YA Highway

Hello friends! I'm Emilia, your resident Apocalypse Advertiser, and I'm here to tell you that despite scientific claims to the contrary, the end of the world is imminent.

When I first heard that 2012 would bring the apocalypse, I was like, "Whaaa? Now that's a great practical joke, Mayans!" But then I had this DREAM. In the dream, a massive hippopotamus woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to come with him. Not wanting to anger the dude, I did! He took me to a long river, where fairies stole my clothing. It was really cold. Suddenly, the hippo disappeared, and I was forced to walk back home on my own. When I got back in bed, I found this note under my pillow:

2012 is the year the world will end! Love, Hippo

It was then I realized I wasn't dreaming. I was fully awake, and everything had been real! Including the hippo's note. Ever since that night, I have been determined to spread the message of the apocalypse to everyone who's willing to listen.

So yeah. The world as we know it is gonna end in 2012. This means that maybe it's time to start asking yourself questions. Questions like: what have you been doing that doesn't really make you happy? What are you called to do that you just haven't been doing? Starting tomorrow, the fire could come any day. So maybe it would be good to start doing more of the things that will make you feel awesome when you look back on them (while you're running for cover from collapsing volcanoes).

It's okay if you don't believe me. I promise I'm not offended - I just can't promise you a spot in my personal Apocalypse-Proof Bunker with ApocaCupcakes(tm)! But even so, it might be a good thing to ask yourself: is there anything you could be doing right now to help make your life more awesome? (Tip: use that Macbook to write now before it's melted!)

I don't mean to make you feel guilty. Guilt is kinda useless. But the fact is, the Firey Earth Lord Potamus (the hippo came back - long story) is not forgiving. And there's no better time to write and read and fulfill your dreams than before the apocalypse comes!

Good luck in 2012, friends!

But seriously - happy New Year from all of us at YA Highway. You are awesome and capable of anything, and 2012 is going to be a journey to remember. We hope to see you along the way!

A New Year's Message from YAH's Resident Apocalypse Advertiser

2011 has been another amazing year, and once again, we have you wonderful readers to thank for it. Last year, I mentioned we were excited to go from 100 followers to 1500; this year, we're on track to double that number! From deal announcements and book debuts, to blog awards and the continued success of Road Trip Wednesday, we are so glad to have you all along for the ride on this publishing journey.

Now let's take a look at 2011, Year Of The Hashtag!

*quick explanation about these links: Some lead directly to original sources, but when the Field Trip gathered several links about one topic, I've linked to it instead. You may have to scroll down, and CTRL+F will help you locate the topic in long posts. As in all FTF posts, images are linked to their source. Unless I forgot or made it myself.


- A new edition of Huckleberry Finn cut all uses of the "n-word."

- The first of several "can authors be reviewers" debates sprang up after an agent's comment during #querychat.

- A contest from First One Publishing caused a ruckus as well.

- Kody Keplinger's The DUFF was chosen for the YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers Top Ten!




- Bitch Media's "100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader" listed, then removed, several titles, which led to a firestorm of criticism in the comments and on the #bitchplease hashtag.

- Borders filed for bankruptcy.

- Guest poster Nicola Richardson generated great conversation about race in YA.

- Author Martin Amis claimed only a brain injury could make him write for children. Lots of other people pointed out that he can be a total tool.

- Sugar at The Rumpus wrote many incredible articles this year, but her beautiful list of advice in February just might trump them all.

- The YA community lost critically-acclaimed author L. K. Madigan (Lisa Wolfson) to pancreatic cancer. Several tributes are rounded up here.



- In which we examined the bizarre case of the YA Mafia.

- Several publishing efforts raised money to support victims of the horrible earthquake in Japan.

- Self-publishing icon Amanda Hocking signed a reportedly $2 million deal with St. Martin's Press. 

- Fans questioned "The Hunger Games" casting decisions, and many accused the studio of whitewashing.

- We celebrated the release of Kirsten Hubbard's debut novel, Like Mandarin!




- Author Jessica Verday was the first of many authors to withdraw from an anthology because the editor asked her to straighten a gay romance. Cleolinda Jones did a great job keeping up with the ins and outs of the controversy.

- Publishing came home to report from the Bologna Book Fair.

- All sorts of weird stuff happened on April Fool's Day.

- Guest poster Sarah Heacox wrote one of our most popular posts, "Great Characters with Disabilities in YA and MG."

- Someone leaked stills from "Breaking Dawn Part 1." All retinal damage attendant to their viewing appears to have been temporary.



- Highwayers Sumayyah Daud, Kaitlin Ward, Kirsten Hubbard, Sarah Enni, Phoebe North, and Kody Keplinger (not pictured) got to attend Book Expo America. Kirsten and Kody were also chosen to be part of the Teen Author Carnival!

- We got our first look at Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. 

- Osama Bin Laden was killed under the dubious codename "Geronimo."

- Help Right Now raised over $20,000 in auction bids to support victims of the storms that swept across the country in late April. I want to take this opportunity to again thank every single one of you who donated, bid, spread the word, or helped organize the event.



- An article in the Wall Street Journal claimed YA is "rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity." And lo, the YA community did respond, spawning a million posts plus the #YASaves hashtag.

- A mysterious new website called "Pottermore" appeared, and speculation about its use ran wild.

on Bourbon Street with Kiki Hamilton, Courtney Moulton, Leah Clifford, Shannon Messenger, Lisa Desrochers, Julie Cross, Kari Olson, Kate Hart, Veronica Roth, Kirsten Hubbard, Carolina Valdez Miller, Sarah Enni, and Lindsey Roth Culli.

- Kirsten Hubbard, Sarah Enni, Veronica Roth and I had a great time at the summer ALA conference in New Orleans, where we got to co-host a blogger meetup with the ladies from Stacked!

- YA Highway added six fabulous new contributors, not to mention an adorable meesling. Meanwhile, Emilia Plater graduated from high school and headed to college, where she promptly joined the Quidditch team because she's awesome like that.







- We bid a bittersweet farewell to Harry Potter with the release of "Deathly Hallows Part 2." 

- Borders closed its doors forever.

- Google+  made its debut.

- Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak survived the Scroggins challenge in Missouri, but Twenty Boy Summer and Slaughterhouse Five did not-- despite the fact that some of the voters didn't even read the books.

- Michelle Schusterman had to exit the Highway this year (*sob*), but her post about metafiction continues to get more traffic than any other article in our history.

- Controversy over agents-as-publishers continued.

- Phoebe North's post about honoring your process struck a nerve with many writers.

- An author who announced she had signed with Jodi Reamer of Writers House and sold her novel for six figures within days quickly discovered she had been the victim of a hoax.

- Kristin Halbrook's Nobody But Us sold to Harper Children's!



- The New York Times claimed boys don't read YA because of girls. (Okay, it was a little more nuanced than that, but not much.)

- Publish America offered to show your book to J.K. Rowling for the low, low price of just $49! Or, you know. Not.

- WriteOnCon was a big success, and you can still access most of the resources they provided.

- Lee Bross announced she will be writing Fates for Delacorte under the pen name Lanie Bross!




- The #YesGayYA controversy garnered a little attention for an important subject, but mostly devolved into a mess.

- Read For Relief rallied the publishing community to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Irene.

- Agents argued about no-response policies.

- The blogosphere celebrated Banned Books Week in style.

- Kody Keplinger's sophomore novel, Shut Out, made its way into the world!

- YA Highway was named "Best Publishing Industry Blog" of the year!! (I hope my overuse of exclamation points here doesn't retroactively disqualify us.) 




- The National Book Award erroneously nominated Lauren Myracle's Shine for their Young People's Literature category... then asked her to recuse herself from the running "to maintain the integrity of the award." As you might imagine, everyone had something to say on this topic, but none stronger than Libba Bray.

- The National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" list included a YA author for the first time ever!

- Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56.

- The NYT talked a lot about Amazon. It got a little tedious.

- Our readers submitted some fabulous YA-inspired jack o'lanterns!




- YA movies made lots of news: "Breaking Dawn Part 1" premiered to mixed reviews, and the first "Hunger Games" trailer made us all sit up and take notice.

- NaNoWriMo rolled around again, with the requisite inspirational and/or critical posts.

- The #FridayReads hashtag raised questions about paid ads and authentic recommendations.

- Sara Zarr wrote a fantastic post about being inspired by failure.

- Amazon debuted a new Kindle lending program that included books from publishers who had specifically declined to participate.



- Veronica Roth's Divergent won pretty much all the awards this year (not to mention she participated in a panel at Comic-Con)!

- Amazon again rocked the publishing boat when they announced the acquisition of Marshall Cavendish during the launch week of their price comparison app. Then some guy at Slate wrote some troll-bait hating on indie bookstores, which went over about as well as you'd expect.

- Author P.C. Cast angered readers by not just ignoring their opposition to "the r-word," but then mocking their complaints in her newest book.

- Diablo Cody revealed that her "Young Adult" movie stemmed from experiences writing Sweet Valley High books and wondering if she is "some kind of stunted woman-child that’s living vicariously through her characters." She goes on to describe YA as a "guilty pleasure." Yay. Thanks for the solidarity there, D.

- Phoebe North's YA sci-fi Starglass sold to Simon and Schuster!







  - Best books of the year according to: YALSA, Goodreads, NPR (YA), Barnes and Noble, the New York Times, Kirkus (YA), Amazon, Publisher's Weekly (YA), Indigo Blog, Random Buzzers, Audible, MTV, and children's book award lists.

- You can still nominate your favorites of 2011 at TeenReads!

- The year in publishing according to The Telegraph, The Washington Post's book news timeline, Jane Friedman's must-read articles of 2011, GalleyCat's top stories,  by the numbers, Writer's Relief, and Nielsen's Top Tens in Sales.

- The Guardian's 2011 book quiz

- What your favorite 2011 book says about you, at Flavorwire



- Best albums of the year according to Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, Spinner, NPR, NPR listeners, MTV, Rolling Stone, and Rolling Stone's readers.

- The Village Voice's 10 best 2011 things to listen to while writing

- PopMatters' 20 worst albums of 2011

- Stereogum's 50+ most anticipated albums of 2012 (the XX! Grizzly Bear!) 




- Sarah Enni hosted a week-long blog carnival with lists of music, characters, books and more.

- Some of our favorite people, Katy Upperman, Erin Bowman, Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller, hosted the "Class of 2011 Superlatives" blog carnival-- a cool twist on the usual "best of" lists.

- Forever Young Adult listed their Top Ten Swooniest Books of 2011 and Top Ten Favorite Reads.

- Jessica, Lisa, Rachel, Jaime, and Patricia hosted a huge Top 10 of 2011 event, including covers, book boyfriends and more.

- The Book Smugglers hosted several weeks of "Smugglivus 2011," with guest posts and lists of favorites from tons of YA authors. 

- Nomes at Inkcrush hosted the "Faves of TwentyEleven" awards.

- Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer is hosting a "Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop," and Reading Teen is hosting an enormous giveaway.

- Great lists of favorites from Jen, Kelly, and Kimberly at Stacked; Kari at A Good Addiction; Carey Farrell's books and music.

Did we miss yours? Link it in the comments!




The year... in photoshop fails, weird science, Legos, best websites, Native fashion appropriations, viral videos, movies, more movies, even more movies, tech surprises, video games, insignificant news, weird life forms, strange hotels, political scandals, and awesome Tumblrs..

... according to Twitter, GQ, The Hollywood Reporter, The Atlantic, Indian Country, and Fresh Air...

...in pictures from the BBC, MSNBC, ABC, the NYT, Reddit, Flickr, Pitchfork, the United Nations, the Atlantic, Billboard, the Telegraph, Vanity Fair, Greenpeace, and Time...

and in memes. Of course.

Field Trip Friday: The Big News of 2011

In the publishing world, we spend a lot of time getting ourselves accustomed to rejection.

We steel ourselves for it. We tell ourselves not to react defensively to criticism (constructive or otherwise) from critique partners, editors, and agents. We do our best to process criticism, to absorb it, to learn from our mistakes and not take rejection of our work as rejection of ourselves as people.

Maybe that’s why it can be equally difficult to react with grace when someone actually—gasp!—likes our writing.

It is for me, at least, and I wonder if other writers have experienced similar emotions. Much of this is exacerbated by the way that I was raised: to always strive to be better, rather than resting on my laurels for even a moment. So for years, when someone complimented my writing, I’d blush and stammer and demur.

“Oh no!” I’d say, “It’s nothing. I’m really not all that talented. Thank you, but surely you must be joking.”

Then the other person would sort of frown, and I’d wonder what their problem was.

It’s taken me years to unpack this kind of exchange. I finally realized that those people saying nice things actually meant it—and, more, that they aren’t particularly interested in arguing with me about whether they really like my work or not. In short, I’ve finally figured out how to be gracious—how to take a compliment and not be rude in response.

At first, I relied on a stock phrase. “Thank you for saying that. I really enjoyed writing it, and I’m glad you liked it.” Every bone in my body objected to this odd, stilted, kind speech. If I just accepted their praise, did that mean I was full of myself—that I had a swelled head?

But I eventually realized how much more smoothly these interactions went when I responded graciously, rather than hemming and hawing my objections. People want to know that they’re being heard—that you respect their opinion of your work, that you respect your own work, too. I no longer dreaded the inevitable confrontation whenever I sensed that someone was going to say something nice about me. Instead, it started to feel good!

Funny thing is that it’s made a difference in my writing, too. Because when you mire yourself in doubt, it shows in your art—you might undermine the strongest parts of it, sabotaging yourself over and over again. Now I feel instead like I can listen to praise, process it in much the same way that I once did criticism, and use my strengths to my own best advantage.

So if you’re anything like my former self, the next time someone says something nice about your writing, try something new—just say “thank you”!

On Responding Graciously

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

Road Trip Wednesday #111: Best Books of the Year

Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally.

My very educated mother just served us noodles. (Anyone else still sad about Pluto? Just me?)

They're mnemonics. They're usually silly. And they help us to remember random things. But in this lovely age of technology the internet has brought us something even better.

English is often coined as one of the most difficult languages to learn given all the rules and take-backsies of said rules in particular though rarely make-sensible situations. Never fear. The internet, as always, has got your back.




Everyone, every one. Alot, a lot. For help remembering when to hit that space bar . . .

Brilliance by Hyperbole and a Half

I'm not judging your story either way. Just be sure YOU know what you mean . . .

It's like the internet has eyes and sees into my documents o.O

tricky, tricky . . .

Don't lie. You've done it too.

Also not to be confused with Yar, which is, obviously, the language of the Pirate.

What are your favorite grammar memes?

Memes Make Writing Rules More Fun!

Happy Holidays from YA Highway!

THIS WEEK IN WRITING

- Author Susan Dennard talks story expectations and disappointments.

- The makers of Scrivener have iPad and iPhone apps in development.

- What's the best gift you can give a writer? GalleyCat has a suggestion, and the NYT polled authors to find out which books they like to give and receive.

- Can't remember the rules laid out in The Elements of Style? Now you can learn it in sing it instead.


THIS WEEK IN READING

- John Green announced Wednesday that Barnes and Noble erroneously shipped copies of The Fault In Our Stars.

- The NYT looks at Scholastic's new "Infinity Ring" series and its combination of in-book and gaming features.

- Spanish novelist Lucía Extebarria quits writing in protest of piracy issues.

- NPR's list of top YA included Veronica Roth's Divergent!




THIS WEEK IN PUBLISHING

- Sara Megibow shares the newbie mistakes she's made as an agent.

- Editor Angela James has ten things writers need to know about Twitter.

- Don't query agents on Twitter. Seriously. Janet Reid is not kidding.

- How to have a better blog, from The Rejectionist.

- Mark Changizi takes a look at the destructive side of creative communities (via Elizabeth Craig).


THIS WEEK IN OTHER STUFF

Buzz for the "Snow White and the Huntsman" movie has been high, but reaction to the poster for the other Snow White movie, "Mirror Mirror," is lukewarm at best.









THIS WEEK IN THE RANDOM



Have a merry Christmas weekend!
~ Kate Hart

Field Trip Friday: December 23, 2011

I don't think I've been very forthcoming on my feelings about the new ABC show, Once Upon a Time. Here they are in a nutshell: I love it! And I'm heartbroken they're on winter break until January 8. One of the reasons I love this show is its main villainess, Regina aka the evil stepmother/queen/witch.

The premise of the show, in case you don't know, is this: slighted, angry, and denied her own happy ending, the Evil Queen Regina (am I the only time who gets a kick out of that name, or is that just the nerd in me?)(Regina means 'queen' in latin, hence the kick) curses all of Fairy Tale Land. Everyone's memory is wiped and they're stuck in a time loop in Storybrooke, Maine until Emma, Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, returns to break the spell. The show alternates between revealing each of the character's histories (and I love, love the twists they've put on all the fairy tale's so far), and what's happening in real time as Emma and Henry (a little boy who knows it's all a curse) work to break the spell.

There are many things I love about this show (not least of which is Josh Dallas) is the well rounded, and sympathetic characters. Most of all, Regina. She has the potential to be an incredibly flat, rah-rah go evil! sort of character. But she isn't. Regina has motive; she's been denied a happy ending over and over again. She's also been wronged by Snow White - in this telling, Snow is no innocent victim of her own beauty. She's an active participant in creating the anger that propels most of Regina's narrative.

It's hard (at least for me) to not feel a little sympathy when Regina is spurned by her adopted son in favor of his birth mother, left by Graham in favor of Emma, turned on by any number of people when all she wants is a happy ending. Her moral compass might be a little skewed, and her methods questionable, but her core is something we all understand and recognize. She wants to be loved, she wants friends, she wants to be happy. But the fairy tale dynamic won't allow her to be happy, without removing happiness from someone else -and that's why we think she's evil. Because we think the cost is too high, even though, had it been Snow working for her happy ending, it would have ended the same, just with Regina on the other side.

I think there's a lot to learn from the writers of Once Upon a Time (and why not, since they're also the writers of Lost), and a whole lot to learn from Regina as a villainess. Cardboard villains are all well and good, but the ones that make and enrich a story are ones we understand, who maybe took a wrong turn, but were on the same path until something awful happened. When we understand and sympathize with the circumstances of their creation, we can love and hate them better, and in that way, tell better stories.

Villains! And Villanesses!

Welcome to our 110th Road Trip Wednesday!
Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.
We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This Week's Topic:
Where do you buy most of your books? No one is judging!

Road Trip Song of the Week:
“Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

RTW #110: Where Do You Buy Books?

Winter Giveaway Winners!

One of, if not the, best ways for a book to build buzz and gain new readers is by word of mouth. Readers have a great deal of power deciding what to buy which leads to what bookstores buy which leads to what publishers buy. When you discover a new favorite author or book, spreading the news helps ensure that a writer can continue to produce material for you to fall in love with. What are some ways to tell others about favorite reads?

How To Share Your Favorite Books and Authors

When I went to visit my friend Shayla at Colorado State University, she was about to try out for the Quidditch team. "I want to be a Keeper," she said

I wasn't sure I heard her correctly. "I'm sorry. Did you say Quidditch?"

She did say Quidditch, and she then proceeded to show me pictures, video, and articles about college Quidditch teams around the country. It's for real. At CSU, Quidditch is still considered an extracurricular club, but at some universities, the sport of the wizarding world is actually a sport to rival football and volleyball.

After some geeking out about this new-found awesomeness, Shayla asked me if I'd like to write about her team - the CSU Boggarts - for YA Highway. I said yes in a hurry, and she introduced me to Christof Bentele, team co-captain, founder of the Harry Potter Alliance, and a psych major at Colorado State.


How long have you been playing Quidditch with CSU?

Christof: We have been playing since the start of the year, practicing every Friday and putting in some serious effort to improve our flying skills. As most our team didn't know they could fly on brooms before now, there was a healthy learning curve, but we have seen so much improvement over the semester.

Christof: It fairly simple actually: 3 chasers (offensive), 2 beaters (defensive), 1 keeper and 1 seeker per team. The chasers play with the quaffle with the aim of putting it through one of the opposing team's 3 hoops for 10 points. The beaters play with the bludgers (3 of them) and throw them at opposing players to "knock them out" and take them out of play until they reach their own goal posts. The keeper attempts to defend their hoops and the seeker attempts to catch the snitch for 30 points to end the game. The snitch is a person who runs and is dressed in yellow, he or she evades the seekers from grabbing the sock and ball that hangs from their waistband. Also everyone but the snitch must be on a broomstick at all times. All of this and a fair amount of magic is always helpful.
Christof: My favorite part, as a Keeper, is being able to make a clean tackle to prevent a goal. With 3 large hoops to defend, it is nice to actually prevent a score for our team. Sometimes I can even take possession of the quaffle and run to the hoops for a goal as a keeper, very exciting if it works.
Christof: "Ten points to Gryffindor" every time.
Christof: We are losing a few players at the end of the semester and so we are hoping to attract some new members and actually train up to win some more matches. I also hope we can go to
some elementary schools and teach the game to eager learners.
Christof: Currently I am reading "Submarine" by Joe Dunthrone which is the novel that Richard Ayoade's new film is based on. Some of my favorites besides HP would be 1984, the Phantom Tollbooth, Lolita and Perfume.













Thanks again to Christof for giving us a peek into the wizarding world of CSU!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a video from the Quidditch World Cup.

The Wizarding World of...Colorado?

Why am I writing this story?

It seems like a simple question. And hey, the answer is pretty damn important. You’d think it would stay in my head the whole time I’m working on a project. But you know what? It doesn’t. It starts off blindingly obvious, in the dreamy floaty stage before I start a first draft. You know that stage. It's like falling in love. Everything about the story is amazingly beautiful, even when it leaves socks all over the floor and plays very loud music late at night and doesn't behave according to the plan you've set out. Even then. I mostly don't even need to ask the question in that stage. I'm writing it because it is glowing and amazing and marvellous and because it is the sort of idea a genius might have, and because I think there's a chance it might not even be that hard to write at all.

But this stage wears off, and it turns out that this story isn't the mythical one which turned out to be easy to write all the way through. In fact it isn't even remotely close to that. In fact it is impossible. Impossibly impossible. And I start making changes the story needs in order to make sense, because no story ever comes out making complete sense.

But then my inner perfectionist kicks in. And my inner perfectionist doesn't understand how editing is meant to work. I'll start thinking that the story is lacking in all these different nutrients. It needs more cleverness. More literary sparkles. More plot twists. It needs to change its hair, and its name, and its soul. And I start making changes left, right and centre, to fill all these holes, to make it less flawed. Because never mind the reason I was originally writing this - never mind that! If I change all the right things, it will be flawless. And in the middle of all that, it's surprisingly easy to forget why I'm writing it in the first place. I switch things around and switch them back, and it doesn't fix anything.

It just so happens that this is exactly where one of my recent projects ended up. I'd been giving it makeover after makeover, trying to make it better. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going wrong, but I was sure that if I made exactly the right changes, I could fix everything, and it would be perfect. Then, for reasons you might have already read about, I had a huge break from writing anything at all, which didn't help. Every time I thought of the story, my brain froze up like a grumpy computer until I thought about something else. I was starting to think that almost two years of work was, well, a write off. It was an unfixably broken story. I couldn't find the fire at its heart anymore.

But one evening I sat myself down and very gently asked myself why. What was it that had made me want to write this story in the first place? Initially I couldn’t remember. Then I made myself remember the summer when I first came up with the idea and couldn't get it out of my head. Slowly, the whole thing started to glow again.

Why? Because I've had this certain scene floating in my head for years and I've always wanted to write the rest of the story. Because when I was twelve I read this book that resonated with me so deeply that I had to write my own response. Because there’s this scene at the end where the fireworks happen and everything comes together, and I want to get to that scene and light the fireworks. And most importantly, because there are these two characters, characters I love, who are travelling through darkness together, characters with a chemistry that wouldn't leave me alone for a whole summer. I went back and read the scenes I'd written that seemed closest to all these things. And suddenly it all made sense.

Just like that, I had found the heart of my story. And it wasn't anything clever. In fact, it was kind of ridiculously simple. So simple that it was easy to forget.

After that, I ended up making more changes. But this time, they weren't to make the story more 'impressive'. They were to make things clearer, and to take the story as close to the things I first fell in love with as possible.

What are you writing at the moment? And why are you writing it?

Asking Why

- How does author Cassandra Clare battle writer's block? She copies the technique of Dr. House.

- When it comes to big revisions, "it’s those writers who have the guts to start over in a piece that usually reap the biggest rewards," says agent Mary Kole.

- "If you’re a member of a majority group, you don’t get any say in what is and isn’t okay. You don’t get any say in what is and isn’t hurtful, because the edge of the blade is pointed away from you. That sword is never, ever going to stab you." Author Corinne Duyvis on shutting out your audience with problematic language.

- Editor Stacy Whitman cautions you against the "magical negro" trope.

- Both Judy Hedlund and Tahereh Mafi talk about the inevitable identity crisis that follows publication and what it means to be a real writer.

- "Writers who have never experienced rejection are no different than children who get awards for everything they do: they have already found themselves tap-dancing at the top of the 'I’m-So-Special' mountain, never having to climb through snow and karate chop leopards to get there," says Chuck Wendig in "25 Things Writers Should Know About Rejection"

- Need to kill a character? Use the random death generator. (via Jay Kristoff)

- My favorite post of the week: "Pathetic Email" from Sean Ferrell

"After completing a book you won't be the person you were before trying to write it, not if you've done it right. There's real fear in that, and we're all small before that task, to clear out enough of yourself so they can move in, and to do it not with accolades or rewards but for the honest truth that it has to be done and who else will do it. You're supposed to be scared."

THIS WEEK IN READING

- Dolls are for kids... if your kid is reading Phillis Wheatley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, or Sylvia Plath. (via Vintage & Anchor)

- Congratulations to this year's Morris YA Debut Award nominees!

- Agent-sister Steph Sinkhorn examines the symbolism of women's hair and also put together a great list of YA sci-fi cliches.

- Having an existential crisis? Bibliotherapy might be the cure.

- What kind of reader are you? (It appears I am a "book snob." Well then.)

- Author Sarah Rees Brennan is tired of people criticizing female characters.

- It's finals time, and lots of people are hating the classics right now. Including these kids.

- Grandma reads YA. I mean, what other explanation do you need?

- Chicken Spaghetti has whittled down the "best of lists" and compiled just the kid lit-related.

- Love this gift list from Kelly Jensen at Stacked-- YA books for artistic types, broken down into dance, theater and music categories.

- Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has a hysterical look at virginity cliches. Best. closing. line. ever. 



THIS WEEK IN PUBLISHING

- Backlash continued to build against Amazon, as pointed out by Publishers Weekly and the NYT. Richard Russo called Amazon's tactics "jungle logic," and Bookavore didn''t want to point out to Amazon all the ways it could fix this mess and still keep stomping indies. Tim Carmody at Wired said Amazon didn't happen to your local bookstore-- America did, and then Farhad Manjoo at Slate writes "Don't Support Your Local Bookseller." Well, that went over like a ton of bricks. The Towering Irrelevance dismantled his argument piece by piece, and Sarah LaPolla points out that Slate is like a popular jock (oh and also an Amazon affiliate).

Meanwhile parents are complaining that the Kindle Fire lacks the necessary controls to block children from viewing and/or buying questionable material, and bookseller Josie Leavitt lists a few things she wants authors to know.

- Overstock.com and Barnes and Noble are teaming up for an eBook storefront.

- What editor Stacy Abrams learned from a decade in publishing.

- Agent Natalie Lakosil has pointers on surviving the wait at all stages of publishing.

- Author Zoe Marriott demystifies the process of working with an editor.

- Author Darcie Chan became a self-published bestseller, but still hopes a publisher will pick her up; Chuck Wendig talks at length about the perils of self-publishing and challenges the community to openly work together toward fixes.

- Find out what editor Alvina Ling of Little, Brown thinks about the state of diversity in kid lit.

- Does your website pass the radio test? Author Tech Tips has more.

- Facebook is rolling out its timeline for profiles this week, and GalleyCat has some pointers.

- The New York Observer looks at book deals from Twitter and Tumblr (with the genius title "Sh*t My Agent Sells").

- Highwayer Phoebe North's upcoming Starglass was named one of The Hollywood Reporter's book deals of the week!

- Everybody has deadlines, but how do agents handle them? Check out Joanna Volpe's crazy daily schedule and then... I don't know, take a nap or something.



THIS WEEK IN MOVIES AND TV

- The NYT has a pretty fascinating look at how fictional languages are created for television and movies.

- Author Yael Itamar takes issue with the whitewashing of the upcoming movie "Arabian Nights."

- "(M)aybe there is a solid connection to current YA. When you hear the phrase 'young adult' maybe you expect something light and fluffy. And then you get hit between the eyes with something quite unexpected. Like this movie." Author Maureen Johnson reviews the new movie "Young Adult."

- Two of our contributors, Sarah and Phoebe, are part of Erica O'Rourke's 13 Days of Dr. Who blog series. 

- Universal Pictures acquired the rights to Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Sweeeet.

- Marketers for the movie version of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo are worried they're alienating female viewers.

- Looks like the Hunger Games nail polishes are going ahead after all, but with slightly different names.

- Here at the Highway, we were pretty psyched to see that the screenplay based on Kody Keplinger's The DUFF made "The Black List" and several others like it. (We pretended not to see "Dirty Grandpa" on there.) 



THIS WEEK IN OTHER STUFF

- Dr. Nerdlove breaks down male privilege for nerds, and comes back with a "Don't Be a Creeper" guide. Comments are less repugnant than most, on the latter at least, though there's definitely some of NPR's 20 unhappiest people you meet in the comments hanging around. (Or you could just check out the Gender Bent Justice League.)

- Which quote comes from a men's magazine, and which one is from a rapist? "Well this is upsetting," says Jezebel. Yes. Upsetting. That's the word I would use.

- 30 things to stop doing to yourself (via Michelle Schusterman).

- Christopher Hitchens passed away at the age of 62 on Thursday.



THIS WEEK IN CONTESTS

- Angelica R. Jackson is celebrating a milestone and giving you the prizes!

- Alexa Barry is doing a Christmas Countdown and giving away two of her favorite books from 2011!

- The Book Wish Foundation is sponsoring an essay contest-- you can win partial critiques from several well-known authors and agents (including Ann M. Martin! Baby Sitters Club FTW!)

- World Book Night is coming and you can sign up to be a giver!

- Worldbuilders is hosting a lottery and auction to benefit one of my favorite causes, Heifer International.


THIS WEEK IN THE RANDOM


Have a great weekend!
~ Kate Hart

Field Trip Friday: December 16, 2011