Decatur Book Festival 2013: YA Author Spotlight

The annual Decatur Book festival is THIS weekend! You do not want to miss the amazing lineup of authors, including the incomparable David Levithan, Michelle Hodkin, and Lauren Morrill + SO many more. There is something for everyone at this incredible book festival. For YA fans in particular there are incredible panels and book signings taking place on Saturday and Sunday, August 31st and September 1st, 2013 in the Decatur Square in Georgia. 

You can see the full list of YA authors here and the panel schedule here.

You can find a handy Twitter list I created with all of the YA DBF 2013 authors in one place here!

Pro Tip: there is an amazing iPhone app for the festival with all of the authors, schedules, locations, etc. You can even mark the events you want to attend and create your schedule for the weekend. 

Some of the authors I am looking forward to in particular are as follows (but honestly, they are all so incredible it's hard to list just a few):

Rick Yancey, author of 2013 Must-Read, The 5th Wave:

Leigh Bardugo, author of the incredible fantasy Grisha Trilogy beginning with Shadow and Bone:

Michelle Hodkin, author of the hauntingly amazing Mara Dyer series:

David Levithan, author of too many incredible books to name:

Lauren Morrill, author of the incredibly swoony Meant to Be:

And, as I said, this is by no means an exhaustive list! There are so many other great authors so be sure to check out the full list above!

Finally, last year DBF was incredible. I meant to blog about it but...law school...so here are some picture highlights now, hopefully better late than never.

David Levithan reading from his new book, Every Day. Incredible.

Meeting David Levithan with fellow writer and BFF Jessi!

Finally meeting the amazing Susan Dennard (Something Strange & Deadly) and hanging out + cookies (obviously).

Catching up with Pinterest buddy Jessica Khoury, author of Origin!

Laughing at pretty much everything Dan Krokos (False Memory) said--seriously hilarious on Twitter and in person. :)

And meeting the incredibly sweet and awesome Sarah Maas, author of the kick-butt series, Throne of Glass!

Be on the lookout for some exciting book giveaways soon as well!

Leave me a comment and let me know if you'll be at DBF this year and what authors you're most looking forward to seeing!

Summer Reading List 2013: The Great Gatsby

Hello again, Internet, friends, fellow writers and readers! So sorry for the absurdly long break in blogging--the second year of law school does that to you, as it turns out. So much has happened since I last blogged--I finished my second year of law school and am now officially a rising-3L (how?!), I...attended the GRAMMY awards (yeah that was amazing--a separate post on that to come), I started writing my third book, and a million other things. But for now, to keep it short(er) and sweet, I'm sharing with you the first book on my 2013 Summer Reading List! 

Throughout the summer, I'll be updating you on what I'm currently reading, and I'd love for you to share what you're reading in the comments below! One can never have too many great book recommendations, right? 

You can also check out my to-read list, my current reads, and the books I've read and my ratings of them on my GoodReads profile. I'm hoping you've all heard of GoodReads (basically it's a social media site for book lovers where you can organize books you've read and want to read into shelves, check out what your friends are reading, and read reviews from book lovers v. Amazon.com randos who are probably related to the author or tend to either vaguely love a book or hate every book ever written--right?). If you love to read, it will complete your life. Seriously, I can't say enough good things about GoodReads, go sign up and add me as a friend! 

Without further adieu, the first book in my Summer Reading List is none other than: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Top Ten Reasons The Great Gatsby Should be on Your 2013 Summer Reading List

1. The Movie Just Came Out

2. This quote: "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

There are so many gems in Fitzgerald's lyrical writing. Each sentence demands to be savored slowly, each word appears to have been carefully selected to evoke an emotion. But this sentence in particular in Chapter One could easily be passed over, but it rings so true, particularly during this time of year. 

Summer is so often written about because it is a time of re-birth, of new beginnings, of freedom. Fitzgerald captures the entire season so effortlessly with this one sentence that many readers likely skim over. 

This particular sentence also caught my eye because my current work-in-progress, my third book, is all about summer functioning as this time of life beginning over again and freedom. More on that another time ;).

3. You (probably) didn't appreciate it in high school

"But I took AP Lit and AP Language and I was so literary in high school!"...I'm just saying, you probably didn't appreciate it enough. (If you're in high school now--read it anyway, enjoy it, appreciate it as much as you can, then read it again in four years and see the difference). This has been my experience, anyway, and the experience of many of my friends. I was horrified to find that I rated Gatsby 2/5 stars on Goodreads from my first read of it, when it is now absolutely one of my favorites and hands down 5/5 stars for me.

4. You've read The Beautiful and Damned 

Fans of other Fitzgerald works, such as The Beautiful and Damned, will love Gatsby even more and appreciate Fitzgerald's writing evolution. 

5. This video from John Green

A separate post will need to be reserved for John Green's general brilliance, but this YouTube analysis of The Great Gatsby will make you appreciate the book so much more (and make your brain explode with knowledge and wit):

6. A Classic is classic for a reason

Only a select few books achieve "classic" status, and this is one of them because of the truly amazing writing and the portrait of the 1920s that Fitzgerald was able to craft in such a concise book.

7. Check off one of the Top 100 best novels

If you're into reading "the best" books from a list of top 100, like this one from the Modern Library, this will be on it. 

8. Mix up your beach reading and take a break from the trashy novel

Summer can be a great time to read fluffy beach reads, and who doesn't love those at times? But it's also great to mix it up and read something with great writing and substance. 

9. The writing is incredible

I just can't even say this enough so I'll throw in another one of my favorite quotes:

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” 

10. It's short and sweet

At only 180 pages in paperback, this book is a quick and satisfying read, perfect for summer. 

*Bonus 11th: The original cover is gorgeous*

Thanks for reading this post and for reading with me this summer! Please share your summer reading list below! Let me know if you re-read Gatsby before the movie came out or if you're planning to now. Leave me your thoughts on the movie too!

P.S. I'm going to be doing an exciting signed book giveaway soon by an awesome author, so stay tuned for that and subscribe below so you don't miss out!

Making your own NaNoWriMo!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/webbadges

Hello blog world! I've missed you so! The second year of law school has been pretty intense. But I come to you now from the other side--of fall semester at least, which is the hardest (allegedly). And that means I'm officially HALFWAY done with law school! Definite hooray.

So as you may have guessed, that whole law school thing did not leave me terribly much time to write last semester. And it definitely did not allow me the time to do NaNoWriMo. I'm guessing most of you bookish types already know what NaNo is, but for those who don't, it's National Novel Writing Month, where people from all over the world commit to writing at least 50K words in a month for a new novel.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/webbadges

Which is awesome. 

But you know what's not awesome? Finals. Law school finals. And as it happens, they just happen to fall in that wonderful November/December time-frame, making NaNo all but impossible. Possible perhaps, but inadvisable for sure.

So that brings me to this post. Because realistically, not all of us can do NaNo. There are other things going on that just get in the way sometimes or make November an inconvenient month. But that doesn't mean we can't make our own NaNo!

Because the truth is you don't need to wait until November to start writing that book! NaNo is awesome for the support and community, but you can easily find great support out there during the other 11 months of the year.

So here are My Steps to Making Your Own NaNoWriMo!:

1. Plan your NaNo Timeline
For some, this may be as simple as saying "March is going to be my NaNo and I'm going to write every single day and end up with an awesome 50K new novel! What what!" But for others, the law school people, the working and traveling, etc. etc. the schedule may be more of a challenge. But sit down and try to put 30 days on your calendar that you're going to commit to writing--it could be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, you just need to get your butt in a chair (and log off of Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook...etc.) and WRITE.

2. Now that you know WHEN you're going to write, think about WHAT you're going to write
Plan out your idea in your head, in an outline, on post-it notes or iPhone notes--anything. I usually don't put much down, and I definitely don't outline out the whole story in advance (but I know some people do and that really helps them!), but I usually capture little snippets and ideas, sentences, character names, sometimes even full chapters that come to me and I jot them down. It'll help to at least have some idea of where you're going even if you don't know all the details yet.

3. WRITE! And Track Your Progress!
There's really no way around it, you're going to have to sit down and write (which will eventually require getting off of allllll those social media sites and unplugging all the distractions). But that's the fun part! And while you're writing, track your progress so you can see just how well you're doing in reaching your NaNo goal. This could be as simple as keeping a note or excel spreadsheet with your word count each day or you could publish it on your blog or Tumblr to let everyone know how your progress is going. One of my best friends posted her daily writing updates on her Tumblr and it was great to see how she was progressing with her WIP and it also made ME want to write more as I saw her success!

4. Find that Support Group
Go on a writing retreat, meet critique partners online, join a local book club, find writerly friends. Do whatever it takes! Part of the allure of NaNo is having that community of people all over the world that are pursuing the same goal as you. They're there to bounce ideas off of, answer questions, and provide support. But you can also find these people who will support you and your writing in months other than November. It's always great to have people you can run a draft by and bounce ideas off of, so take time to form those relationships and find those people who will help you (and that you can help in return).

5. FINISH your NOVEL!
Keep going, keep going! Finish the draft and then CELEBRATE. You just wrote a NOVEL. That's kind of insane. :)

6. REVISE REVISE REVISE REVISE.....
Once you're finished with your NaNo you will have a NOVEL. But it will probably be a really rough first draft version of a novel that will need lots of polishing over the coming months. This will be a long process, but in the end, your novel will be so much better than you ever knew when you started it. And it will be really freaking cool to say, yeah, I wrote a novel (or a second, or third) :). Trust.

If all else fails, try to clear your November schedule for the next year to jump in with the Official NaNoWriMo crew (but until then, keep writing...really)!

Hopefully I'll be able to join in the fun that is NaNo another year (post-law school finals)--I know so many people enjoy it and lots of published authors' books started out as NaNo Novels! How cool!

Have you done NaNoWriMo? Have you made your own NaNo? Share your NaNo and writing advice below!

On Accepting e-Books into Your Life

I admit it, I was so against e-books. I was of the "I will NEVER never ever buy or read an e-book camp. What betrayal to 'real' books!" But then...I did read an e-book. And shhhh...I LOVED it. Shhhh.

There's always that gateway e-book that drags you down into the e-book world, I suppose. And for me it was Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty, which I had been wanting to read for ages and happened to be on sale on Kindle one day. And with my shiny new iPad and Kindle app and no e-books, I thought, fine. I'll try it. But I won't like it.

But I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. Because the truth is, e-books are awesome. If you haven't given e-books a try, I encourage you to do so.

10 reasons you should read e-Books:

1. They're so convenient
If you're like me, you wish you could have a book with you at all times. Well you can. You can read your e-books on the go wherever you are. On your iPad or e-reader, on your laptop, even on your smartphone. So. Convenient.

2. They travel well
If you're going on a trip--packing 10 books in your suitcase vs. storing 100 on your iPad or other e-reader? No contest. Save the luggage space and pack more shoes. ;)

3. They're the wave of the future
Author Nathan Bransford has done an awesome poll the last few years asking people if they'll ever buy mostly e-books. And, not surprisingly, the number of people accepting e-books has been increasing every year. Embrace the change.

4. They're interactive
E-books have lots of cool features. There are usually web and twitter links to the author's pages at the end of the book, which enables you to easily learn more and interact with the author. You can also highlight a word and have instant in-app access to the definition. Pretty sweet.

5. They're searchable
Looking for a particular quote, character, or word? You can easily search and find a list of the pages with what you're looking for.

6. You can highlight and not feel guilty
I never highlight in print novels, but with e-books, I don't feel bad about it at all. I like flagging my favorite lines and funny things the characters say. And it's also really cool to see what other people have highlighted in the Kindle version of the book.

7. They're cheaper
Because you don't have those printing and distribution costs, e-books tend to be cheaper so you can buy and read even more of them on a budget! And there are always insane deals on Amazon where you can get e-books for $1.99. Everyone loves a great deal.

8. There are new cool features emerging
There are so many different possibilities with e-books, from making them truly interactive, where the reader chooses what decisions the character makes and the story comes out differently, to adding interactive media, to apps that allow authors to sign e-books. As e-books become even more mainstream, more features will continue to emerge.

9. They still support the author just like a "real" book
Buying an e-book still gives money to an author, just as buying the print version does. As long as you're not pirating the book, you're still supporting the author and letting them continue to write and bring you more books.

10. You can always buy the original print version too--at least for now!
If you really love the book that much and feel the need to have it sitting on your shelf, you still can! Hopefully e-books will just be a complement to traditional print books, because many people who love e-books still appreciate holding a real book in their hands too. Either way, I don't think traditional books are going away completely any time soon.

*11. Bonus 11th! Free public domain books!
You can read your heart out by downloading free classics in the public domain. :) Search Free Kindle public domain books: Here. Oh and there's always other random free books in the Kindle store too.

Happy e-reading!

Have you embraced e-books in your life? Do you love them or still hate them?

The Writer's Guide to Beta Readers: Part 1

A smiley face from Beta Reader Megan!

What are beta readers? Why do you need them? What should you ask them? My Guide to Beta Readers posts will cover all of these important topics for writers.

First of all, what is a beta reader? They can be a member of a writing group or critique partner, a friend, family member, acquaintance, basically anyone who will read an early version of your book and provide you with honest and critical feedback. The point of betas is not to just tell you how awesome you are--although the encouragement they can provide is also helpful for beginning writers. The point of betas is to help you make your book stronger. They can point out to you all the things you can't see about your book because you're too close to it. The best betas will give you honest feedback and comments on things you can improve and also hopefully some encouragement to keep you going!

I love this quote from author Angela Ackerman regarding betas/critique partners: "You want them to love it and say it’s great, but what you NEED is for them to point out the problems." Nothing could be more true about the beta process, which is why it is so important you have betas that are absolutely committed to being honest with you. Brutally honest (hopefully not in a brutal way though--no need to kill dreams!)

There are always a lot of "Do I need a beta reader?" questions out there. My take is definitely. Here's why I think they're the best and you should get some too:

Why they're the best

I happen to have some of the best beta readers ever and I am so thankful for all of their feedback. The great thing is they all bring a different perspective to my book, but each one is still so helpful and committed. I've got some writer friends, some reader friends, some other friends, some family, and also some critique partners and authors to give me feedback, which makes for a great mix of advice!

I must say though that my favorite (read: most hilarious) comments come from Megan, one of my best friends and my former college roomie--she basically knows me better than I know myself. Megan tells it how it is and is so blunt with the characters. For example, in one scene, character A is reflecting on how many times character B has saved her life. Megan, however, jumped in and said "Oh no, B. Questionable. I'll give you credit for one life saving, but not two. The other one totally doesn't count." Comments like these are really funny when they are addressed to the characters and they have Megan's enthusiasm for the book and the characters all over them. It also makes it much more fun to read through and revise because I get all her sidebars.

ALL of my beta readers have been incredibly helpful in pointing out all the things I thought I said (but didn't) and helping me make my book what I intended for it to be in the first place. Then there are also those great suggestions and new ideas that make it even better than it was before. I really couldn't do it without their help! So that's why I definitely recommend you get some beta readers of your own.

If you're ready to dive in, check out this post on the Pub(lishing) Crawl blog on Finding a Critique Parner!

Check back for part 2 of my beta readers series where I'll post a list of the questions I gave to my beta readers to help guide their critique.

Have you gotten feedback from a beta reader or been a beta reader before? What did you find helpful? Any other tips for writers and beta readers?

Writing Inspiration On Pinterest

I love Pinterest. Gorgeous pictures on the visual social media pinboard inspire everything from recipes to fashion to travel destinations. Lately I've noticed many authors (including me!) use Pinterest for writing inspiration.

The awesome people at YA Highway have even compiled a list of authors on Pinterest! It's fun to see what they're pinning and get hints at future books. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the incredibly gorgeous and constantly updated boards of Jessica Khoury. You will seriously want to repin everything she pins.

When I saw Jessica's pin boards, I immediately made general story boards of my own. I figured they might come in handy for future projects when I wanted character inspiration. What I didn't realize was that I would go to them time and again for my current WIP (work in progress)! Scrolling through the faces of people I thought would make interesting characters and finding ones that match my vision of characters in my book has been such a great resource. I've added a few characters in revisions and changed some features of others, necessitating adding to my visual inspiration board for the project. It's so cool to refer to a picture while writing and see "your character" in various situations and making different expressions.

Characters aren't the only inspiration you'll find on Pinterest. Pictures of how your character might dress, the house they live in, the decor of their bedroom, where certain scenes take place, and much more are at your fingertips and ready to be pinned to inspiration boards.

Pinterest is the writer's playground for inspiration. Whenever I need a quick writing break, it's the first place I go. It lets me recharge and gives me an instant burst of creativity. As Jessica said in a recent tweet, "All it takes to launch a new story idea is a single, powerful image."

So what are you waiting for? Go get pinning! Just file it under "book research time." ;)

Do you use Pinterest for writing inspiration? What boards do you follow for story inspiration? I'd love your recommendations! Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest here!

Happy pinning & writing!

"Katie O'Shea Books" Writing Blog on Pinterest!

https://pinterest.com/katiesoshea/katie-o-shea-books-blog/

What is Pinterest? (A quick lesson for those not yet in the know) :)
"Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes."

And now people use Pinterest to showcase their blog in visual form! (Or at least I am).

After reading some cool Pinterest articles about people using the site for new things, (check out my new Pinterest board "Read Me Now or Later" for examples) such as creating boards to save articles they want to read (hence the above), or even creating digital Pinterest resumes, (Seriously! How cool!) I decided to do some creative Pinterest/Blog crossover-ing of my own.

So I created a board on Pinterest just for this blog where I will pin all of my blog posts for your easy viewing pleasure. It will be a fun way to check out the blog in a neat visual form and easily see what posts I've written about and you can re-pin them to share with your friends too! I hope you like the new idea!

Leave me a comment below on what you'd like to see on the blog/Pinterest board and any cool ways you've been using Pinterest!

Also since this is a Pinterest-themed post, I simply must give a shout-out to "Pinspirational" author Jessica Khoury (her debut YA book ORIGIN comes out in September!) for amazing use of Pinterest. Check out her awesome boards, such as "Characters in Want of Story" and "Have Setting. Insert Story." for some truly inspiring pins that led to my own new boards "Quite the Character" and "Stories Happen Here." She also had the great idea of using Pinterest to have people submit entries for an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) giveaway on her blog where they repinned one of her pins and added a short story. Very creative!