Crossroads Conference: My Favorite Speakers (Or: Totally Awesome Lunch Table I'm Still Sure I Imagined)

As I mentioned before, I won a ticket to the Crossroads Writing Conference! (Pause here for that crazy statement to sink in.) Therefore, I spent last weekend having a lot of fun and a lot more secret inner going-crazy that I was meeting a bunch of famous book-deal-and-agent-having writers all in two days. (Also, I spent last weekend not sharing the next episode of my adventures with Rykel. Again, sorry! Working on that... anyway.)

It was my first conference, located about thirty minutes from where I live, and totally awesome. I ate lunch on Saturday using this little $10 voucher thing that came with my ticket, at a little Mexican place that makes ah-maz-ing cheesy beef nachos.

Oh, did I forget to mention - I ate lunch with the best speakers? All of them?!

There's Lauren Morril, the newest star on the young adult book scene... and also the woman who ran the entire conference this year.

Her reading at the Author's Avenue was perfect with the vocal inflections. I might actually like hearing her narrate an audiobook, and I'm a pretty picky listener. She was super nice to little, young me. Her clothing choices were so chic. (Plus she was wearing jeans the first time I saw her. Even though I didn't know who she was until after she changed into something nicer, that definitely helped me relax a bit. Person in charge of conference wearing the one thing internet said not to wear = Okay so maybe I won't screw everything up today.)

Next: Kat Zhang! *cue squeals*

Okay, so I was going to save this for last, but not happening. I met Kat Zhang! I discussed writing with Kat Zhang! I bought her books and had them signed and ate lunch with Kat Zhang!

Yeah, she was basically my entire focus for the conference when I first found out I was going. Maybe because she was the only speaker I'd even heard of before. Maybe because I've been following her personal blog since before her first draft was even completed. Maybe because she's just an awesome writing genius who would totally equate to John Green if John Green wrote dystopian.

Whatever. Kat Zhang, folks.

Then there was the one that surprised me. I had no idea who this guy was, and the conference website forget to post his bio. Humph. But I thought he seemed really cool during the YA discussion panel before lunch, and I knew he was really cool after eating lunch with him. (Yes, I actually ate lunch with everyone mentioned in this post, except Jackson and Carrie. We'll discuss that later. Back to AJ.)

His name is AJ Hartley. He writes about five different genres (I think?) including middle grade fantasy-adventure, and the first book he ever liked was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Doesn't get much better than that.

His entire session on "Writing in Multiple Genres" in a nutshell: "I write in a bunch of genres. You do too? Great, how fun! Your agent will love you *sarcasm* And good luck marketing. Then again, there's always online shopping! Okay, now question and answer time." Obviously, there was more than that, but I boiled it down a bit.

Delilah Dawson was also at lunch. She was pretty and funny, but I didn't really click with her. Maybe because her books *ahem* put the steam into steampunk. Let's say I was not to be found at any of her sessions. Anyway, moving on.

Cat Scully, who I did not get a photo with (sad face), writes YA horror I would probably never read. However, she's a talented artist, and just a funny person who was nice to talk to. If I wasn't saving all my money for books, I would've bought her three collectible bookmarks with art from her friend's book. They looked totally killer.

Has anybody here seen New Girl? I admit, I haven't, but from Pinterest, it looks like my kind of show. The final member of this star-studded lunch table was David Iserson, who does have one young adult novel out, but is mostly stationed in the world of television writing. He wrote New Girl and is now slaving away on the scripts for next season's Mad Men. I may have never seen any of his stuff, but I have most definitely heard of those shows. Very impressive man! (Also, really funny and down to earth, so there's that.)

Finally, there were two people who were not at lunch with us, but who still made my list of favorite speakers. First, we have Carrie Howland. She's a literary agent who basically embodies what I imagined the ladies at Books & Such to be. I mean, she's not a Christian, but it was still pretty cool. Anyway, she's a really nice person and not at all the snarky, intimidating woman I feared.

Very blurry image of Jackson and me. Sorry excuse for a phone camera + bad lighting = not the best of photos.

Last but not least is Jackson Pearce. She writes fairy tale retellings, and I was (almost) as excited to meet her as I was Kat Zhang after reading up on her around the 'net. I went to her session on young adult fiction... that turned out to be about query letters. I was bummed - for about a minute. I spent the next half an hour laughing my head off at all the crazy stuff Jackson would see in query letters when she read the slush pile at an agency.

Good times.

I've Solved the Suicide Epidemic

Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death for all ages in 2010.

There were 38,364 suicides in 2010 in the United States--an average of 105 each day.

There is one suicide for every 25 attempted suicides.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 15-24 years, the second among persons aged 25-34 years, the fourth among person aged 35-54 years, and the eighth among person 55-64 years.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/Suicide_DataSheet-a.pdf

I take guitar lessons now.  My brother Eddie and I trade off weekly sessions with our teacher.  He loves to talk about guitar, and he focuses a lot on theory, which is pretty new to us.  We've taken guitar and piano lessons before, but never actually learned music theory.


Anyway, one of the many things he often repeats is that "guitar should be fun."  (More like "The gee-tar ought 'er be fun!")  He insists that he does not want to be a taskmaster or have a bunch of rules or 'you must' and 'you can't's.

This has been drilled into my head since the moment our lessons began.  Guitar should be fun.  Guitar ought to be fun!  There's no point in guitar if it's no fun.  You won't play well or practice well if you don't enjoy playing guitar.

Well, one night, my mom told me I needed to practice guitar.  My first reaction was *groan* Oh I forgot about guitar!  My second reaction?  This is no fun.  I might as well just quit lessons or something.  I don't enjoy it.  I hardly have enough time to practice, anyway.

See the progression?  Guitar should be fun > I am not having fun > There's no point in my playing guitar anymore, and I should quit.

Now I'm not saying anything about guitar, and yes, I'm still taking lessons and practicing anyway.  But you see the analogy, right?  Take a look at the culture we live in:

"Why not be happy after a while? You get to a certain age where you prepare yourself for happiness. Sometimes you never remember to get happy." ~ John Mayer

"Very little is needed to make a happy life." ~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling." ~ Margaret Lee Runbeck

"Wish not so much to live long as to live well." ~ Benjamin Franklin

"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious." ~ Brendan Gill

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." ~ Aristotle

"Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age." ~ Christopher Morley

"All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh." ~ Doris Lessing

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." ~ Eddie Cantor

"Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment." ~ George Santayana

"Man is the artificer of his own happiness." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Life should be happy > I am not happy > There's no point in my living anymore, and I should just quit.

Hmm... maybe the purpose of life is not the pursuit of happiness?

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." ~ John 1:4

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." ~ Matthew 10:39

"I am that bread of life." ~ John 6:48

Apologies

Hello, my lovely readers! Just stopping in for a bit of housekeeping/announcements.

That writer's conference? Totally awesome! I'll tell you more on Thursday :)

However, My Imaginary Boyfriend did not go up, yet again. (Obviously.) My sincerest apologies! This week it will be live. It will. Third time's a charm, yes?

Zeal and Vitriol: A Word on My Book Reviews

Quick note: If you're one of the authors waiting for my review of your book, I apologize.  I've gotten a bit behind schedule on... well, everything - reading time included.  I promise I will get to your book; I haven't forgotten you!

I tend to forget lukewarm books.  The stores I love zealously, and those I loathe with fire and vitriol, I remember.  A mere "okay" or "not great" book doesn't hold my attention long, and therefore doesn't hold as much substance in my review.

When I write a book review, it is my opinion.  Not my editor's or best friend's or mom's or cat's opinion.  Mine.  Regardless of whether I love, hate, or forget a particular story, even my opinion alone brings three very different points of view to the table.  I'm a reader first a foremost - a frequenter of Books-A-Million and Gottwals who enjoys a few chapters at the end of a long day.  I'm also a writer, one who noticies both the admirable and lacking in a story's mechanics, while at the same time sympathizing with the author's rocky path to this book in my hands.  Finally, I'm a reviewer.  I'm a critic who must take nothing at face value and notice every thought and reaction - good or bad - throughout the story to later document for readers seeking input on their shopping decisions.

Saying that it's tough to balance these three separate personas is an understatement.  It's even harder to do them all justice when trying to present a single, unified blog post or consumer review on a book they've all read.


I always want to be fair to the book, the author, and the editing and publishing teams involved with a book with every review I write.  Above all, though, I need to be honest.  Sometimes I'm not sure where to draw the line.  Raving about a book I loved can cross into "overzealous," making me appear biased or unprofessional.  Pouring out my wrath on a book I hated can make me enemies - in readers, authors, publishers, editors, you name it - and also damage my professional image, sometimes even more so than raving.  Readers of the book, potential buyers of the book, the author and his friends, agents, editors, publishers, family members, and friends are watching me.  So how honest is too honest?

If I post a review online, you can know I decided I'd reached the best balance I could achieve among my three opinions, while neither being dishonest nor going overboard.  However, you should also be certain I still have my doubts.  Did I reign in enough?  Too much?  Will I unforgivably offend a fan of the book?  Will my readers think less of me for raving about a book that's clearly lacking in fill-in-the-blank?

Please, when reading any of my reviews, remember two things:

1. I'm human.  I'm 100% guaranteed to slip up, probably more than once, in every single thing I ever write.

2. Just as it's impossible to please all readers ever - as an author, reviewer, or any kind of writer - it's also impossible to displease all readers ever.  Feel free to disagree with every word I say; the book that displeased me may please you.  Buy a book in spite of my vitriol.  Refuse to buy a book in spite of my zeal.  Please, just remember I am one drop in a thunderstorm of readers.  We're bound to disagree at some point.

You know that Golden Rule we learned back in Sunday School as kindergartners?  That applies to the internet, especially.  Strive to stick to it.  I promise to do the same.

This post was inspired in part by this review and my reluctance to post it, followed by a reader's comment.  Also inspired by my recent contemplation of ARCs versus ordinary review copies of a book, particularly considering this review and this one in conjunction with Skull Creek Stakeout.

Senior Photos

Thought I'd share a little something with y'all, my lovely readers...

I got my senior photos taken!

Pre-pixie, of course.

I know I've mentioned these photos a few times recently, and even shared one of them, but I thought I'd share a few more since there's, like, hundreds.  Not kidding.

If you'd like the full five pages of my smiling face (in the prom dress, on the train tracks, on the swing set, in a polka dot dress, on the fence, in jeans, with sparkly strappy heels, with flip flops, in a library, with my laptop, and - my favorite - with stacks of gorgeous, amazing books)... well, click here!

Book Review: A Bride for Keeps {ARC}

A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears
A debut mail-order bride novel

Amazon Page
GoodReads Page
LibraryThing Page
Author Website

Amazon Summary:

Everett Cline will never humiliate himself by seeking a mail-order bride. Not again. He's already been jilted by three mail-order brides and figures a wife just isn't in his future. However, a well-meaning neighbor hasn't given up on seeing him settled, so she goes behind his back to bring yet another woman to town for him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. A mail-order marriage in faraway Kansas is a last resort, but she'll do anything to leave her life in Massachusetts and the heartbreak she's experienced there.

Although Everett doesn't see how a beautiful, cultured woman like Julia could be happy sharing his simple life, he could really use a helpmate on his homestead. Determined to prove she's more than just a pretty face, Julia agrees to a marriage in name only. Faced with the harsh realities of life on the prairie and hesitant to explore the tentative feelings growing between them, can Everett and Julia ever let each other in long enough to fall in love?

My Thoughts:

{Review is of an ARC}

By the time I won this book, I'd forgotten I ever entered a request for it.  By the time it came in the mail, I'd given up hope of it coming and was about to mark it as lost in the mail on the LibraryThing website.

By the time I finished the book, I knew I'd never forget it again.


The first chapter is slow, full of telling rather than showing.  The first couple of chapters - and a few spots throughout the book - give backstory in an awkward info-dump fashion.  There's a few sentences that just rub me the wrong way as a writer, and way too many 'ands' and 'buts,' especially at the beginning of sentences, made it past initial editing.  (My copy was an ARC, so that will probably be fixed before publication.)

My lovely readers, you know that for me to still race through such a book in one weekend must mean the story was a killer.  You'd be so very right.

I don't know if I've ever shared my favorite book with you.  While I have certain favorite authors and series, my favorite standalone novel is very different from those.  It's called A Family Forever, by Brenda Coulter, and while most people have never heard of it, I've read it no fewer than five times.  Basically, it's a contemporary marriage-of-convenience story.  In A Bride for Keeps, a very similar story (but in an 1800s Kansas prairie) plays out.  Why this storyline draws me in every time is beyond me.  All I know is, I just couldn't put this book down.

The characters are so heartfelt, so amazing.  My entire reading experience was empathy for hurting Julia, sympathy for hardened Everett, and full-blown adoring for meddling Rachel (who is totally awesome and deserves her own book if you ask me.)*  Oh, and Helga wasn't really a major character, but I could spend a whole book reading about her life after what happened in A Bride for Keeps.

The romance focused too much on physical aspects, at least for a Christian romance, but not without reason - it's a huge factor of Julia's pain, past, and decisions.  Still, some typical Christian romance readers might be put off by this.  On the other hand, the book has one of the best Biblical messages of forgiveness, repentance, and living out Christianity of all the inspirational fiction I can think of.  The balance between preachy and too subtle was perfect, in my opinion.

In summary, my gut reaction to this book is five stars.  Based on some of the writing and the heavy physical portions, though, I feel like I should bump it down to four and a half.  Still, a stellar score for an adorable, emotional book!

I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers in exchange for this review.  All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

*Guess what guys! After writing but before posting this review, I discovered that Melissa Jagears has a novella out!  It stars none other but the adorable Rachel!  So go read it now! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EVSB3N0/

Writer's Block and Other Life Events I Didn't Plan For

Apologies, my dear readers.  I know last week should have been another episode of My Imaginary Boyfriend.  I also know I failed to even acknowledge the complete lack of post that day.

I have a job at Chick-Fil-A now.  Did I forget to mention that?  Sorry, lovely readers.  Also, my cat died of cancer on Monday.  Then the church called us about a stray kitten dropped off and did we want a new one now?  Not to mention I am a senior in high school who is directing two plays, won a ticket to a local writer's conference, AND has officially applied to a college with three more to go.

Wait.  What?!

The flip-flops of my life are running a marathon.  The rest of me is struggling to keep up.

I would love to say I'm sorry, now here you go, enjoy the episode.  That was my plan, all week.  That was my plan last night.  Up until 9:56 PM, with less than five minutes to bedtime, after an eight-hour workday and Chemistry homework, I spent nearly an hour staring at the blinking little typing-line on my blank white screen with no idea what to write.

I browsed my playlists.  I put out a call for help in my writer's group.  I read Stacia's old blog posts about Conductive.

I still have not a word of episode eight written.

So I'm sorry, dear lovely readers.  But it looks like Rykel will have to wait for one more week.  In the meantime, we have a book review, my senior photos, and a personal note from yours truly coming up in the week ahead.

Hopefully by this time next week I will be enjoying - not freaking out through - my first writer's conference while you can all finally read the next scene in the adventures of Rykel and Emily Rachelle.