Why Vampires/Werewolves/Faeries (???) should never be British

Honestly, I'm not uber-Patriotic or like, British-obsessed. I just wanted to share my thoughts on a few paranormal romance staples that just WOULDN'T work in Britain. I mean, I'm not a total expert, because I'm a contemporary kinda girl. And I'm not saying UK pnr romance writers are rubbish (I'm sure they're just as awesome as their US counterparts), just that our little isle is ill suited to shmexy vampire shparkleeee timez.

First of all, our town names are boring.

I've seen the summaries: "Someday Dreamer is just an average girl from Enchantment, Ohio". Or Paradise, Texas. Or Sunrise, Indiana.

Basically, US towns have these dreamy-sounding towns way more suited to witty little metaphors/titles/comments than the UK. Tell me this doesn't sound rubbish: "Anne Brown is just an average girl from Grimsby, Yorkshire." The closest we come to cool names is really grim (ha) ones like Black Dog and No Man's Land (both actual places). And Grimsby, and Hull.

Secondly, not many of us UK teens can drive. So no midnight car chases/hot pnr boy skidding into a car park to save us from thugs.

In the UK, driving age is seventeen. No practicing before that, and no going straight out in your car on your seventeenth birthday, because there is a crapload of paperwork to fill in and send off before you can actually drive.

Our streets are tiny and windy, so town/city dwellers don't usually bother to drive if there's nowhere to put their car.

Plus, insurance is shockingly expensive. So unless your boy was as rich as Midas/Edward Cullen, he would have to save you from the car park thugs (get me, Twilight reference) and then your romantic lunch would have to consist of Morrisons Bettabuy sandwiches and reduced Scotch eggs sitting in the car in said car park, because a romantic meal would probably be too expensive.

And most UK teens don't learn to drive till about 18, so that's another setback.

No ultra-expensive, super-fancy glass houses in the woods. Because you have to get planning permission for that sh*t.

And chances are, the woods are owned by some local farmer who doesn't want a wolf pack running through them, or some rich vampires setting up home there. You go climbing trees with Vampire boy, and he'll be down the bottom with his gun. Still, at least vampire boy'll be safe, because farmers don't tend to shoot silver bullets.

So that's it, people. Can anyone else think of reasons why the UK is totally unsuited to sparkley, bitey goings on?

And does anyone agree that Queen Elizabeth and Edward would make a TOTALLY awesome fan fiction? So long as Eddy doesn't eat the corgies...

Cover Lust Tues - okay, Sunday. The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight

So much to love.

The Vans trainers. The grass background (did I tell you I love grass backgrounds? I think it's the farmer in me). The pretty writing. That little aeroplane.

Granted, the guy's hairless legs are a bit weird, but still. I lust this cover.

Why did I buy the hardback?

Sorry I can't get a better, less pixelated picture, but I guess you'll have to buy it to find out.

The UK cover is rubbish, in my opinion. I probably wouldn't pick it up, if it was on a shelf in my local WHSmith. Here it is below to compare \/ \/ \/

What do you think? Do you guys love the first cover too? Or are you more of a fan of the UK one?

Writing Brits (Limeys?) in YA

Finally, an advice post where I am a sort of expert in the matter! British and a teenager! This isn't random, by the way - it started with reading two books that made me think. I liked both books, and I'm lauding them as good examples, but let's just call them the 'Angsty Girl' book and the 'Aeroplane trip' book.

What have they got in common? A Brit boy love interest. Yeah, I'm going to focus on boys. It's more fun.

(come on, it's what we're all thinking. Yeah, I'm not the biggest Harry Styles fan)

Apparently, British boys are hot (the accent, etc). I'm kind of used to it, so it's not particularly exciting to me, but even I am not immune to the Mr Darcys - scratch that, Mr Tilneys - of this world. And, excluding Harry Styles/SuBo, I love One Direction.

And as a British reader of a lot of US YA, I find it frequently hilarious when the Brit boy becomes a combination of Prince William and Dick Van Dyke, constantly mentioning 'blokes' and such. So here is a list of five dos and don'ts for writing hot Brit boys...

5) Don't engineer situations for your Brit boy to 'show off' his dialect/language. Unlike the LI in 'aeroplane book', I have never once heard a boy call a fly a 'bloke'. It just doesn't work.

4) We're not all from London. Most of us Brits are actually from *gasp* other places. Also, in London there's accents other than cockney or hooray henry posh. I live four hours away from London, and I've only visited the place 4 times in my entire life.

3) One slang word I'd love to hear more of is 'fit'. Translation: Hot, stunning, great body. Works for girls too. i.e. "One Direction are so fit - shame about that minger Harry". So common is the UK that we don't use it to describe a well-exercised person anymore, in case they got the wrong idea. But good news, 'angsty girl' book mentioned it!

2) Brit boys do not wear suits as leisure wear. 'Angsty girl' book was guilty of this - the LI was always dressed in a skinny shirt/trousers/tie, always a bit rumpled etc. Yes, the majority of our schools wear uniform, granted. Consequently, then, boys don't fancy wearing ties in their time off. One Direction are the exception to this, because Simon Cowell wants them to be a brand. In reality, the boys I know wear Abercrombie/Hollister t-shirts (American), cream chinos or jeans, and Vans/Converse trainers (American).

1) There may only be about 60 million people in Britain, but only a tiny percentage of us have met the royals. Most teenage boys don't give a flying monkeys about Will or Kate. The only conversation I've ever overheard about the royal family between teenage boys went like this:

"You watch the royal wedding?"

"Yeah. Boring. Bride's sister was fit, though."

"Yeah! Her bum!" *lots of phwoars etc*

"Who would you snog, Kate or Pippa?"

*lots of umming and ahhing*

"Well, who?"

"Your mum."

Obviously this is a nice blog, so I've sanitised it a lot, but you get my drift.

If I sound patronising I don't mean to be - about 90% of my books are US YA - I just want to save American teen girls from coming over to England in their gap year after high school, and being thoroughly disappointed that none of the boys are wearing suits or chatting on their mobile phones to Princess Beatrice. And if a Brit boy calls you fit, you're in there...

What do you think? Ever read any brit boy love interests who've made you cringe? Which authors do it right? And which brit authors write Americans badly?

And finally, can anyone guess which books 'Aeroplane book' and 'Angsty girl book' are?

Yay Awards! In the plural! And a video you HAVE to see

Well, I'm back! Internet is finally fixed, and current WIP is nearly 30,000 words...JuNoWriMo here I go!

Anyway, two lovely bloggers have nominated me for two lovely awards:

Sarah from Word (en)Count(ers) nominated me for the Reader Appreciation Award

And

Katharina from My Writing Journey nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award - so perhaps random rambling about the nineties and weird Harry Potter photos aren't totally pointless!

The photo above is my happy face (although technically it's not me, because then I would be a frightening freak baby who could type).

Because I'm not very good with this linking thing, I'm going to nominate seven bloggers overall (3 for one award, four for another), but first for the Reader Appreciation award I'm to tell you what I'm doing, writing wise.

Well, as I mentioned above, I'm about 3/5ths through my new WIP! happy times. If I could describe it, I'd say it's BEFORE I DIE meets THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE meets FIVE DAUGHTERS. If people don't know about five daughters, it's a UK drama aired a few years ago, about the five victims of a serial killer, all prostitutes - and how because of their profession, they got hardly any compassion from the press and public.
In my WIP, it's the older brother of the main character who has died, and she and her male best friend discover an unusual way to feel closer to him (no ghosts or vamps here).

And apparently for my Versatile Blogger award, I am going to share seven random facts about myself. I've done this recently, but I'll dredge up some more embarrassment ;) :
1) I can date costume dramas to the decade (or five years) by the costumes, and my current Shiny New Idea revolves around one...
2) My cats are called Fizz and Gripper, and Gripper is a total softie who got given the name because Dad wanted irony and a guard dog!
3) I'm obsessed with this folk singer called Seth Lakeman, who sings about Dartmoor. His playing gives me the chills, in a good way.
4) I've now officially left school *sadface*, which means I'm an adult and I have to leave home for university *even sadder face but with excited eyes*
5) I'm a MASSIVE Austen fan but I hate Pride & Prejudice. Elizabeth is too smirky, and Mr Darcy reminds me too much of Edward Cullen.
6) I lambed my first sheep at nine years old.
7) I spent most of my IT (computer) lessons writing books, but I still got an A grade #fluke

And my nominated bloggers are:

For the Versatile Blogger Award:

- Jaybird at Bird's Nest

- Carissa Taylor

- Daisy Carter at Fresh as A Daisy

And for the Reader Appreciation Award:

- Sarah at The Strangest Situation

-  Kyra Lennon at Write Here, Write Now

- a random one, and a fave, The Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century

- all the bloggers at YATopia

So, check all these blogs, people, because they are awesome.

And to leave you with a laugh, here is the best video you will ever see (although I'm biased, because I'm in it and helped make it). It's a parody of WHAT I GO TO SCHOOL FOR by Busted, which is all about the boys being in love with the hot teacher. We made it to celebrate the end of our Senior year, because we don't get graduation here in the UK. Of course, being us, our tutor group/form decided to make our video with our fifty something teacher, who is a total sport.

Look out for me, I dance on a table! Enjoy:

What do you think of our acting skillz?

I hate technology. And the nineties.

I'm really stressing out, because my computer has died. I can still write (thank goodness), and it's increased my words-per-day amount by so much (my last book's first draft was 62,000 words, took me about 5-6 months to write, and this one I started about ten days ago and I'm on 20,000 words!), but I can't check my emails. I've got two fulls out with awesome agents, and for all I know they could have given me an offer or a rejection by now :(

Basically, we got hit by lightning. Just our house, and my grandparents next door. Tomorrow is the last day I have internet for about ten days, but I can't access my emails because they are on the home computer! It doesn't help that I am a nineties kid, brought up with casette tapes, VCRs, those massive camcorders that you needed swimmer's shoulders to carry, and computers and TVs that were as deep as they were wide or high. Plus we didn't get a computer till 2004, and internet 2006.

So to cheer myself up, here are some photos to prove that the nineties were not cool in any way:

<<<<< The boyband 'curtains' haircut, which all the older boys had.

 

 <<<<< Closely followed by the 'Gareth Gates', where the boys would use great globules of sticky gel to gel their hair into stiff little spikes. This really was my era, and I am so glad that boys now have the freshly-washed side fringe thing going on. Here's GG himself.



And don't forget, for the girls, the 'Rachel':

And  'scrunchie chic':

So that's the hairstyles, and I admit I worked that scrunchie chic the best I could ;). Who else not-so-fondly remembers the nineties, with its baggy-shellsuited boy bands, oversized shoulders and jewellery, neon clothing and dodgy haircuts? And did you have a bad haircut back then?

UK YA - not hiding in the shadows any more!

I was visiting the Absolute Vanilla blog, and I read this post about a brand new website for and about UK YA writers and readers. It's called www.ukyabooks.wordpress.com and it is made of awesome. And I also think it's important, because when I looked at my bookshelves, about 90% of the YA was American.

I think this is because US YA is so well-developed as a genre, and the characters are usually older, and hey, they can go on road trips! In the UK, you can travel from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in Scotland in about seven hours. Great road trip, right? Hardly enough time to fall in love and discover meaningful self-truths or whatever it is road-trippers do.

Oh, and there's a #UKYA hash tag thingie on twitter, which means nothing to me but might to others of you. Get tweeting, peeps!

Next post is going to be about a UK YA book that I've just read, which freaked me out and made me think and I'm going to review it for you all to check out.

First, though, because I can and because it's British, here are some funny Harry Potter pictures for you all!

Cover Lust Tuesday: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Isn't it gorgeous? The way the sun shines over the high hedge, and her smile, and the way the dress is yellow like the title...gah. This is one of my favourite cover lust tuesday covers, for so many reasons.

If I got a book published and it had a cover like this, I would be so happy. Well, until I remembered that my book is a YA contemp about murder, revenge, and madness, and then I would probably have a bit of a meltdown at the thought of readers picking up the lovely sunny-covered book and getting a boy being chased barefoot through a stormy British woodland on the first page. Then they'd be like - WTH? And I would get some seriously weird reviews on Goodreads.

Who's with me that this cover is great? And does the book live up to it - anyone read it?

*Smiles Sunnily* I've won an award!

Yay! First of all, thanks to Carissa Taylor for nominating me for the Sunshine Award :) I highly recommend checking out her blog, because it's awesome.

Sorry I haven't been blogging much recently - I'm in the middle of my A2 exams (senior finals, UK style), so I'm stressing out and sticking up sociology revision cards in my bathroom (although my dad always ends up learning more than me ;)).

Anyway, here is my top ten random facts:

1) I am slightly obsessed with 1960s pony books, and I have about 100 at home.
2) I'm left-handed, and wrote my name backwards for about 3 years. As in, mirror-backwards. Because my dad's dyslexic, they were worried I was too, but then I turned out to be a grammar and spelling obsessive and the teachers stopped worrying.

3) I have 2 miniature shetlands called Nymph and Luna.

4) When I was 9, I went through a phase where I was terrified of vampires. Not the sparkly glitterpeen kind, but the bad-ass murderous kind. I slept with my Child's Bible and a silver cross beside my bed for a whole year.

5) My closest celebrity connections are that my cousin's best friend went out with the singer Joss Stone at school (and then dumped her for being a hippy), and last year I was in the same art group at school with a boy who is now a top catwalk model.

6) I live 3 miles away from the sea, with many hills and valleys in between, but when it's windy I can hear the sea crashing.

7) When I first started school, I was the only girl in my year group. There were 4 of us in total, and I'm still a real tomboy.

8) I pride myself on buying cheap clothes, and will tell everyone who complements me on my outfit that "the shirt only cost £2!"

9) When I was seven, I took my SATs test (a UK thing I think) and the teaher called my parents in because apparently my English/language/writing skills were that of a clever eleven year old. And it helped that I was writing my name the proper way by then, too.

10) I am obsessed with old country houses, like the ones in Jane Austen. I spent an entire childhood visiting National Trust houses every Sunday with my family, and now, at 18, I'm addicted. Yes, I'm aware it's not cool.

And my ten questions:

1) Pantser or Plotter?
Pantser all the way, guys. For my current WIP, I've got a sort of structure, because it's all about a list, but I'm 100% pantser.

2) Do you listen to music while writing?
Yes and no. No, if I'm writing a difficult scene, one where I can't quite figure out the words for my characters. Yes, if I'm writing a scene I've already totally worked out in my head, because a bit of crashy angsty Evanescence always helps ;)

3) What genre do you write in?
YA Contemporary all the way. I haven't got the skillage to write paranormal bad boys, because I just end up laughing - so you pnr writers, I admire you.

4)Books on writing you recommend?
Writers' and Artists' Yearbook?

5) Which are your favourite authors?
Gail Giles, K.M. Peyton, Gillian Phillip, Hannah Moskowitz, John Green, the Pullein-Thompson sisters (for epically good pony books)...I could go on forever.

6) How long have you been writing?
Since I was 14, properly (aka books). So 4 years.

7) What is your fave part of the writing process?
Ooh. Probably a tie between finishing the first draft (oh, the relief!) and getting a Shiny New Idea. The can't-eat-because-I'm-so-excited feeling of a new idea is great.

8) How do you capture ideas when you are on the go?
I get most of my ideas on the go. When I'm on the bus I always listen to my iPod and that's when I get my best ideas.

9) How do you handle bad reviews?
One day, I will hopefully get a book published and then no doubt the bad reviews will roll in, but for the moment I'm going to have to say N/A. Hopefully this'll change!

10) Worst writing mistake you make?
Comma splices, too many commas, commas in the wrong places, overlong sentences...you get the idea. Commas hate me because I love them too much. As you'll probably notice in every single on e of my blog posts.

So that's all, folks. I realise I sound pretty boring, but I'd like to think I'm more interesting in real life! I can't narrow it down to ten people, so I'm going to nominate the first ten people who comment on this post - fire away, people!

Dust It Off Bloghop: Day 2 & Day 3 (because exam revision is a killer!)

I know, I'm awful, but I've been revising sociology, feminist/marxist/funtionalist/new right perspectives on The Family/Education/Religion (yes, 2 years in one, people - I must be mad!). So, first of all, here's my excerpt of FREEING FERGUS REILLY: (to put it in context, Fergus has been found in a compromising position with his lady-love's evil best friend Mia, but it was all a set-up)

'Oi - POTATO!’
Fergus grimaced – he doubted anyone would be shouting at an actual potato, so he assumed that this was some idiot’s idea of an anti-Irish joke.

He turned around. ‘Very good – because I’ve never heard that one before.’

Liam Parker ignored him, and started to approach. There was murder in his eyes. Mia must have told him what had happened – but not before putting her own spin on things, the bitch.

‘Come over here and face me like a man, leprechaun,’ Liam carried on angrily, although he was obviously struggling to think of more insults.

Fergus walked calmly up to him, and was pleased to find that, far from being a ‘leprechaun’ he was slightly taller than Liam. Liam looked a little unnerved, and for a moment seemed like he was going to lose his cool. He stayed silent, but something was brewing, his face slowly going red. Whether it was with anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.

Daisy, Faith and Mia were shooting him evil looks, and turned to glance at Liam’s friends, who were looking slightly awkward but at the same time, aggressive. Alex, ever the conscientious objector, was biting his lip and seemed rather worried.

Fergus turned back to Liam again.
‘Sorry, where were we?’ He raised an eyebrow, and tried to ignore the feeling of unease that was making his stomach churn.

Smack! Liam’s fist connected with his jaw. White-hot pain shot up his face, nearly as bad as when his dad hit him. He stumbled backwards, and Liam looked smug.
‘Leave Mia alone, freak, and go back to Daisy – I know you Irish like gingers.’

In a second Fergus had jumped on an unsuspecting Liam. The pair fell to the floor, raining down punches, kicks, and (in Liam’s case) pulling hair. A small crowd of younger boys had gathered and were chanting ‘fight, fight, fight!’ with obvious enjoyment, and Alex, Daisy and Faith were looking on anxiously, anger forgotten. Daisy in particular was in turmoil – she knew what Fergus had done to Mia, but she wasn’t sure she wanted him to get hurt too badly.

Liam was going in for the kill.

And what have I learnt from writing FREEING FERGUS REILLY?

Well, I was just about finished with FFR when I found the amazing writers' forum http://www.absolutewritewatercooler.com/ , and I learn so much from there that I realised what a trainwreck FFR actually was (hey, I was 16...). But emerald eyes, Mary-Sues, stereotypes and teachers who were more promiscuous than the Desperate Housewives aside, the most important thing I learnt was that edgy/gritty/dark contemporary YA was what I wanted to write the most. FFR wasn't exactly gritty, I'd call it a slightly edgy romance, but I realised I loved writing angst, so write angst I did. Oh, and I learn a heck of a lot about dialogue, grammar, and formatting, too.

Finally, thanks to Theresa and Cortney for this fab blogfest!

Dust It Off Bloghop - My Pitch!

First of all, thanks to Theresa Paolo and Cortney Pearson for hosting this bloghop (that I only discovered today, but better late than never!).

So I'm gonna cheat and use Theresa's words to sum up what the blogfest is about:

The Dust It Off Bloghop will be three days, May 3rd, 5th and 7th. We've all had those manuscripts that we poured our heart into, fell in love with the characters and still think of them at random, but unfortunately had to shelf. Now it's time for a little spring cleaning. Take out those manuscripts and Dust It Off!

The first day, May 3rd: We want you to post a 1-2 sentence pitch (Great way to practice pitches) about the shelved WIP.

The second day, May 5th: Post your favorite excerpt (300-350 words)

The third day, May 7th: Post what you learned from this WIP. You become a stronger, more rounded writer which each manuscript and we want to know what this particular work taught you.

You can participate in all three and we hope you do, but you don't have to. We know you have lives away from the computer. If you can great. If not we'd be happy with anything you can give us :)

Day 1 prize: A book. Who doesn't like a free book? Cortney's Book: Ditched by Robin Mellom (So jealous!!) My book: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Andersen

Day 2 prize:A query critique

Day 3 prize:A FULL MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE!!! (And of course it is the manuscript of your choice. It doesn't have to be for the shelved WIP. This goes for the query as well.)

And here's my query letter for FREEING FERGUS REILLY, the YA contemp that I had to shelf because I wrote it a couple of years ago when I was 16 and I still had a LOT to learn (I still do, probably!):

Sixteen year old Daisy refuses to be a Plain Jane for one more second. She spends her school days trailing around after the beautiful and fickle Mia like a lost puppy, longing to move away from the dull safety of her village, and become someone altogether more exciting than 'Mia’s Friend’. Riding horses is just the escape Daisy needs. In the fields and woods surrounding Westworth, she is finally the best, the fastest, the most talented. When a wild, thrill-seeking rides goes horribly wrong she meets Fergus, and realises that perhaps her problems aren’t all that bad.

Because Fergus is the opposite of Daisy. Far from enjoying the attention and popularity that Daisy yearns for, he shrinks from the spotlight, and hopes no one will notice the constant bruises inflicted by the one man who should protect him, and the fear and hurt that he tries to hide behind his cheerful swagger. But Daisy sees through the bravado, and together they escape their respective troubles by show jumping, a shared passion. They start to fall in love while practicing to enter the prestigious Wycombe horse show. Both know that there will be consequences for competing, some worse than others. But unless they take risks, how can they can ever truly be free?

Teen Cliches - Top Five That Are Actually True

Seeing as it's May and a very important (and terrible) month in most 17/18-yr-olds' lives - final exams month - I figured what better way to commemorate it than a blog post about being a teen. And by that, I mean the cliches that are not just tired cliches, but very much real life. As an 18-yr-old still in school, I can vouch for this.

So if you're writing a YA novel, and you have a whacking great big cliche, don't worry that much - so long as your mean girl has motives, desires, personality, weaknesses etc - aka she's a 3-D character - you'll be okay.

Oh, and another thing - anyone who hasn't clicked the magical 'follow' button up the top of the page, please click it - you get three wishes! (okay, I'm lying, but I really want to hit the 50 followers mark, so clicky the linky, folks).

CLICHE NO. 5 - TEEN PREGNANCY (EXPECTED OR NOT)

Some argue it's not a cliche, but rest assured, every teen TV show has done it, and quite a few books as well. Thing is, it happens. And not just to people who have a new boyfriend every night - to the braniacs who revise more than they eat.

CLICHE NO. 4 - THE NERD

On TV, they wear oversized glasses (geek without the chic), mismatched patterns, they have serious orthodontia issues, and are socially awkward to the extreme. In real life, it's not quite as extreme, but they definitely exist. Heck, I was one for years (without the braces). Which brings me to their archetype...

CLICHE NO. 3 - THE LOVE TRIANGLE (I forgot this, but thanks to Kyra for reminding me!)

One of the most disliked and often tedious aspects of YA fiction (particularly paranormal), the love tringle is a big fat cliche. BUT it does happen. What about the girl who's liked the same boy for ages, but he's going out with someone else, so she agrees to go to prom with the other boy she likes. But then the original boy dumps his girl and asks girl 1 out. Cliched, but I know people who this has happened to. And polyandry isn't legal in the UK just yet, so it's a teensy problem...

CLICHE NO. 2 - THE BITCHY POPULAR GIRL

You knew the mean girls picture had a reason. These girls do exist, 100 per cent. They've got a rich boyfriend at uni, flawless skin, and a following of girls who hate them but worship them. In my book THE BRIGHTEST FELL, I very much enjoyed writing my own mean girl (and boys), from their points of view. And it's a hard life, so don't wish you were them.

CLICHE NO. 1 - THE TEACHERS EVERYONE HATES/LOVES/SLEEPS WITH

I've cheated and put 3 in, but there is a big cliche that any teachers worth mentioning are hot/evil/awesome. That isn't totally true, but they're the ones all teens will remember/have strong feelings about, and every school has them. First, the evil cow who radiates hate for her students. The woman who took up teaching because she didn't have good enough people skills for anything else. Or the mysogynistic male teacher who's a total sleaze. Next, the teacher who lets the class chat, makes lessons fun, and always hands out chocolates at christmas. Rarer, admittedly, but these mythical creatures still exist. And then there's the teachers who are so hot that the school jocks and male model-alikes/hot mean girls hate them with a passion. The teacher that looks like Alex Pettyfer/Zac Efron/Megan Fox/Rihanna. Yes, you know the one.


So there're my cliches. Do you agree? and do you have any true cliches to add?

Oh, and please click follow *smiles hopefully*

Oh, My Hero Bloghop!

First of all, thanks to the excellent Jaycee DeLorenzo and Victoria Smith for hosting this bloghop!

An another thanks to Kyra Lennon, because I saw her questions and I've sort of nicked them (hey, I'm no interviewer!).

My interview has taken been done in two sections, because unfortunately my hero Luke Gardener was kidnapped before I could finish the first lot. So the first three are 'Old-Luke' and the next three are 'New-Luke'. Sorry for any continuity issues ;)

This is Luke, btw. Say hi...

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Well...if I have to stick to one sentence, then I guess I'd say a witty, well loved, clever rugby star. And in a few years, I suppose I'll be a famous rugby player. Coach says I've got it in me.

How would you describe your heroine?

Which one? Ha, no, I'm joking. I haven't really got a heroine at the moment, but I'm not bothered. You can't have too much of a good thing. The only girl that doesn't fancy a cheeky snog with me is probably India Jeffries. Jeez, that girl hates me. I suppose I deserve it though.

Who's your (non-romantic) soulmate?

Easy. Although I'd have to pick two - Noah and Rachel. We are like...closer than family. Noah's the cool one, Rachel's the loyal one, and I'm the sporty one. Oh, and apparently the slutty one, according to Rachel.

(Five months later, after a kidnap ordeal which left Noah dead and Rachel still missing.)

Hi again, Luke!

Um...hello. This isn't g-going to be long, is it? I'm still s-struggling a bit...with my speech and stuff. The doctor said it was all in my m-mind, though.

Okay - so what's your biggest ambition?
To find Rachel. N-nothing else matters. Screw rugby. Screw everything.

If you had a dark secret, who would you tell it to?
Wait, what? I-is this a joke? Are you -
Okay, I guess I'd t-tell it to India. I can trust her.

And finally, if you could sum up your heroine in five words?
You mean India, right? Strong, wild, stubborn, independent and striking.

Well, thanks for talking to me, Luke! I hope you find Rachel.
S-so do I.

==================

So Luke and India and their story are out in the big wide world, and hopefully one agent will bite.

What do you think? Do you like Luke or loathe him? Or something in between?

Girls Writing Boys - Top 4

So I love boy POV books. Like, really love them. Heck, I've even had a go at writing one (although that was m/f dual POV, so I took the easy option!).
It's pretty cool getting a look into boys minds, whether they're troubled or in love or in hate - it totally changes the story, the POV. Books by authors like John Green and the author I'm reading at the moment, Albert Borris, are brilliant, but they knew what it was like to be a boy anyway. It's even better, IMO, when a boy POV book is written by a woman. And if the boy isn't just like a girl with different *ahem* bits.
So here are my top four - read them, and love them, people! They were really hard to choose between but I did my best

4) K.M. PEYTON
She was going to be on there somewhere. The woman that wrote Jonathan Meredith. Oh, and Patrick Pennington and Peter McNair, and a ton of others. She's got a talent in writing characters that are polar opposites. Jon and Pat, if they met, would probably despise each other. But each rings true, and she manages to make them current even though the majority of her books were written 40-50 years ago.
Book you have to try: Prove Yourself a Hero, for Jonathan and Peter.

3) HANNAH MOSKOWITZ
Nearly my no.2, for good reason. Jonah McNab is a heartbreaking character, and I love the fact that she writes in boys POV almost all the time. And I can't wait for Gone, Gone, Gone....
Book you have to try: Break, for Jonah and Jesse.

2) GAIL GILES
Aside from the boys POV, Shattering Glass haunted me for weeks. Especially since I did that thing I always do, and 'assigned' the characters faces (if a description sounds like, say, Justin Bieber, then the character is JB in my head). If anyone knows about Brit boyband One Direction, then you'll know Harry Styles, the annoying lead singer (who can't sing) - I assigned his face to evil Rob, and now I can't disassociate the two :/... But anyway, Young's voice is so real, and although he's an anti-hero, I still really feel for him and his plight.
Book you have to try: She's written other great books, but for me it's Shattering Glass all the way.

and....dun dun duuuuuuh.....

1) GILLIAN PHILIP
I may not be in love with him like K.M. Peyton's Jonathan, but Nick Geddes is one of my favourite characters ever. Smart, funny, tough and vulnerable at the same time, he's a great character. As are her other characters, male and female.
Book you have to try: Crossing The Line - ooh, and I love the little romance too!


So that's it, people! What do you think? Has anyone read any really well-written boy POV books by women (or men) recently? And do you think it's harder to write boys as a woman, or girls as a man?

Cover Lust Tuesday: Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

I've been looking up pretty covers for my A-Level Art coursework, and when I found this one I knew I had to do a Cover Lust Tuesday for it. Isn't it gorgeous? And I'm also glad it's not a 'pouty girl/dead girl with a pretty dress' cover, because there are too many of them around (not that it's the author's fault, and some are really pretty, but still). If you're interested in that whole debate, check out YAtopia's great post on the subject.
So do you like Glimpse's cover? And, as a little aside, can anyone think of any ah-mazing books with covers that don't do them justice?

I Rocked the YA Book Drop!

First of all, happy Support Teen Lit day! I only found out about the readergirlz YA book drop yesterday, but I thought it was a great idea, so I printed out the label, stuck it inside RICHES by Megan Cole, and rocked the drop!

It's Easter holidays here in England, so I didn't bother dropping off my book near any schools - I chose a nice bench on the quayside, where it wouldn't get rained on. And two hours later, when I returned...it was gone! Hopefully to someone who will drop by and comment (I left my blog address in there, so you never know!).

Here's a couple of pictures of the book drop. First of all, here is my little sister (hey, Ruth!) holding up the book by the river, with all the fancy yachts behind her:
And here's a [rubbish] picture of the book on its bench (please excuse the bad photo-taking - my sister is the photographer in our family):

Has anybody else 'rocked the drop' today?

Sunday Seven: Books I Can't Wait To Read

First of all, Happy Easter! I love Easter, for many reasons religious, chocolate egg-related or otherwise, but it does mean that with the plethora of bank holidays, the books I've ordered on Amazon won't be here for a while yet :(
So I'm gonna do a Sunday Seven/Waiting on Wednesday mash-up. Here are the books I've ordered, and I just can't wait to read:
THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger - I've wanted to read this since fellow AWer Kody published it, but I waited till it came out in the UK (oh, how I waited). And the author was only 17 when she wrote it! Gives me hope :)

DOING IT by Melvin Burgess - Arrgghhh, boys' POV. I LOVE boys' POV. And it's multi-POV too. Arrgghhh! Plus, the plot sounds well good. And Melvin Burgess is a fantastic author.

THE OPPOSITE OF AMBER by Gillian Phillip - Fist of all, can I say that I am a little obsessed with Gillian Phillip. She is soooooo good at characterisation (Nick, the protag of her YA book CROSSING THE LINE, is conflicted and hurt and funny and so so real - totally my favourite MC of all time). And, TOoA is a murder mystery - brilliant.

CRASH INTO ME by Albert Borris - four teens on a suicide road trip + boy POV = enough said. Intriguing and tragic - my sort of book.

INSIDE by Julia Jarman - I don't know this author, but I bought INSIDE on impulse, because I love prison books. This is set in juvie, and looks like a good read.

And for the other two, books I haven't ordered but can't wait to buy when they're out in the UK/the price is right:

I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga - I've chosen the ARC cover because it's my favourite - reminiscent of Dexter (which is a theme of the book, so yeah). Son of serial killer hunts another serial killer, but is he what he seems? I'm worried that all these death books make me sound bloodthirsty, but I grew up on a diet of car boot sale 1960s pony books, so y'know, it was a natural progression :)

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King - Another murder mystery - and it. Looks. Great.

So, has anyone read these books? Am I in for a treat, Easter reading-wise? And do you have a genre you always go back to/love to read (like me and murder mysteries)?

What's in a [character] Name?

Before I ever started writing, I loved art. When doing exam revision, I'm a 'visual learner' (aka pictures help me more than pnumonics or whatever). This means that reading books is sometimes difficult if one of the characters has a strange name, or one I associate with someone else.

Let me explain. Last week, I read FRACTURE by Megan Miranda. Great book, great characters, but the main character's best friend is called DECKER. I don't know if it's popular in America, but in the UK, 'Decker' = Double Decker Buses and Decker Bars. I couldn't really take him seriously after that.

And then there was the other boy - Troy. Yes, Zac Efron featured heavily in my mind when reading Fracture (not a bad thing, but y'know).

And then I read THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. The main character, Hadley (female) falls in love with Oliver (male). I enjoyed it twice as much because I laughed almost the whole time, even at the unfunny bits. Why? Because there's a pair of beefy 'jock' male twins at my school called...yep, you've guessed it, Hadley and Oliver. Hadley's a rare, but definitely male name, in the UK. An ordinary plane-trip romance became suddenly hilarious, and at least three-quarters of my friends have now read it for the LOLs.

Has anyone else read a book where the names totally change it? Or where you had to stop because the love interest sounded like a carbon copy of your brother (ick)? And what are some of your favourite names in YA fiction, funny or otherwise?

Where do you get your writing inspiration?

Crazy as it seems, I get my writing inspiration from the weather. I mean, there are other things too, like other books, faces in crowds, newspaper or television programmes (more on this later). But the weather can give me an idea for a WIP when nothing else can.

I write Contemporary YA fiction, and the setting, the characters' little world plays an important part in their lives. For example The Brightest Fell is set in a small, Somerset (Southern England) town, in particular the dull, apparent safety of the suburbs. But the town is right next to thick, dark woodland, which is almost a character in the book (the woodland=the place where bad shiz happens). And it's October, and always raining.

That sets a totally different scene than a book set in a thriving city or swelteringly hot beach, and I found I got most of my inspiration when it was raining. Considering I live in England, I therefore got plenty of story-planning time...

On the flip side, my current WIP is set in an isolated rural village in the middle of a hazy summer heatwave, so I don't expect to get much weather inspiration on that.

Plenty of people say they get inspiration from the news, whether its a person or a situation. The character of Luke Gardener (male main character of TBF) and his plight started when I watched the horrific story of the Chandlers, a couple who were taken hostage by Somali Pirates and held for months and months before they were rescued. It made me think, what if that had happened to a teenager? What if it wasn't on a boat, but somewhere safe and close to home he was taken from? And what if, unlike the Chandlers, he didn't get a hero's welcome, because he wasn't necessarily a hero?

So the whole point of this post is, even random things like the weather can give you inspiration. I don't get good ideas very often, so take everything I say with a pinch of salt, but I wouldn't worry about getting new WIP ideas all the time. They might even come to you when you're eating WagonWheels and hot chocolate in front of the telly...

Where do you get your inspiration? Any crazy, random things that make you think? And is anyone else obsessed with WagonWheels?

Liebster Love!

Yay - my first blog award! A while back, the lovely Carissa Taylor tagged me for a Liebster Blog Award, and being the forgetful, stressed-out A-Level student that I am, I've only just got round to posting this now - sorry Carissa! Apparently, the word “liebster” is German and means “favorite, beloved, dearest”. It's given to favorite blogs that motivate and inspire us, and have less than 200 followers.

Accepting the award involves:
1. Show thanks to the blogger who awarded you by linking back to their blog.
2. Pick 5 blogs with less than 200 followers and let them know about your nomination by leaving a comment on their blog
3. Post the award on your blog!

And here's my problem: My ancient PC won't let me see how many followers each blog has - so I have no way of knowing the amount of followers everyone has. There are so many totally awesome bloggers out there with less than 200, but until I can upgrade this pile of junk there's not much I can do :(

So anyone with less than 200 followers who follows me and is reading this, feel free to tag yourself as my Liebster awards!

Forget the Hero - I want the Best Friend!

True fact: Best friends are always more interesting (and no, this wasn't an excuse to show a funny HP photo that didn't even relate to the post topic). It seems to be that the author wants their main characters/love interests to be consumed with each other, only thinking of rudies with the other person, and in doing so, they LOST THEIR PERSONALITIES. Or, the main character has some serious plot to get through (fighting Voldie, ahem) so the author doesn't have as much time to let their MC's personality grow. Instead, the funny one, the brainy one, the pretty one, the quirky one - they're all best friends.

Picture this: A brooding, smouldering, posing hero - 17yrs old but writing poetry, playing kick-ass guitar, and saving the world becoause of some prophecy. He's mysterious, but his best friend - bit of a lad, likes throwing paper aeroplanes and smuggling in bacon sandwiches to his maths lesson, and borrows his sister's hair spray for a night out because next to smouldering, brooding hero he seems a bit inadequate - he is the realistic one. He's the type of boy that teen YA readers are more likely to meet, and the type of boy that would probably be a lot more fun as a date because he's not really tired after staying up to watch the heroine sleep...

The best thing about Best Friends - they're not perfect. And that means that they are instantly more interesting.