POSSESS giveaway!!! !!! !!!

So, last week when I was reading POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil (see STUNNING cover to the left), I was carrying this post-it note around with all the things I wanted to say about it. Um. I can't find that post-it note now. But the word that I distinctly remember writing is "snarkalicious." Bridget Liu is simply snarkalicious. There were times when she'd make some little comment about another character or the situation she was in, and I'd just bust out laughing. Her voice is just perfect. I love Bridget. I wanna be her best friend and sit at her table at lunch and hear her snark on all the nuns and preps. She's just fun to be around.

And the STORY. Egads, the story! Gretchen jumps right into the action with an exorcism, and she never slows down. I got goosebumps reading parts of this book (and you will, too, if you find dolls at all creepy *shudder*). The ending was epic. I could picture the final scenes in my head, like a movie.

Oh, and there's a hot boy. And kissing. Just so you know. :)

Here's the summary:

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by the hunky son of the police officer who got her father killed, and by the eerie voices which she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Turns out the voices are demons--the Biblical kind, not the Buffy kind--and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them.

San Francisco's senior exorcist and his newly assigned partner from the Vatican enlist Bridget's help with increasingly bizarre and dangerous cases of demonic possession. But when one of Bridget's oldest friends turns up dead in a ritualistic sacrifice that mirrors her father's murder, Bridget realizes she can't trust anyone. An interview with her father's murderer reveals a link between Bridget and the Emim: a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the Emim's plan before someone else close to her winds up dead, or worse--the human vessel for a Demon King.

~~~
Are you salivating yet? What if I told you I have a copy to give away. Right. This. Minute?

Here are the rules:

1. Add up your entries and list them in the comments section (along with email address):

-follower = 1 entry
-tweet or facebook = 2 extra entries
-blog or sidebar = 3 extra entries

2. The contest will last until midnight EST on Thursday. Winner will be announced on Friday.

3. Contest is only open to U.S. peeps. Apologies!

Good luck!

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

Since it's my lazy day, I'm just gonna post 5 things that are going on with me.


1. My U.S. contract arrived! *dances*


2. This just in from Publishers Marketplace:


Brazilian rights to Jill Hathaway's SLIDE, to Renato Abramovicius at Novo Conceito, in a pre-empt, in a nice deal, by Alex Webb at Rights People on behalf of Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency.


So, um, yeah. SQUEE!


3. I am halfway through Carrie Ryan's THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES. I'm trying to read slowly because I don't want this series to end. Seriously, Ryan is one of the most imaginative writers ever. The things she thinks of... *shudder*


Oh, and check out this trailer! OMG, it makes me jump every time.


4. My husband is out this very second, getting my bike tuned up. Yay, spring! Yay, biking! We recently bought a trailer for the munchkin so we can do some family rides and possibly take her on RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) this summer. 


5. I have a copy of Gretchen McNeil's POSSESS that I'm going to give away very, VERY soon!

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD WINNER

And the winner is...

STARRY EYED JEN!


Congrats! I've sent you an email!

~~~

Disappointed you didn't win? Check out THIS LINK, where Shannon Whitney Messenger is giving away copies of Jackson Pearce's SWEETLY, Sarah Dessen's WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE, and Andrea Cremer's WOLFSBANE!

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD giveaway!!!

I feel like I should give fair warning here: Should you win this book, Anna will not let you sleep. She will stalk your dreams. Kendare told me that Anna gave both her agent and her editor nightmares, and I certainly had unsettling dreams after finishing the book. It's a supercreepfest! I should also add there's some really sweet, romantic parts, as well, and wonderful characters that stay with you after you've finished the last page.

If you haven't yet read the (totally freaking awesome) summary, look down a few posts. Are you syked? Siked? Psyched? (Google could not turn up a definitive correct spelling for the term.) Then enter this contest to win a signed arc of Kendare Blake's ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD!

Rules:

1. Add up your entries and list them in the comments section, along with your email address.

-1 entry for following

-2 entries for tweeting or facebooking

-3 entries for blogging about the contest or putting it in your sidebar

2. The contest will last until midnight EST on Thursday. Winner will be announced Friday morning.

3. I'm very sorry, but this contest is only open to U.S. peeps. 

Good luck!!!

how to write a synopsis in 10 steps (for people who hate synopsi)

So you have to write a synopsis. Maybe you are querying an agent who requests them (in which case you have the advantage of already having the story finished) or your editor has asked for one for your new project or you are one of those organized people who actually like to think about what will happen in the story before you write it (i.e. the opposite of a pantser (i.e. me)).

First of all, you have my sympathy. Second of all, don't take anything in this post seriously because I pretty much suck at writing synopsi. (For proof, see the synopsis I am wrestling with currently. My crit partners can back me up on this one. Although it is moving steadily into less sucky territory.)

Okay. So you have to write a synopsis. Here is what you do.

1. DON'T JUMP OFF A BRIDGE. This is important.

2. You must come to terms with the reality that you have to write a synopsis. This might entail opening a bottle of wine, watching one or two seasons of Sex and the City, buying a new couch (because the more comfy you are, the better you'll be able to think, right???), or surfing the net for articles to help you write the dang thing (like this article).

3.  Search for software that will write the synopsis for you. Download Storyist. Don't read the directions. Get frustrated when you can't figure it out in five minutes. Download Scrivener. Realize they're essentially the same thing. Read the directions. Realize SCRIVENER IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD... well, besides Peanut Butter Patties.

4. Get an idea. Run with it. Write five pages of complete and pure awesomeness. Send it to everyone you know, including your custodian from elementary school.

5. A few days pass. Realize the synopsis pretty much sucks. Apply head to desk.

6. Go back to step 1. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Spend time on step 2, as needed. Skip step 3 because YOU HAVE ALREADY DOWNLOADED SCRIVENER AND IT IS THE BEE'S KNEES!!

7. Write a whole new synopsis. Same characters, but all new stuff happening. NEW, AWESOME STUFF. That ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE. Send to crit partners.

8. Heave a sigh of relief when they seem to like it besides a few minor tweaks (MINOR as in combining the events you'd planned to put into two books so you have just one doubly awesomesauce book). Don't you heart your crit partners? Send them virtual chocolate.

9. Make tweaks. Stare at synopsis. Rejoice. Send to rockstar agent/editor/maybe the President.

10.  Sit on new couch. Watch some more Sex and the City. Wait for the offers of representation/enthusiastic thumbs up/invitations to chill at the White House to roll in. (Prepare to return to step 1.)

Note to self: Drink less caffeine before writing how-to blog posts. The all caps might be a BIT MUCH???

LIKE MANDARIN by Kirsten Hubbard

So this week, in honor of LIKE MANDARIN by Kirsten Hubbard, a ton of bloggers are talking about the people they looked up to/wanted to be like when they were teens. Before I tell you who my Mandarin was in high school, let me tell you a little about this awesome book you should pick up, like, yesterday.

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

Something about this book just rings true. Everyone's had a Mandarin at some point--a Mandarin being someone you look up to and admire. I know I've had several Mandarins throughout the years. Here are just a few:

1. Ms. O.

In middle school, I had a brilliant teacher. In fact, I'd say she's the one who made me want to become a teacher. She was a crazy ball of energy, and when she laughed she'd throw her head back and cackle at the ceiling. Everyone wanted to make her laugh. But even more than that, we wanted to make her PROUD. She didn't just hand out undeserved praise. She made us work for it. She made us believe we were capable of something great. I will never forget that about her.

2. Lisa and Laura already stole Angela Chase, so I'd have to say my high school Mandarin was a friend named Jamie. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it was that made me want to be her. Sure, she was going out with the hottest guy I'd ever seen in my entire life. But she was COOL. Not getting wasted and flashing her panties cool, but having an overnight sixteenth birthday party at Chuck. E. Cheese cool. She wasn't rich. She wasn't mega-popular. But she didn't care what people thought of her. She bought her clothes at Goodwill and flaunted it. (Of course, this was the nineties, when grunge was cool anyway.) She was curvy--not stick-thin--with this long, curly red hair, and all the guys wanted her. And I? I wanted to BE her. 

3. How can I write a list about people I want to be like and not include my mom? She's the smartest, funniest, bravest person I know. She raised me to love and respect books and stories. I remember summers when I was little--we'd swim out to this raft in the middle of the lake, and we'd soak up the sun as she told me the stories she knew by heart. On long car drives, she'd read to us about Narnia and magic coins and talking animals. Library cards were essential when we were growing up, and Sunday was my favorite day of the week--the day we'd go to the library and get to pick out all new books (worlds, adventures) to explore. Thanks for that, Mom.

So. Who is your Mandarin?

DIVERGENT winner and how I select winners

The lucky new owner of a shiny DIVERGENT arc is...

REBECCA B.


*applauds*

Rebecca, I sent you an e-mail to get your mailing information.

~~~

So I thought you all might want to know how I select contest winners. It's pretty common sense, but I want to make sure you know I'm not picking people who say "IwantthissobadIwilldieifIdonothaveitrightthissecond" or whoever I think has the cutest profile pic or whatever.

About a day before the contest ends, I make an Excel spreadsheet and start plugging in names. You get more entries if you tweeted or announced the contest on Facebook or your blog. I do the bulk of the work the day before the contest ends so I can get up nice and early (like this morning) and select a winner.

On the morning of the drawing, I check to see if anyone new has entered, and then I plug their names into the spreadsheet. So, at this point, everyone has a number (or more than one, if you are an overachiever). I go to www.random.org to choose the winner.  Today's winning number was 53; since Rebecca took up lines 52 through 57 on my spreadsheet, she gets the DIVERGENT arc.

I know. FASCINATING, right? Well. I just thought you should know how it all worked.

Anyway, I'm super psyched for a call with my editor to discuss Book #2 today. (Wish me luck!) And Kendare Blake is sending me a copy of ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD to read before I plan her Apocalypsies interview. I'm so ready to read something SCARY! Check out this cover. Is it not creepy? When I'm finished reading, I might just have a new present for you, my pretties.

Here's the description of ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD:

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . . 

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay. 

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. 

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.


Whee! Can't wait. Oh, and I'm officially on spring break now, so YAY! Much brainstorming and planning and scribbling things on post-it notes for Book #2 is planned. I am so, so excited about this new idea.

Happy Friday, my lovelies!

DIVERGENT giveaway!!!!

Okay, I know I said I'd start the contest on Monday, but I've got grades due in the morning and don't want to have to worry about getting my post up. Plus, I'm just so excited because I HAVE A COPY OF VERONICA ROTH'S DIVERGENT TO GIVE AWAY!!!! I'm sure you've heard of this book, but if not, here's the summary:


In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her.


Are you sold??? Okay, how about this: People are calling this book the next HUNGER GAMES, and it's totally deserving of the buzz! UN-PUT-DOWNABLE!!! You want this. So badly. Trust me.


Contest rules:
1. U.S. only, please. I'm SO SORRY. But I just found out what a pain in the butt it is to send something out of the country. Please don't make me go on that goose chase again.
2. Add up your entries and put them in your comment.
+1 for following Jill Scribbles
+2 for tweeting or mentioning on Facebook
+3 for blogging about contest or linking in sidebar
3. Include your email address so I can reach you.
4. The contest will end at midnight EST on Thursday night. 
5. Winner will be announced Friday.


Let the chaos begin!

2011 debut author challenge progress

Just a little update of the books I've read so far.

XVI – Julia Karr

Across the Universe – Beth Revis (so imaginative!)

Wither – Lauren Destefano

Clarity – Kim Harrington (just bought today!)

Like Mandarin – Kirsten Hubbard

Liar Society – Lisa and Laura Roecker (loved this twisty turney mystery!)

Blood Magic – Tessa Gratton

Divergent – Veronica Roth (unputdownable!)

Possession – Elana Johnson

Bad Taste in Boys – Carrie Harris

The Near Witch – Victoria Schwab

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – Michelle Hodkin

Dark Inside – Jeyn Roberts

Are you doing the 2011 Debut Author Challenge? If so, how are you doing?

the idea folder

First off, I am thrilled to announce SLIDE has officially gone to copyedits!!! Hooray! It's such a load off my shoulders to know I've finished the big revisions. Don't get me wrong. Every change my editor suggested totally improved the manuscript. She's great at asking the really hard questions that get to the root of the problem. I heart her! So now that SLIDE is pretty much finished (aside from, yanno, addressing the copyedits and then going through first pass pages and maybe second pass pages), I've turned my attention to Book #2.

For the last six months or so, I've been hoarding my ideas in a special email folder. It was fun to sort through the tidbits I've sent to myself. My favorite email? It said, "Roller coaster suicides." That's all. Yeah. I don't know what was running through my head.

So I just took two ideas and fused them together to make something new and awesome. (Ummmmm, NOT roller coaster suicides, haha.) Wrote a pitch that both I and my editor are excited about. I can't give you details because I'm paranoid, but just thinking about the story gives me goosebumps. So I hope that one works out.

Some of you may remember the ghost story I worked on last summer... UF, for short. I still love the characters and a lot of the scenes, but I'm struggling with the ending. Might put that on the back burner for a while. I came up with a synopsis for SLIDE #2, but I'm not quite sure it's where Vee needs to go next. I might need to do some more thinking on that one.

Anyway, I'm in kind of a transition period now. Maybe that's why I haven't been blogging much. Well, that and the whole teaching gig takes up a ridiculous amount of time. But spring break is coming up, and I foresee typing late into the night, freaking myself out with this new story.

Oh, and I have an exciting contest coming up next week. I'll be giving away an arc of DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. This. Book. Rocks. Very Hunger Games-esque, but totally unique, if that makes sense. I guess what I mean is that it made me feel the way I felt while I was reading THE HUNGER GAMES. Which is an amazing feat! Check back on Monday for the contest deets!

THE LIAR SOCIETY Blog Tour of Awesome

First of all, big congrats to Lisa and Laura Roecker, whose amazing debut novel, THE LIAR SOCIETY, is out today! If you haven't ordered yours yet, you might find THIS LINK helpful.

Anyway, I was a terrible friend and dug up this old post from LiLa's blog (Sept. 8, 2008):

It all started with a late-night conversation on Sunday July 27th. Two sisters, bored (quasi) housewives and a dream of making a living doing what we love - reading and writing. 2 hours later (you should see our phone bills...not pretty) we had an idea for our first novel. A brilliant idea, in our most humble opinion.

We started with an outline (because we're anal like that), and a week later we were writing our first chapter. And here's the thing...it was easy. I would write a chapter and e-mail it off to Laura, she would edit and then write the next chapter, always trying to one-up me. And now, a month-and a half later, we're putting the finishing chapters on our first draft and getting ready to send it out to friends and family for some serious editing.

So, we're either literary geniuses who write amazing, best-selling books in under two-months, or we completely suck and don't yet realize it. Keep reading and find out...

This got me thinking... If LiLa could go back in time, what would they tell themselves about the publishing process? What kind of advice would they give?

Here's what they said:

WHAT WE WISH WE KNEW BACK THEN

Short answer: One day, someone will dig up this post and you will be embarrassed.

Long answer: Publishing is a rollercoaster ride. A REALLY SLOW rollercoaster ride. But, lucky for you both, you'll stand in line with some of the most amazing people on the planet. And, let's be honest, it's not like you have anything better to do. No matter how busy you get, how many late-nights you pull, books you add to your neverending to-be-read pile, or items scrawled on your to-do list, it's all 200% worth it. Because you wrote a story (no not that story--you know, the one you thought might be a best-seller making you literary geniuses?), you wrote another story about a girl named Kate Lowry, who lost someone and vowed to figure out the truth. She's super-fun (at least you think so) and snarky and smart and independent and there are going to be young girls out there who are going to love her as much as you do, and that's kind of the hold point.

A word of advice: Don't ever take yourselves too seriously. You started writing to have fun. Remind yourselves of this from time to time. The goal is to entertain and no one else is going to have fun with your writing unless YOU have fun while you're writing it. So live it up, ladies, because you made it. Best-selling, literary geniuses? Not quite. Friend-making, rabble-rowsing* writers? That's more like it.

*FINALLY, context in which to use the word rabble-rowsing. We thought this day would never come.

Psst...we have a secret and it's SISTERHOOD. Click here, hit the plaque and type it in for a chance to win!

And if you want to enter The Liar Society Blog Tour of Awesome contest, and really, who wouldn't want to enter!?! There's a $100 Amazon gift card up for grabs! Just click here and enter the super secret password, SISTERHOOD, for an entry. Remember you can enter one time for each stop on our blog tour, so be sure to click here and see where else we're visiting this month to maximize your chances of winning.

Audi, Vide, Tace,
L