Bookanista Thursday: A DOG'S WAY HOME

I have a very, very special post for you today, dear friends. For not only do I get to introduce you to one of my new, all-time favorite, classic children's books, but I get to share with you an INTERVIEW I did with it's author!

So without further ado, please welcome Bobbie Pyron to our little corner of the internet!

So, Bobbie, please tell my friends a bit about A DOG'S WAY HOME. 

In A Dog's Way Home, eleven-year-old Abby and her Shetland sheepdog, Tam, have just won a junior agility competition in Virginia. It's late fall and her mom decided to drive some of the Blue Ridge Parkway (which stretches over 400 miles from Virginia to northern Georgia) to see the fall colors on their way back to their home in Harmony Gap, North Carolina. Not long after they start their drive, a deer darts in front of their truck and they are in a terrible accident. Abby and her mom are badly hurt. Tam's crate is thrown from the back of the truck into a fast-moving creek. Over the course of the next six months, Tam risks his life trying to make his way through the mountains in winter to return to “his girl”, while Abby fights to hang on to her faith that she and Tam will somehow find their way back to each other.

It's hard to succinctly capture the awesome of your book in just a short paragraph, but you managed to succeed. So tell us--why did you write A DOG'S WAY HOME?

When I was a kid, my two great passions in life were dogs and reading. I read all the classic dog stories—LASSIE COME-HOME, THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY, all the IRISH RED books—over and over. I like to say my book is my own personal love letter to those great classics I loved so much. It's also my tribute to Shetland sheepdogs, a breed I am very passionate about. I have two rescued shelties myself and they certainly inspired me with their love and single-minded devotion. I like to tell people, you haven't been loved until you've been loved by a sheltie!

Love it so much! As a dog lover, and an adult, I have to say I was supremely impressed by Tam's voice. How did you convincingly find it?

It may be because I'm sort of know as “the crazy dog lady” around town! _{(you and me both!)} I spend a LOT of time with my three dogs! And when I'm out with them hiking or snowshoeing or even walking around town, I don't listen to an iPod or text or talk on my cell phone—I watch them. I watch how they interact with the environment, each other, and me. Tam's “voice” was pretty easy for me in some ways because I've always (even as a child) preferred the company of dogs and other animals to people.

What question would you want to be asked in an interview but have never been asked?

That's a great question! Probably “what kind of writer do you want to be”. And my answer would be that I want to be the kind of writer who surprises her readers with what all kind of books she can write. In other words, I don't want to be pigeon holed. That said, I still want to write the kind of books that, when the reader (no matter the age) finishes the last page and closes the book, feels enriched and satisfied and maybe even holds it to their heart for just a minute.

Well, I, absolutely felt that way after finishing your book. Not only that, but I hugged all of my pets as soon as I put down the tissues! On to the next question, though. What book have you read the most number of times?

That's a hard question, actually! If I love a book, I tend to read and re-read it. But if I had to pick just one, it would probably be LASSIE COME-HOME. And then I'd have to say MILKWEED, by Jerry Spinelli would be a very close second. Amazing book.

Awesome picks :) Who is your favorite non-human novel protagonist?

In the classics, I'd have to say Lad in LAD: A DOG by Albert Payson Terhune. I read Terhune's books about Lad numerous times while I was writing the second (or was it the third?) draft of A DOG'S WAY HOME. There's lots of really great contemporary dog protagonists, though. I loved Winn Dixie in BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE, by Kate DiCamillo. I also loved the dog telling the story in Anne Martin's amazing book, A DOG'S LIFE: the autobiography of a stray.

What's been your greatest moment as an author?

Well of course, A DOG'S WAY HOME is not my first book—it's my second. My first book, which came out in Oct. of 2009, is a teen novel called THE RING. My greatest moment with my first book was probably seeing the final hardback and holding all those years of work and rejections in my hand! And then getting my first “fan email” was a huge deal!

What do you do when you aren't writing?

I work part time as a librarian. It's a great blend, being a librarian and being a writer! I also spend a great deal of time outdoors with my dogs and my husband. We live at 7,000 feet in the Utah mountains, so we do a lot of hiking, skiing, that sort of thing. I also volunteer with several different animal rescue organizations: Sheltie Rescue of Utah, Friends of Animals of Utah, and Best Friends Animal Society.

YAY! A librarian AND an animal rescuer! You are just too amazing. Now I'm curious--what was the last book you read and loved?

I just read GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE, by Barbara O'Connor and loved it! So wise, so warm. She really has a way of bringing out the best in her characters and her readers too. On the adult side, I just read a non-fiction book I loved called THE LEGEND OF COLTON H. BRYANT, by Alexandra Fuller. Because I have a 35 minute commute each way to work, I do a lot of my “reading” by listening to books on CD.

What was the toughest part of writing A DOG'S WAY HOME?

It's always hard to put characters you love, like Tam, in harm's way—and do it over and over! That was hard. Like the reader, I kept thinking, “What's going to happen to this poor little loyal dog next?”

I am in love with your answer. I'm just saying. Okay, moving on, in your author bio, it states that you've been a member of the animal rescue community for a while. How did you first get involved, and what made you stay involved?

I'd always wanted to be active in helping animals, but I'd been busy with working full time. Then about seven years ago, I was able to cut back to part time (thanks to my husband) and that allowed me to finally “give back” in some way. I wish I had even more time! I stay involved because there's nothing better than seeing a dog (or cat) that's been abandoned or abused or just left behind, who's so very sad or untrusting, find their forever home.

I completely, completely agree. What was your favorite scene to write?

In Tam's chapters, I loved writing the scenes with his friend, the little coyote. One of my dogs is part coyote and so those scenes were so much her. In Abby's chapters, I loved writing the section when she and her family moved to Nashville. I think that was so enjoyable because of all of the surprises for me—Abby's reaction to the city and to school, her mother's reactions, new friends (like Cheyenne Rivers) who showed up. One of my favorite things about writing is when I'm surprised!

If you could tell your future readers one thing about your book before they begin it, what would it be?

Grab some tissues!

I will second, third, and fourth that sentiment. But don't worry--A DOG'S WAY HOME is not OLD YELLER. Not by a long shot. It's infinitely more moving, more beautiful, and more happy, and you should all buy it right away.

BUT.

Because I really, really want to spread the love, I'm going to GIVE away this beautiful book to one lucky commenter. All you have to do? Either a) tell me why you want it, or b) tell me why you love your dog, cat, bird, hamster, horse, snake, what have you. That's it! That's all!

I'll be running this super spectacular, super awesome giveaway until next Thursday, and I'll announce the winner on Friday. Sound good? Then hit up the comments post haste!

Thank you so, so much, Bobbie, for introducing all of my friends to Abby and Tam and YOU :D

And if you readers are curious what the other Bookanistas are loving this Thursday, clicky clicky:

Elana Johnson is tickled pink for The Liar Society

LiLa Roecker is blown away by A Touch Mortal

Shannon Messenger can’t lie about her love for The Liar Society

Shelli Johannes-Wells burns for AngelFire

Scott Tracey is more than a touch impressed with A Touch Mortal

Myra McEntire is A Touch Mortal this week

Beth Revis tells the truth about The Liar Society

Christine Fonseca is leveled by Leverage

Carolina Valdez Miller has tons to say about One 

Jenn Hayley adores The Liar Society

Shana Silver can’t imagine you not reading Imaginary Girls

Katie Anderson wants to be Like Mandarin

Matt Blackstone loves The Hate List

Stasia Ward Kehoe falls head over heals for Fall for Anything

Sarah Frances Hardy sings her praises for Mockingbird

Veronica Rossi thinks Unearthly is otherworldly

The Bookanistas are a group of 30 writers in various stages of the publishing process who have banded together to review the special books of our peers. Combined, we reach over 10,000 followers. We post reviews every Thursday on various book topics– upcoming ARCs, books we love, diamonds in the rough, classics, and even cover reviews. Come join us on Thursdays and you can be be fashionable, too. Because we think books are the best accessory. Click here to join The Bookanista Book Club at The Reading Room where you can check out all the books we're buzzing about! 

Answer Time #6! (On fear)

Today, on Answer Time!, we have the lovely Lauren M, who asked: 

Actually, she asked What are you most afraid of? But that picture was just so perfect, I had to include it. Anyhoodle, my answer, Lauren, is that I'm most afraid of losing the people I love, and for me personally, my pets are people too. I can't stomach the thought of anyone in my family or any of my friends or any of my pets dying. It literally makes me nauseous.

And she also asked:

What, do you think, is the scariest part of being a new author?

Oh boy. Everything. Everything is scary because when I started this whole thing, I'd never done any of it before. I'd never written a rough draft before, I'd never written 95,000 words of anything before, I'd never revised anything before, I'd never tried to get an agent before, or a book deal, or thought about my name being attached to something that's going to live forever in the Library of Congress (I'm obsessed with this, btw). I never blogged before I became a writer, and blogging is scary, because either a lot of people will be reading what you write and there's always the possibility that you might offend someone or turn someone off, or that no one will be reading what you write, which could make you think that no one will want to read your book. Twitter is scary, too, because when you have a lot of people listening, the offense factor comes into play again.

And the whole publishing process itself is scary. Writers only have control about the text of their actual book—not the cover, not the jacket copy, not sales, not co-op, not print runs, none of it. So you have to give yourself over to your publishing house, which you hopefully trust, but letting go of your book baby for other people to take care of can be a very scary thing.

And the idea of my book being out there for anyone to buy and read and judge? That's terrifying. There aren't any ARCs yet, but I know that once they're out there, I'll be wondering what people are thinking. Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will anyone even notice it's out there or want to read it? Those questions are nervous-making in the extreme.

But all of it, the whole journey, is wonderful and exciting too. I have met so many new friends thanks to the blog and Twitter—people I can call when things get overwhelming, people I can celebrate with when things are awesome. And people's names pop up on my caller ID that are also on my bookshelves. Thanks to the blog and Twitter.

And my publisher? My editor? I have no words for their amazingness. I have such an incredible team behind me and MARA that I can't think about it too much or I'll never be able to think about anything else. My editor helped make my book the best it could be, and the whole team at Simon & Schuster has taken such great care of it already.

And when the book is out there, I will have such a rare opportunity. If my book leaves one person I don't know breathless or excited for the next one, that is something great. I never fathomed I'd have the chance to leave a mark that way.  And I am so, so beyond grateful that I do.

So while everything about writing and publishing is pretty scary, it can all be pretty damn awesome, too. All of the problems and the worries are good problems and good worries. I am grateful every day.

What are you most afraid of?

DRUMROLL PLEASE

So, random.org picked a number. A number indicating a lovely book blogger who entered this contest. And that number means that Sherry, from Flipping Pages for All Ages, won a print of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER and a super secret excerpt.

YAY! 

Sherry, shoot me an email at mdhodkin at gmail dot com, and I'll make arrangements to get your prize to you forthwith :D

And for all of the other fantastic, super awesome, crazy wonderful bloggers who entered- fret not. There are more contests coming soon!

Tools of the Trade

So you're serious about this writing thing. Excellent! Great news! I love your enthusiasm!

But where do you start?

Well, that is an impossible question, really, because everyone starts somewhere different. Some writers begin with an outline. Some fly by the seat of their pants. But no matter HOW you begin writing, you need to actually, you know, begin writing.

But with what shall you write with? _{Dear Liza, dear Liza}


Every author I know has a host of tools they use to slap the old words on a page. I rounded up a few of them and asked them what writing tools they can't live without. Here's what they said:

Jodi Meadows, author of the forthcoming, sure to be epic INCARNATE (Katherine Tegen Books, Spring 2012) said this: "My most beloved thing is, of course, Scrivener, but also: I must have some sort of map in front of me. It doesn't matter if it's fab or not. I like having a basic idea of locations and which direction the character is facing. It also keeps the sun from rising in the south."

Beth Revis, author of the NYT bestselling ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Razorbill) uses: "A combination of Scrivener and Word. When I draft, I draft in Scrivener--that way I can get all the ideas down easily, move from chapter to chapter, etc. Then I compile the manuscript and move it to Word when I'm ready to revise. It helps me to see problem areas if I switch format when I go from writing to editing."

Kirsten Hubbard, author of the forthcoming, gorgeous novel LIKE MANDARIN (Delacorte, March 8 2011), can't live without "The 'hide white space' mode on Word, yellow legal pads, Rhapsody streaming, my mutt at my feet, and lots and lots of Tazo chai."

Veronica Roth, author of the forthcoming, ass-kicking novel DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 3, 2011) said: "I only use notebooks for brainstorming and outlining, but I do a lot of that, so I take them seriously. I recently abandoned my trusty Moleskine notebook for a Muji notebook because it lies flat, it's thin so you feel like you're filling it quickly, and it's not too big. I also use Scrivener. If that program had a face, and it wouldn't sue me for harrassment, I would kiss it."

And if you're curious what's on MY list of necessities? Here they are:

Scrivener. Seeing a common theme, here? I've been meaning to write a post about how I use it, and I will, someday, I swear. Suffice it to say for now, though, that while I began THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER on Microsoft Word, because that was all I had at the time, I switched to a Mac from a PC (and therefore from Word to Scrivener) about 3/4 of the way through the process (on one of my later revisions), and it changed my writing life. I'm drafting MARA 2 on Scrivener, and already, I can see how much of an impact it's having—in the best way—on my drafting.
Cost: $40.

Mac Freedom. When I just need to get away from it all, I take a vacation. I remove Tweetdeck from my dock, and because I am lazy, I don't have the patience to use the web version that much. But when even that won't do, or when I find myself looking at pretty shoes or at pretty, shiny pictures, I turn it on, turn off the internet for a few hours, and usually? I don't come back. I like the silence and I forget the internet exists. It's pretty awesome. And if you want or need to turn it off? You just reboot your computer. But if you're like me, you'll hold off on the reboot and just wait until it's finished. One of the best tools out there.
Cost: Free.

My sexy new iomega 500 gig external hard drive + Time Machine. Okay, so, confession time: I wrote a whole book without having my own dedicated external hard drive. The Help Desk was in charge of my backups, which we'd do whenever I was feeling panicky or superstitious and I had an assortment of thumb drives and dropbox accounts and various and sundry backup accoutrements for my Most Critical Files. But do I recommend that approach to my fellow writers? No. No I don't. Guys, you NEED to back up—regularly and often and in an organized way. What Time Machine does is this: when connected to an external hard drive, it does one long, initial backup of every single thing on your hard drive - pictures, documents, PDFs, .scriv files, everything. And then every hour on the hour, it saves any changes you've made in said hour to each and every single you've modified in the past 24 hours. It makes daily back ups of files you've modified. No thought process involved. No extra steps.
Cost: $129.99.

My Macbook Pro. I had a random Dell laptop which I wrote 3/4 of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER on. It froze. It crashed. I panicked, due to previously referenced haphazard backup practices. And then finally, after much research and after being shown the glory of Scrivener, I took the Mac plunge. A desktop wasn't for me, because I hate sitting at a desk—I like moving around from the dining room table to the couch to the bed to the local indie coffee shop to Barnes & Noble to wherever. And I knew I wanted to be able to play DVDs without the hassle of needing an external drive, thus eliminating the super sexy Macbook Air from the competition. And with my particular needs, the 13" Pro suited me better than the Macbook, so that's what I bought. I haven't regretted it for one second. I use many, many applications while I write: Scrivener, ITunes, Safari almost constantly. And on my PC, Word + ITunes + Internet Explorer did NOT get along. I know that having 10,000 Internet Explorer windows open didn't help, and I *KNOW* having 10,000 Word document windows open didn't help, which is why Scrivener's split screen feature is probably the single most valuable aspect of it, for me, but I digress (See? I can't stop TALKING about SCRIVENER. It's a disease). Bottom line: the way I write and use my laptop is perfectly suited to my Macbook Pro. Also, it's pretty.
Cost: $1200, but Mac laptops range in price from $950-$1700.

3" Drugstore spiral notebook. I often find that dialogue or snippets of conversation fill my head first. Sometimes the scenes even evolve from the dialogue. And when I have those bursts of inspiration, I need to write them down. Wherever, whenever. So I keep a teeny notebook on me at all times for exactly that purpose. Cost: $0.99.

And there you have it- my most beloved tools, and those of Beth, Veronica, Kirsten, and Jodi! What are your most beloved writing tools, pray tell?

Answer Time #5! (On inspiration and wisdom teeth)

It's that time again!

First, we have the spectacular Christi, who asked:

Who is your inspiration?

What an awesome question, Christi, and I am really delighted you asked. The answer is: My friends in the animal rescue and animal law world. People who have blazed trails making the world better for creatures most people don't even spend one second a day thinking about. People who stop what they're doing and drive countless hours to save dogs who are hours away from being put to sleep in shelters.

People who open their homes and their hearts to foster cats and dogs. 

People who spend their hard earned money donating to shelters who are so badly in need and people who spend their precious free time volunteering to make dogs and cats who have no one else in the world to love them just a little bit happy.

And people who spend their free time educating those who don't know about the dangers of backyard breeding, the truth about pit bulls, the difference between good foods and bad foods so that people can make informed choices for themselves and their pets.

I am privileged to know the foster moms of Lacy (Columbia, MO) and Shelby (Dallas, TX) and the fairy godmother to Lincoln (Charlottesville, VA), who was found as a stray and has scarring in one eye and is FIV positive* from the rough life he lived on the streets, and yet is so sweet and so loving the shelter staff are all enamored with him and hoping he gets adopted by the kind of owners he deserves soon! Rescuers who take in, volunteer, and donate to help animals like Lincoln, Shelby, and Lacy inspire me every single day and I am in awe of them.

And next, we have the lovely Lauren M., who asked:


I'm curious about the wisdom tooth story. Pray tell!


Oh, the wisdom tooth story. I did mention it, and you DID ask about it. So for Lauren M, here it is!

When I was nearing the end of my third year of law school, I developed a toothache. It bothered me for a few weeks before I went to a dentist.  I never saw this dentist before because I was a student and didn't think about things like having a regular dentist or whatever. So I just picked his name out of a hat, basically, and went. He decided that it was because my wisdom teeth didn't have enough room and one of them was pressing against my upper left molar.

Now, when you approach the end of law school, there's pretty much only one thing you think about (if you already have a job, which I did). And that's the bar exam. I was terrified of the bar exam and terrified that I'd have this effing toothache while I was trying to answer questions about the Rule Against Perpetuities. So when the dentist referred me to an oral surgeon, I was like OK FINE WHATEVER JUST DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.

The surgeon said we could take out just the one tooth or all of them. I voted for one, because the others weren't a problem and I thought, hey, let's keep it simple.

I go in. They want to put me under, which involves an IV. I LAUGH IN THEIR FACES. Like HELL. I made them give me local anesthesia, and I brought my headphones, just like they told me I should, to distract me. They gave me the shot and I felt funny and the surgeon opened my mouth and got to work.

And I could feel it. ALL OF IT. I felt them pulling and jerking and heard my jaw putting up a fight against giving up that wisdom tooth and it was brutal and terrifying. But that was not all.

After I dragged myself limping to the car, where the Help Desk was waiting to take me home, I took my pain medication at the prescribed time. Lortab. And it made me sick to my stomach. But my mouth wouldn't open. You can imagine, no?

It was an ordeal to get the prescription changed to Tylenol with Codeine, but I did. But by that time, I had bigger problems. Giant problems. My head had swelled up to the size of a basketball. My mouth was infected and I had a raging fever.

Then the hole where my tooth had been wouldn't close.

And then, after the hole had healed? I still had that toothache. I went to a different dentist. Turns out it was NOT because of pressure from the wisdom tooth, but because the enamel on that molar was defective (or something) and I needed a root canal. But I didn't have time to mess around with it because ZOMG THE BAR EXAM and what if they did the root canal and I still had a toothache and ZOMG THE BAR EXAM so I told the dentist to extract the molar. And he did. And I recovered before I graduated from law school and in plenty of time to complete 4,600 multistate questions for the bar exam and I passed by a ridiculously wide margin and it only cost me a TOOTH (and ten weeks of studying nine hours seven days a week and thousands of dollars in bar preparation courses, but who's counting).

So, happily ever after.

But henceforth I referred to that oral surgeon as the Butcher of Birmingham.

~*~

And now, I ask YOU: do you still have your wisdom teeth? Who inspires you?


*FIV is a lentivirus (or "slow virus") that breaks down a cats immune system. It CANNOT be spread to humans or to any other species other than felines. Whats even better is that FIV is not easily spread between cats either. Casual contact (playing, snuggling, litter boxes, water and food bowls) does not spread the virus. Its generally transmitted when free roaming, intact male cats carrying the virus bite and attack other cats. FIV+ cats tend to be the sweetest cats of all because they're the real lovers, not the fighters. Most FIV infected cats show no symptoms for years and maintain a good quality of life with the proper care (housing them indoors, spaying/neutering, feeding them a nutritional/balanced diet, stress management and regular vet visits.) Basically they need the same things that any other cat would to remain healthy.

Bookanista Thursday: DEMONGLASS

Why haven’t you read HEX HALL yet? 

I am not the first person to gush about it. I am not the first person to recognize Rachel Hawkins' astonishing talent and wit and brilliance.

Could it be that you need evidence? Like, hard evidence, not just [deserved] gushing reviews, about Sophie’s eminent awesome and Archer’s epic badassery?

You asked for it:

"Now, Miss Mercer, attack Mr. Cross."


I stared at her. I had never so much as wielded a fly-swatter in my life, and this woman expected me to just lunge at a guy with a pointy wooden stick?


The Vandy's smile hardened. "Any day now."


I wish I could say that I suddenly discovered my inner warrior princess and expertly leaped at Archer, weapon hoisted high, teeth bared. That would have been cool.


Instead I raised the stake to about shoulder height and took two, maybe three shuffling steps forward.
Then viselike fingers clenched my throat, the stake was wrenched from my hand, and a sharp stabbing pain shot up my right thigh as I landed on the ground with a thump that knocked the breath out of me. 


…


On the upside, my crush on Archer was totally gone. Over. Once a boy has slammed his kneecap into your rib cage, I think any romantic feelings should naturally go the way of the ghost.

And the plot thickens:

From above us, the door gave its death scream, and we both leaped to our feet guiltily, like we'd been making out or something.


Suddenly the image of me and Archer kissing against one of the shelves flooded my brain, and I felt the blush in my cheeks spread to the rest of my body. Without meaning to, I glanced at his lips. When I raised my eyes to his, he was looking at me with an expression that was totally inscrutable. But just like the look he'd given me on the stairs the first night, this one left me feeling breathless.

And DEMONGLASS only ups the ante:

"I didn't kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to." His eyes dropped to my lips, and it was like the whole world shrunk to just me and him and the shaft of light between us. "I still want to," he said hoarsely. Then he tugged my wrist and pulled me into his arms. 

Yes, they're all Sophie-Archer excerpts. Yeah, there's more to the books than that. Lots more! But Sophie and Archer are so. Much. Fun.

And to make things as easy as possible, here's a link to buy DEMONGLASS and here's one to buy HEX HALL. Because otherwise I'll have Archer all to myself. 

Actually, that doesn't sound bad at all.

The Bookanistas are a group of 30 writers in various stages of the publishing process who have banded together to review the special books of our peers. Combined, we reach over 10,000 followers. Check out what the other Bookanistas are reading below! 


LiLa Roecker hosts a sunny tour stop for POSSUM SUMMER

Christine Fonseca shares her Guestanista Post: The Lost Hero

Shannon Messenger spotlights the cover of SO SILVER BRIGHT

Scott Tracey is inspired by ANGELFIRE

Beth Revis finds amazing MAGIC UNDER GLASS

Carolina Valdez Miller uncovers WORDS IN THE DUST

Megan Miranda leaps and shouts for THE LIAR SOCIETY           

Bethany Wiggins glows for RUBY RED

Shana Silver gets psyched about WITHER

Jen Hayley raves about RAISED BY WOLVES

Gretchen McNeil gushes over BLOOD AND FLOWERS

Rosemary Clement-Moore revisits HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Sarah Frances Hardy is nuts for THE NINTH WARD                     

Matt Blackstone is loving THE HATE LIST

Corrine Jackson delights in DIVERGENT

Stasia Ward Kehoe celebrates THE LIAR SOCIETY

Answer Time #4! (On starting and sticking with it)

It's ANSWER TIME again! Here's what we're talking about this week:

The lovely L.E. asked:

How do you start a new piece? Do you follow standard writing techniques like creating character sketches and plot lines or do you just start writing or ...?


For THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, I had no idea what I was doing. None. I was a lawyer with a hobby. I'd never written anything before and neither had most of my friends (save one). So I asked her what to do, because I believe in expertise, and she told me to "get it all down." She didn't tell me anything about character sketches or plot lines, so I didn't really think about them. I just started writing the story I saw in my mind.

That was then. Since then, I've not only learned SO much by writing and revising and editing and copy editing THE UNBECOMING, but I've been reading industry, writer, author, and book blogs for almost two years now. And yet…

My process is still kind of the same. I just write words down. This time, though, I'm working on the sequel for THE UNBECOMING (MARA 2) and during the auction, I had to write a synopsis for the second book, which is functioning as a loose (very loose) outline. But I always knew where the second book would take place, and what my major set pieces would be.

I also have been fiddling with another project, but not seriously, since I'm committed to MARA right now. But that one's been generated in much the same way; usually, I come up with dialogue first, and then the scenes form themselves around it. This is probably not the right way to do things at all, but it's how I seem to roll.

The incomparable Kiwi asked:

What drives you to persistently write a book and not just throw it aside in frustration or due to the occasional laziness?


For THE UNBECOMING, there were a few factors.

When I first started, the story just kind of poured out of me. I had no idea at the time how hard revising would be. I had no idea at the time that my characters and plot would change about 40,000 words in. I had no idea at the time that I'd end up chucking 60,000 words of it, twice, and revising several more times after that. So I stayed motivated because initially it was really fun and I felt like I had to write the story. And it was good that I didn't know how bonecrushingly difficult it would be before I started, because I might not have begun otherwise. But once I had, I felt I had to see it through.

Also, I told my friends and family what I was doing. Not all of them, and not right away. But I told a few people what I was doing almost immediately—people I knew would be excited to read it (even though it was shite) and people who would hold me accountable. Then I told my grandparents, and my grandfather in particular would never, ever let me quit. He asked me how it was going very, very regularly (as I knew he would) and wanted to know how many words I'd written (as I knew he would) and where I was in the process. So there's really no way to give up once people are after you like that on a bi-weekly basis. At least, not without The Shames. And I'm very motivated by The Shames.

But keep in mind, I told super encouraging friends first—not just any friends, and certainly not all. And part of what kept me going was hearing them tell me how much they loved loved loved the words I sent them every night. It was pure brain to page nonsense, but they begged for more (because they're the best) just like I knew they would (because they knew that was their job). They'll still insist it was a pleasure, but they're extraordinary liars and just really, really nice.

For MARA 2? I am under contract. So I have to get that book finished. I've added my agent and editor to my list of cheerleaders, though, which helps :)

But the bottom line, Kiwi? I kept going, and I keep going. Even if I don't feel like it. Even if I'd rather be doing something else. Because the only way to succeed is stick with it.

My Age in Entertainment

Tom Bosley wasn't the dad from Happy Days, he was David The Gnome:

I only liked the Muppets because I'd first seen Jim Henson's work on Fraggle Rock:

And then I stopped liking him temporarily when he terrified me with Labyrinth, (this scene in particular):

I only knew one Scrooge, and his surname was McDuck:

Chip & Dale were Rescue Rangers, not male strippers:

Ren & Stimpy was one of the most disturbing train wrecks of a children's show I couldn't help watching:

Speaking of gross, You Can't Do That On Television:

Clarissa really didn't explain it all, but she did have style:

I would have traded places with Alex Mack in a heart beat:

D.J. Machale wasn't a NYT bestselling YA novelist; he made me Afraid Of The Dark every Saturday night:

Kenan Thompson was famous thanks to ALL THAT, not SNL.

Ted and horses. What more did a girl need?

Until MTV introduced me to Jordan Catalano, that is:

How old are you?

This Valentine's Day, I Love...

Book bloggers. 

You stay up reading way past your bedtime. You stay up writing about reading way past your bedtime. You answer dozens of emails from readers and fellow bloggers and authors and publishers who have questions about your reviews or your policies or your web design or or or. You stay awake until the wee hours trying to keep a civil tongue when a crazycakes person hijacks a comment thread in your review. 

You shell out your own hard earned day job dollars mailing out books and swag, which helps spread the word about new books and great authors.

You don't get paid for this. You might get ARCs. You might get ARCs you aren't interested in, and out of respect, you read them and review them just as thoughtfully as if you were.

In short, you are fabulous.
In short, you are smart.
In short, you rock.

And to show you just how MUCH I think you rock, I was going to buy you all ponies. But since ponies require a lot of hay and space and brushing and bathing and such, I thought I'd give one of you awesome bloggers something a little more low maintenance. Something along the lines of a 23x17 print of the cover for THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER, and a super secret, super exclusive excerpt that only one other person will be reading, before the book comes out in September.

If that sounds nice, then hit up the comments and say so- and be sure to link to your book blog, so that everyone can go and visit! You don't need to tweet or Facebook or link to this mini-contest, but if you choose to, I would of COURSE appreciate it :D You have until February 21st at 11:59 PM to enter, this mini-contest is open internationally, and I shall announce the winner on February 22nd!


Happy Valentine's Day, guys. Thank you, ALL of you, so much.

In Pictures

May your weekend be filled with creativity, courage, and inspiration.

And The Winners Are....

There was SO much love for paranormal romance in the comments and on Twitter and EVERYWHERE that it darn near knocked me out. I know you were all waiting with baited breath for the winners, so without further ado, here they is:

Crystal has won a signed ARC of AFTERLIFE!
Claire Dawn has won NIGHTSHADE!
Alicia has won MATCHED!

CONGRATS! Email me at mdhodkin at gmail dot com with your address and I shall send your books to you thusly:

And for everyone else, fret not, because I have more awesome to give away SOON!

Me, Homer, and Ed Koch

Yeah, today is a good day. 

Answer Time #3 (Genre, Cover, Release Day, Toilet Paper & Gambling)

Since you just got a big dose of bigness in Tuesday's post, here's some shorter, quicker, and lighter fare from the awesome question askers!

The amazing L.E. Asked:
What's your favorite genre? And why?

My favorite genre? Writing-wise, YA of course! But reading-wise, I truly try to mix it up. I adore adore adore horror because I love getting scared. I love literary fiction because it makes me think and marvel and appreciate words in ways I never knew possible. I'm a sucker for legal thrillers because I love the tension inherent in the profession. I enjoy reading riveting non-fiction because I love learning about new things, and I'm obsessed with memoirs, and Chinese American memoirs in particular because I am fascinated by cultures that are so different from my own (and probably because I was first introduced to memoirs when I was assigned A WOMAN WARRIOR in high school, and fell head over heels). I love getting sucked into well-told historical fiction like Karen Harper's and Phillipa Gregory's because it breathes life into events and people I otherwise would rarely think about. And, of course, I am obsessed with YA. Because everything is new and emotional when you're a teenager. Because YA novels are not only intelligently written but are utterly absorbing and entertaining, to boot. Because YA authors are breaking down barriers every day.

The wonderful BrittLit said:
Lines like "to distract you from my myriad abject failings." Make me really really really want to read Mara Dyer!

I love you.

The spectacular Kiwi asked:
Could you reveal whether on the cover the boy is saving her or pulling her under? Andd..Did you design the cover of Mara Dyer?

I can't tell you anything about the cover OR about the book at this point except what's on Goodreads. SO sorry—I hate being a tease because I SO know what it feels like to have questions and want to know more (I'm looking at you, CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS). But I can say that I did not design the cover. Lucy Ruth Cummins designed that gorgeousness, in conjunction with a professional photographer.

The incomparable Em asked:
Are you doing anything special the day Mara is released? Because you can totally come visit me if you want to sign my book that day! : ) (Also, I am now curious as to how many teeth Maggie has)

Alas, Em, I don't know what I am doing tomorrow, let alone what I am doing eight months from now. But if I'm in your town? I will SO sign your book. I'll even draw a picture in it. It won't be a good picture, but, there you go.

As to Maggie's teeth, I tried to count them, but she gagged on me. So it goes.

The lovely Lauren M asked:
What are you currently reading?

I am currently rereading THE HOT ZONE by Richard Preston, and a whole host of other books, which you can see on my Goodreads page. THE HOT ZONE is incredible and a long-time favorite. Highly recommended if you have a strong stomach, and it has the best first chapter in the history of first chapters. And it's non-fiction. You won't even notice.

The magnificent Momo (Books Over Boys) asked:
Do you like to pull your toilet paper from the top or from the bottom? And yes, there's a difference! :)

I am one of those people who doesn't notice this, or notice where the toothpaste is squeezed from either. If I want toothpaste I just squeeze it. Given this, it would probably not surprise you to know that I rarely wear matching socks. Not, like one of my dear friends, who wears unmatching socks on purpose as a statement against conformity, but simply because I can't be bothered to match them. My pants cover them anyway, right?

The brilliant Ben Spendlove asked:
Am I to understand that you still have possession of your soul and merely lost the rights to it? What's that like?


That means after I die, the pirates get it. Who knows what they'll do with it.

Now you tell me: where do YOU squeeze your toothpaste from? 

Higher Education

From: Brother 2  
Subject: Fwd: Walking on Ice, Snow and Wet Surfaces
To: Michelle Hodkin , Brother 1
Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 12:19 AM

An email teaching us how to walk. What makes it art is the attached penguin picture.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Director of Environmental Health & Safety at Top Fifty University
Date: 2011/2/1
Subject: Walking on Ice, Snow and Wet Surfaces
To: "TopFiftyUniversity@lists.tf.edu"


Dear University Community,

With the very difficult winter we have been having so far and with the icy, snowy and wet surfaces, it might be worthwhile to review some tips on how to walk on ice, snow and wet surfaces safely.

·         Walk cautiously. Your arms help keep you balanced, so keep hands out of pockets and avoid carrying heavy loads that may cause you to be off balance.

·         Walk “small.” Avoid an erect, marching posture. Look to see ahead of you where you step. When you step on icy areas, take short, shuffling steps, curl your toes under and walk as flatfooted as possible.

·         Point your feet out slightly like a penguin. Spreading your feet out slightly while walking on ice increases your center of gravity.

·         Bend slightly and walk flat footed with your center of gravity directly over the feet as much as possible

·         Watch where you are stepping and GO SLOWLY!! This will help your reaction time to changes in traction.

·         When walking on steps, always use the handrailings and plant your feet firmly on each step.

·         Use special care when entering and exiting vehicles; use the vehicle for support.

·         Take short steps or shuffle for stability. It also helps to stop occasionally to break momentum.

·         When entering buildings, ice, snow and water on shoes or surfaces can also make for slippery surfaces within buildings. Observe the same precautions as listed above.

<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

From: Brother 1
To: Michelle Hodkin , Brother 2
Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 12:28 AM
Subject: Re: Walking on Ice, Snow and Wet Surfaces

"Like a penguin" -- reference image 1.

Genius. Love it so much.

Sent from my iPhone

<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

From: Michelle Hodkin
To: Brother 1 , Brother 2
Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: Walking on Ice, Snow and Wet Surfaces

This is the best thing I have ever seen in my life.

Please let me make this a blog post.

<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

From: Brother 2  

Subject: Re: Walking on Ice, Snow and Wet Surfaces

To: Michelle Hodkin , Brother 1

Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 12:39 AM

Go for it.

Answer Time #2! (My Writing Process)

That's right, it's ANSWER TIME yet again! There will be a lot of ANSWERS this week. But first, the question: 

The awesome Tracey Neithercott asked:

What's your writing process like? Feel free to include baby animals in your response. 

So, this one involves a kind of long answer, which means I'm going to devote the whole post to it. And my writing process for MARA 2 is rather different from the one I had for THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER (aka MARA 1). So I'll tell you about MARA 1, since that's the one you're going to read first. This is what it looked like, way back when:

The first throes of rough drafting:

I AM A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I sent things to my early readers (my alphas). I had four of them. They are dear dear friends and until recently, none of them were writers. At this stage, their main job was to tell me:

"DYING for Ch 11 now!"

"Love it. I want to reach out and kiss ____ myself."

"BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!"

Those are direct quotes. They were also lies. But that was their job. It was my alphas' job to lie, so that I could be fueled by their unmerited enthusiasm and rocket forward through the draft. 

Once they received all of my rough draft word vomitus, I asked them for more serious notes. They gave me their thoughts on things that were problematic. Like for example places in which the text looks like this:

[Something happens here, I don’t know what yet]

$##@$# *&*^&^% (*(*)&^%&^%&%%#@&I!!

Then I went through and self-edited and tried to polish stuff up, and filled in the blanks. I still couldn't see the book clearly at this stage—there were characters who were better off dead and random scenes inserted for nothing more than my own amusement. And the rough draft glow had worn off--boy, had it ever. It was pretty well established by this point that I wasn't a genius. But I fixed what I could, and at least that version wasn’t SO embarrassing. So I then took a big gulp of scotch and fired it off to my revision betas, who were also friends and also mostly non-writers. There were four of these also, just coincidentally.  They then wrote back things like this:

"Why is Mara's stomach always growling? It's like she has a tapeworm." (This no longer happens)

(when Mara rubbed her eye once): "Aww, is the widdle baby gonna cry?" (This I ignored because my beta was just being an asshole)

And my favorite: "Really, Mich? Really???" (From my brother, who, as usual, was spot on).

After I finished sobbing into my keyboard, I thanked my beta readers profusely. I thanked them for being honest and for giving me insightful feedback. Because it WAS insightful. Sure, it sounds ruthless (and if it doesn't, there were plenty more direct quotes that were, I promise), but really, these people spent their precious LEISURE time helping me make my book better. That is an unbelievable gift. They weren't writers—I couldn't even do the same for them in return. So I never argued. Sometimes I'd ask for suggestions if I was stumped, but I NEVER justified, unless asked. 

Then I tried to incorporate their suggestions.  I used Scrivener for most of the revision process, so I created annotations for each beta in a different color (similar to the comment feature in Word) and inserted all of their comments into one full draft. Then I went through the One Document To Rule Them All with the annotations and decided which pearls of wisdom to follow and which to ignore.  Then I send the document out again, once I'd made the changes I decided on.

Then, in some span of time, I got the document back with more notes. Sometimes my betas (because they are all Strong Minded Individuals) would tell me “I STILL HATE THIS.” And sometimes I ignored their advice again. It depended on the issue—I intentionally recruited readers who loved romance and readers who hated it, readers who loved paranormal and readers who loved contemporary, readers who adored YA and readers who'd never read a single YA novel, including TWILIGHT. Male and female readers and readers of all ages. So as you can imagine, I got many different types of feedback, and part of the learning process for me was figuring out what to take and what to leave. But I learned what their strengths were and in the process, learned what my strengths were. And always, if there seemed to be a general consensus, or if things that were issues for one person were continually repeated throughout each round of revisions, I took a reaaaaallly long look and considered my choice even more carefully. And sometimes, with permission, I'd ask the group what they thought like so: 

X hates ________ with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. What do you think?

If they all responded like “Well, actually, X is really smart and I didn’t think of it before myself but you should listen,” then it was probably something I should change. Even if I loved it. That's what it means to kill darlings. 

But. If I got conflicting feedback, and I loved something so hard? Then I kept it. Some sentence darlings lived on to fight another day. 

And that's the way the cookie crumbled. 

Thanks for asking, Tracey! Here are some baby bats just for you.