Winter Giveaway!

Success!  We have four fantastic YA books to giveaway and one fantastic New Adult book to giveaway in two separate giveaways!  Sorry for making you guys fill out the form twice - but one is international, the other is not (and different entries for each).

Below is the rafflecopter for the hardcover book giveaway.  This is for United States only, the international giveaway with ebooks is further down.

The hardcover prizes:

Deadline by Chris Crutcher.  A story of a high school teenager who finds out he is terminally ill.  Instead of undergoing treatment to possibly give him a few more "sick" years, he chooses to forgo it.  With a one year deadline, he finds out what life is really about.

Saying It Out Loud by Joan Abelove.  Based on her own experience of losing her mother when she was coming of age, Mindy has to figure out life for herself.  Her father turned inward, and her life has turned to sorrow.  Very moving and powerful piece of work.

The Rafflecopter for these two hardcover books (US only)  but don't forget the second, international giveaway below!:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to check out the other giveaway below!
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The ebook giveaway is open Internationally.  These authors have graciously donated one copy of their ebook to join the winter giveaway.

The ebook prizes:

The Between by LJ Cohen.  Lydia Hawthorne is on a good track in her life - that is until she is snatched by the Fae.  She is thrust between two warring sets of Fae, Bright and Shadow.  Lydia is supposed to choose a side, pick one side to win the war.  The fate of Fae lies in her hands, but worse, so does the fate of her family.

The Clockwork Giant by Brooke Johnson.  Petra Wade is a self-taught clockwork engineer who dreams of becoming a member of the Guild.  Emmerich, a Guild recruit, has been hired to make an automation.  Emmerich learns of Petra through a chance encounter and knows she can help him.  In secret, they build the clockwork giant, but a soon learn of a sinister conspiracy from within the Guild.

Balor Reborn by Paul Carroll - New Adult.  Fionn Murray, a university student, has to become the unwilling hero when spirit of tyrant Balor comes back with a vengeance. With his house mate Michael, Fionn must decide to run or face an evil that could consume the world. Based on the old Irish myth of Balor of the Evil Eye, this is the first in the series seeking to revive the magic of Ireland.

The Rafflecopter for these three ebooks (International):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

YA Sex and Other Things

Author and friend, Brooke Johnson, has this lovely blog and asked me to do a guest post.  I talk about the subtle side of YA sex, and also have an excerpt from one of my works in progress, A Good Criminal Heart.  I know that I wrote it, but I still say that it provides some insight to how to write YA sex, especially if you are going for a subtle feel and don't want to be so overt.

I submitted my story to the contest on a blog - and I'm sad to say that I didn't make it in... again.

I've decided to change my way of thinking of rejection.  Instead of a "no," I think of it as a "No from us."  Which, in a way, is healthy, but I worry that it's impeding the growth of my piece.

The intro probably isn't as strong as it could be.  I liked my old intro better, but a lot of people told me that it felt too promotional.

Which gives me the idea to incorporate the old intro into my query letter.  Right?

I really need to work on my query letter and get it out there again.  While this piece has received a few "No"s, it doesn't guarantee a no from everyone.  Making runner-up is a "mostly yes," and I did receive a partial request once.

In conclusion:  My piece is worth it.  I need to start submitting to other places and stop getting so hung up on the "No."  I need to stop expecting different results from the same people and circumstances (isn't that what they call insanity anyway?)

And as far as I can tell, I haven't gone insane (yet).