity Sam is forced to face. While the first book focuses on Sam coming to terms with his necromancing heritage, the second book focuses more on Sam’s relationships, how his choices affect those relationships, and how he grows from them.

I’m risking a spoiler alert here, but this book also reveals Douglas’ story, weaving in flashbacks of Douglas’ early life; snapshots of events that ultimately turned him into the villain we met in book 1. McBride succeeds in making us feel empathy for the Douglas Montgomery. No small task. So much so, that I actually cried when he met his final demise. [end spoiler alert]

While slightly slower paced than the first book in this series, this book is ultimately more powerful. It offers a satisfying culmination, while leaving openings for future stories to grow.