So for those of you who don’t know, today is the release day for TANGLED TIDES – Karen Hooper‘s debut novel! It’s about mermaids and selkies and all sorts of underwater creatures. PLUS ROMANCE! The world Karen has created is truly magical and unique…and kind of makes me bummed I don’t have a real mermaid tail.

I mean, CHECK OUT THE COVER. How does that NOT make you want a splashy tail?

And here’s the official blurb:

I mean, how AWESOME does that sound?!

As part of Karen’s release day, she’s thrown the gauntlet for an all-out UNDERWATER WEB WEB WAR! Don’t know what that means? Check out Karen’s blog, pick a team, and leave her a comment to be entered to win a copy of Tangled Tides. SUPER EASY.

Want to know who I’m rooting for? I’ll give you a hint:And why did I choose Merfolk? BECAUSE THEY HAVE TAILS! THEY CAN BREATHE UNDERWATER. AND THEY’RE THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW. I mean, the choice should be obvious. MERFOLK FTW!

Please go congratulate Karen on her debut release (@Karen_Hooper) and tweet your team choice with the hashtag #TangledTides to take part in all the web war fun! GOOD LUCK!

What’s YA CONFIDENTIAL, you ask? *adjusts sunglasses* *clears throat* Well, YA CONFIDENTIAL is a new group blog I’m working on with five other YA writers who are AHMAAAAZING.

So, what makes this blog different than other group blogs? *cinches trench coat belt* Our goal is going to uncover more about what it’s really like to be a teen.

And just HOW are we going to do this, exactly? *pops collar* *looks around furtively* *whispers* We have teen spies. We have teen spies who have special missions. And these missions are going to help us writers learn more about the very young people we’re writing about. This kind of intel can be really hard to tap into if you’re not a young adult yourself.

The thing is, if you’re an adult writing about teens, then chances are good you’re writing your characters based on (outdated) memories. Or maybe you’ve resorted to trolling around your kid’s friends so you can jot down real teen dialogue. Or maybe you’ve dissected every Justin Bieber song, hoping to bring some authenticity to the page.

NEVER FEAR, my nostalgic, creepy, Biebs-obsessed fellow adult YA writers! That’s why we created YA CONFIDENTIAL! We’re going to have teen roundtable posts where we approach our teen spies with a general topic and see what they think about it. We’re going to have our teen spies tell us what books they’re loving and why, what books/movies/tv shows get it right and why, what makes them happy/sad/stressed/anxious/etc and WHY. Everything we’re doing will be focused around the teens of today and will be accessible to YOU. How cool is that, right?

So, I hope you’ll stop by YA CONFIDENTIAL today and meet the operatives: Alexandra Shostak, Alison Miller, Karen Hooper, Cristin Terrill, Sara McClung, and yours truly.

Tomorrow, we’ll be introducing our teen spies and we’re also having a HUGE giveaway this week with some of this season’s HOTTEST ARCS, agent critiques, AND some super secret goody bags from each of the operatives. This week will be full of FUN and FANTASTICAL things and I really really REALLY hope you’ll stop by and say hello. (And don’t you also want me to stop using CAPS already??? If so, you should probably just pop on over to YA CONFIDENTIAL so I’ll stop screaming at everyone.)

Hope to see you there!

You see, I have — what I think — is a really cool idea for my WIP. It’s a contemporary love story (except when it’s not), with a twist (no sparkly fangs or anything). I’ve talked it out with some writer friends, researched for about 3 months, roughly outlined the plot, and even wrote out random scenes that popped up in my head (NOTE: I’m a total linear writer and end up a confused mess if I write out of order, so this last bit was pretty much outside the norm for me).

That’s all fine and dandy. But what’s really frustrating special with this particular WIP, is that I’ve written well over 20 versions of my first chapter. All of them are completely different. As in, different setting, different circumstances, and in some cases, different POVs. I was partially blaming this OMG SO FRUSTRATING educational writing process on cancerous subplots. So I simplified those subplots and focused on the main story line. You’d think the problem would be resolved, yes?

Apparently not.  The main sticking point I had was with the inciting incident. I didn’t HAVE one, hence the spaghetti method of Chapter One Tryouts. I mean, I knew what key scenes I wanted, I knew my characters, I knew the ENDING…but that beginning was so freaking elusive! Like a cute boy who just won’t. make. the. first. move. I’m all about girl power, which is why I kept making the first move. But I think I was too aggressive. I think I ended up scaring off my own story. Can that happen? Can you scare off your story by being too pushy? I can’t shake the feeling that if I’d just backed off a teensy weensy bit, it would’ve all come whooshing out in a 70-80K document of literary perfection. The End.

Instead I’m banging my head against a cinder block wall going “WHY WON’T YOU COOPERATE WHY WHY WHY??????”

This. Is. Me. In a FUNK.

But what I’m experiencing isn’t just with my WIP — it’s with reading, critiquing, day-job-working, even SHOPPING. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve picked up over the last few weeks only to read a good 20-30 pages and then put it down. Not because they weren’t good — some were even freaking brilliant in those opening chapters — but because I’m just sorta like, Meh. About everything apparently. And this is so opposite from me. So opposite from how I usually am about EVERYTHING. I’m a Balls-to-the-Wall kind of girl. A Ready-to-Jump-Out-of-the-Plane kind of girl.

I’m not a Meh kind of girl.

I don’t really believe in writer’s block, but I don’t know what else to call this. Maybe my writer’s confidence has been ambushed? Maybe my brain needs a vacation (17 days until Punta Cana, but who’s counting?)? Maybe I need to put this idea to the side and work on a different one? Maybe I need some tips on how to de-FUNK myself?

So what about it? Have you ever been in a LIFE FUNK? How’d you get over it?

Who am I?

What am I doing?

Is this really me?

What if I forget myself?

There’s no time.

Never enough time.

But wait.

I’m still breathing.

There’s always time.

To allow me

to be ME.

And so I opened up my laptop, clicked on a new Word doc, and just started typing. I still remember that first story. It was a paranormal romance, something about a bodyguard to the Muses, banished to the “real world” by Aphrodite who ends up falling in love with a mortal woman who also happens to be a descendant of Aphrodite. Yeah. Not very original and full of plot holes left to right. I stutter-started three times, each effort worth about 100 pages before I realized the problem was too deep to be salvaged. BUT. I loved every minute of it. The writing. The discovery. The creation. For the first time, in a very long time, I felt 100% in control.

I know some people say you should write to your audience, to let others in, to give back, to get out a message, to entertain. But I disagree with this a little. I think the more important thing to remember is you need to write for YOU. Satisfy yourself first before worrying about satisfying a reader. If you don’t love what’s on the page, how will anyone else?

Today is my birthday and I feel like this is a full circle type moment. I can look back over the past two years and see what roads I’ve taken, what words I’ve written, what characters I’ve created. For me. And today, while getting hit with all sorts of epiphanies, I heard a song that sums up everything about my current WIP that I’ve been missing. I have this album. It’s a beautiful, haunting album. I encourage you to give it a listen on iTunes or YouTube or go to the closest music store and check it out because there are so many songs on it that say everything I want to say in a much simpler, purer way.

And yeah, I don’t really have a point to this post…just wanted to say it’s a pretty amazing feeling when things feel like they’re clicking into place. Sometimes it doesn’t take much. Sometimes it only takes a whisper of a melody to remind you what you set out to do.

So my writer friend, Monica B.W., is holding an AMAZING opportunity to get your query in front of some YA agents with a special ‘Stamp of Approval’.

If your manuscript is ready to go, is Young Adult, and you have a log-line ready, then head over to Monica’s blog and check it out! The contest ends at midnight tonight so GO GO GO!!!

Visit me at Adventures in Children’s Publishing to find out!

I already expressed my thanks in my post this morning, but I wanted to tell y’all one more time how AMAZING this week has been and how GRATEFUL I am that so many of you celebrated it with me. It’s my extreme pleasure to announce the winner of:

A premium membership to QueryTracker
A copy of Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
A copy of Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
A query letter critique by me
A five-page critique by Vickie Motter, Agent Extraordinaire from Andrea Hurst Literary Management

……IS……

COREY J. POPP

CONGRATULATIONS COREY! I’ll be in touch with details on all the fabulous prizes which are now YOURS!

I’m sorry I couldn’t provide these goodies to everyone, but I’m already thinking about my next giveaway…maybe in April…and most definitely open internationally.

Until next time…Adieu!

~Dillon OUT <3

The winner of a 30-page critique from Martina Boone AND a copy of Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr is:

Rachel Harris!

Congrats Rachel! I’ll be in touch soon with how you can claim your prize.

I want to take this time to thank everyone who’s tweeted, blogged, commented, and visited during this past week. My agent story was nothing super crazy but you all have made me feel like a total rock star. I’m still in awe by the support I’ve received and I hope you’ll come back to visit me even when the giveaways are over (for now! You never know when I’ll start itching to give stuff away again!). But just know that this has truly been an AMAZING experience for me. The love! The support! The willingness to stay tuned! <3<3<3!!!

So  before I step away (until 9pm EST TONIGHT!), I want to thank the incredible ladies who made this week possible:

Ricki Schultz

Carolina Valdez Miller

Kristine Asselin

Martina Boone

Vickie Motter <– Like, for real.

So make sure you visit them often because they offer fantastic blogs with AMAZING writerly insight.

Since today is Friday and apparently no one cares what I had for breakfast *grumble, grumble* here are the AWESOME prizes up for grabs:

A premium membership to QueryTracker

A copy of Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

A copy of Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

A query letter critique by me

A five-page critique by Vickie Motter, Agent Extraordinaire from Andrea Hurst Literary Management

Just a reminder of the rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog.
2. If you want to stop by Vickie’s blog to say hello, I’m sure she’d love to hear from you!
3. Complete the entry form below to enter. You can earn extra points for blogging about this contest (include a link in the Comments) or tweeting a link back to this post (@reply me on Twitter — @CambriaDillon — and make sure to leave your Twitter user name in the Comments).

All entrants from previous days will automatically be entered into today’s contest…HOWEVER, you can still earn extra entries by blogging or tweeting about the Grand Prize Pack (just make sure to fill out the entry form). Today’s winner will be announced right here at 9pm EST.  Unfortunately, I have to limit the contest to US residents only. Sorry international folk!

And the only thing left to say is…GOOD LUCK!!!!

For those of you who don’t know her, Martina is one of the founders of Adventures in Children’s Publishing and tweets at @4KidLit. She is a non-fiction writer and editor in real-life, but young adult fiction is her passion. She likes nothing better than diving into magical new worlds, flawed characters, or manuscripts that need to be restructured. (<– Yeah, I can totally vouch for this!)

But what Martina also forgot to include in her bio *ahem* is that Adventures in Children’s Publishing hit their one-year blogiversary earlier this month, and since last March they’ve gained more than 1,000 followers and almost 175,000 hits to their site. That’s CRAZY AWESOME! Her and ACP co-founder, Marissa Graff, offer daily posts that not only provide writers with fantastic contests and critique opportunities, but also wonderful insight, resources, and inspiration. If you don’t already visit their blog, you’re missing out. So please give Martina a warm welcome!

An Idiot’s Guide to Social Networking (for Writers)

This whole social networking thing? Scary as hell. A year ago, I dipped my toes cautiously and fearfully, because I was already overwhelmed with work and family. Life. But the thing I quickly discovered was that getting online was the greatest thing I could have done for my writing. When the going got tough, writing-wise, being online in the company of other writers kept me going.

I’ve read a lot of posts that talk about social networking as a time suck. I believe it can be, but I also think it’s an incomparable gift. Writing posts on craft helps keep me focused on craft. It keeps me reading posts on technique, concept, structure, voice, character…. It gives me insight into how other writers learn. It shows me what they are getting out of the same posts or books I am reading, and the subtle differences of what they picked up versus what I learned points me down paths I might not otherwise have followed.

With social networking as with anything else, I get out of it what I put into it. And then some. That’s the trick to it.

So here’s my nugget of truth for the day. If you go in worrying about what social networking is going to do for you, you’re going to miss out. Because that isn’t the right question. What are you going to give to other writers? Other readers? What can you put out there?

The moment you do that, you get back a hundred-fold.

One of the first things I did on the blog was a query-letter critique feature. Our very first participant was Clara Kensie. And the concept in her query was phenomenal. She and I exchanged manuscripts, and then she introduced me to other writers in her critique group, which, long story short, led me to a writer named Cambria Dillon. Who had another phenomenal manuscript. And taught me so much about voice and writing that I couldn’t have gotten from a book.

You collect people when you expand your writing journey online. These people support you, prop you up, build your craft, shore up your failing confidence. They inspire you to be better, braver. They commiserate with you when you fall on your face, and they give you the opportunity to celebrate when awesome things happen. They let you know there is awesome out there.

Awesome like Cam signing with Vickie Motter.

So, congrats, Cam. And congrats, Vickie.

I’m so thankful to be here celebrating with you!

Thank you, Martina! For your kind words, honest insight, and also for reminding us that social networking isn’t just about ME ME ME but also about US US US. The writing community wouldn’t be a ‘community’ without recognizing we’re not in this alone. If we don’t give back, we’ll stunt growth — and not just someone else’s, but ours. Anyway…enough of me getting all sentimental and Hallmark-y. You probably want to know who won from yesterday, yes?

The winner of a query letter critique from Kristine Asselin AND a signed copy of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong is:

Alison Miller!!!

And in honor of today’s guest, here are the awesome giveaways for Thursday:

A 30-PAGE CRITIQUE (!) by Martina Boone

AND

A copy of Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

The rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog.
2. If you want to be eligible to win this prize pack, please stop by Adventures in Children’s Publishing and follow them too!
3. Complete the entry form below to enter. You can earn extra points for blogging about this contest (include a link in the Comments) or tweeting a link back to this post (@reply me on Twitter — @CambriaDillon — and make sure to leave your Twitter user name in the Comments).

Today’s giveaway will run until 10pm EST tonight and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s post. All other entrants will be added to the drawing for the Grand Prize Pack on Friday. Unfortunately, I have to limit the contest to US residents only. Sorry international folk!

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow to enter my final giveaway. And in case you forgot…here are the fabulous prizes one more time:

GRAND PRIZE PACK: FRIDAY (3/25)

A premium membership to QueryTracker

A copy of Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

A copy of Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

A query letter critique by me

A five-page critique by Vickie Motter, Agent Extraordinaire from Andrea Hurst Literary Management

GOOD LUCK to everyone who enters!