Five of My Favorite YA Wordsmiths

I revisited my old stomping ground today, the YA Rebels, to talk about five of my favorite YA wordsmiths. Click to see who I picked.

And tell me, who are some of YOUR favorite wordsmiths?

On Writer Panic and Really Small Rooms…

The title pretty much sums it up…

A short piece of backstory:

THE ARCHIVED is based on a project I fell madly in love with while I was waiting for NW edits. It was oh so lovely, but also oh so flawed. When Editor A and I decided to re-envision the project, I was so extremely excited, but also knew it would be hard to let go of what it WAS.

And it is. It’s proving so, so hard to separate the two books in my head. It’s a learning experience, and at times incredibly stressful. That said, every time I do manage to overcome a plot hurdle, a pacing snag, every time I manage to let an old piece go in favor of a newer, stronger element, I feel like I’ve made it to the top of a mountain. And then I descend, and find a dozen more freaking large hills in my way. Hence the unusually manic-depressive tweets (i.e. EEE WIN THIS BOOK ROCKS…ARGH KILL ME I HATE YOU BOOK DIE DIE).

So. There you go.

Writing is hard.

The Near Witch Epic Giveaway of Epicness!!!

Lovelies!

Today is the 6-month mark for THE NEAR WITCH and that means I get to do a giveaway!!!

SO. Here’s the vlog. But if you can’t/don’t want to watch the vlog, it’s all laid out below.

ONE BIG WINNER WILL GET…

-A SIGNED ARC OF THE NEAR WITCH!
There aren’t many of these floating around right now, and while I’ve heard whispers there might be some at BEA, I don’t honestly know, so, if you want an ARC, here’s your chance!

-A SET OF 3 SIGNED BUTTONS.
As you might have seen, I designed three pins for the book. I only ordered 100 of each pin, and almost all will be given away individually. Additionally, only this first production of pins will be signed and numbered. So this is a chance to own something kind of cool/rare, a complete set of signed, numbered buttons!

-ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, WITH SIGNED BOOKPLATE.
It debuted at #7 on the NYT list, and it’s one of my favorite recent reads, so I’m giving away a copy, complete with signed bookplate!

–AND SWAG, OF COURSE.

Altogether, it looks like this:

TWO MORE WINNERS WILL GET…

-A set of 3 signed, numbered buttons
-A signed bookplate and signed bookmark for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
-A signed bookplate and signed bookmark for CLARITY
-Signed bookmarks for POSSESSION and RIVAL
-Fun swag

ALSO!

The first 30 NEVERMIND, FIRST 60 entrants will ALL get a signed, numbered button!

AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO…

1. Leave a comment!
2. Post about this giveaway somewhere–Twitter, FB, Tumblr, Blog–ANYWHERE. You don’t even have to link to it in the comments, we go on honor system here. Just spread the word.
3. Not required, but if you want to go to The Near Witch page on Facebook and hit LIKE, that’s cool too.

This giveaway is international, and it will run from now until MIDNIGHT CST ON FEBRUARY 9TH. Winner will be announced 9AM FEBRUARY 10TH.

4 Incredibly Important Orders of Business.

Orders of business, lovelies!!!

1. The Good Deed Giveaway.

You guys. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading the giveaway entries. They brightened my day…for several days, actually. It’s amazing the many shapes good deeds can take.

I have consulted the gods of the random number generator, and the winner is Zoe of Zoe’s Book Reviews. Congrats, Zoe! And please email me your mailing address at vschwab at comcast dot net.

2. Shenanigans.

I spent the last few days in Ohio! I am not from, nor do I usually occupy that state. I took a surprise trip up to see Leah Clifford, Scott Tracey, the Ohio book club, and the ever-charming Lisa and Laura Roecker. This is my second time flying up there since early fall! I must really like them* 😉

You can find out more about the shenanigans HERE. But I will add that there was much consumption of baked goods and music and pizza and general fabulousness (on their parts of course, not mine).

*Fun fact: The last time I flew up, I was JUST about to start the book I have mentioned on here only as “the book” because I can’t tell you more yet. I finished that same book and have been polishing with my agent, and that stage of book-making actually finished the day I flew up. It felt right. Very bookend-y.

3. Holy Crap I Am Seriously Going to England (and think I shouldn’t capitalize “am” but not sure right now).

I just realized that, in two months exactly, I will fly to England. (O_O).

So much is going to happen before I leave, since February 2nd is the SIX MONTH MARK for The Near Witch, and starting then I have a crap ton of epic things planned. I promise. The epic. It might astound. Or at least please. Starting February 2nd and continuing on to August 2nd (CAN YOU FEEL THE FLAIL OF JOY?) I will be hosting giveaways, putting up more teaser vlogs like THIS ONE, bribing you with swag, etc. etc. etc.

4. On Realistic Goals…

I apparently don’t make them. I have this TERRIFYING TBR pile right now, with everything from BLOOD MAGIC and CLARITY to 12TH GRADE KILLS and CLOCKWORK ANGEL and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE and about 23 others. My goal is to get my TBR pile conquered before the UK trip. But then again my goal is also to fully plot a new project, finish my Christmas shopping, clean up the heinousness that is my room, and get my life in order before the UK trip. We’ll see how much of that happens…

5. In Summation.

Winner = Zoe.
Ohio Trip = Win.
February On = Epic Fun.
Realistic Goals = Overrated.

And lastly, comments = love.

The holiday is about giving, so leave me a note, say hello, tell me what is going on in YOUR lives, because I find that far more interesting than what’s going on in mine, share what you want this holiday, etc. etc. etc.

❤

Victoria vs. Productivity ALWAYS EQUALS FAIL.

Title pretty much sums it up. This week on the YA Rebels is silly/open, and the topic is ___ “vs” ____ so obviously I did VICTORIA vs. ALL FORMS OF PRODUCTIVITY.

Round 1 – The Twittercation

Round 2 – The To-Do List

No, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of some of my other vlogs, but I’d appreciate the click/view :p It’s been one of those weeks (in case that wasn’t apparent by my emoticon post on Monday).

Enjoy!

Harry Potter, times capsules, and a new book!

Hey all!

 

I’ve been busy on the internet these past couple days.

 

1. HARRY POTTER. (O_O)

Yes, I went to the midnight showing. Yes, it was EPIC. But before I went, I wrote a guest post called “The Possibility of Magic,” which you can find HERE! It talks about why I love the movies, magical realism, and the films as visual tributes to the readers.

 

2. I VLOGGED.

It was my turn to talk about what I would put in my time capsule, and man, all I can say is that whoever opens mine is going to have a costume party and some awesome art! First Leah announces a contest winner, and then after that I reveal just how odd I am.

 

 

3. I FINISHED A BOOK!!

That’s right, the first draft of the book that has been eating up soul, sanity, and most of my chocolate lately is DONE!! *confetti* Was very exciting because I spent the first half of this year editing NW, and was beginning to think I wouldn’t have the chance to write fresh in 2010. I wish I could tell you ANYTHING. A hint, a clue, a title. But I can’t yet. Hopefully soon 🙂 Just know that I am beyond excited for it.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing – ENVY

This week on the YA Rebels, as the title suggests, we talk about the 7 deadly sins in their respect to writing.

I decided to take on ENVY.

In large part because it’s something I struggle with. It’s something we all struggle with.

And here’s what I have to say:

In summation.

Envy.

1. Short paths and long roads (for my full post on this idea, go HERE).
2. Waste of your time.
3. Out of your control.

This is one of those vlogs I actually sat and thought about a LOT (and my brainspace right now…pretty limited, thanks to school and book), so I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Wednesday is scared of bread mold and shadow people

Well that title pretty much sums it up. This week on the YA Rebels we’re discussing what scares us.

I AM TERRIFIED OF MOLD.

ALSO SHADOW PEOPLE.

AND LET’S ADD BATHROOMS AT MIDNIGHT.

Yeah.

I went there.

YA Rebels Playing Each Other

So this week on the YA Rebels we were impersonating each other (this is what happens when we want a break from serious topics, or when we simply can’t come up with anything).

Life this week has been a little insane, and I did mine this morning sans food or caffeine, but here we go! Make sure you watch all the way to the end for outtakes :p

Wednesday doing Thursday:

And here’s Gretchen doing her impersonation of me yesterday.

Monday doing Wednesday:

Oh, and PS. Thank you so, so, so much for all the cover and ARC love. Seriously.

Show and Tell!!

So this week on the YA Rebels we’re doing show and tell!

Basically we didn’t feeling like talking about ourselves, so we thought we’d just share some of our favorite things from around the interwebs!

Hannah Moskowitz’s video was all deep and meaningful and discussed Goodreads. I decided that in the wake of such a vlog, I would share jumping cats and suicidal veggies.

Obviously.

My video:

Video #1:

Video #2:

Video #3 (Go to about 50 seconds in…):

Tell me about/link me to any fun distractions you have on the internet!