Happy Halloween! I hope you are all safe and dry out there. The nature of the blog-o-sphere means we don't always know where our fellow readers and writers live, but I'm praying for everyone in the Northeast as they come through this nasty witch Sandy.

In honor of Halloween today, YA Highway's RTW asks: What is your favorite scary book or movie?

I'm not a big scary movie fan, but I do enjoy a scary read. Up until last  year, I would have listed something from Stephen King as my favorite scary book. I always turn to the master when I'm looking for some bone-chilling. But last October Neil Gaiman pushed his way to the top with The Graveyard Book.

The picture is from Amazon, and if you're looking for some scary pages to read for Halloween, I beg you to click on the link and read the first chapter that Amazon has available. Not convinced yet? Here's the opening line:

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

Chills! The Graveyard Book is classified as middle grades, but I would say it's for anyone over the age of 8. Gaiman is a genius with both character and suspense. How about you? What is your favorite scary book?

Music for today: Internet Killed the Video Star by The Limousines (If you dig zombies, check out the video. :)

Music Lessons

Last night I saw the fabulous Metric in a surprise, last-minute show in Jacksonville. Front row, on the barricade. Pure awesome. Emily gets most of the press for Metric, but let me just say that guitarist Jimmy Shaw is also phenomenal. To celebrate a fantastic night, I'm starting my Music Lessons blog series.

A novel tells a story using somewhere around 80,000 words. The average song uses around 200 words. I think writers of long fiction can learn about imagery, emotional impact, and economy of words by diving into the music that moves them.

Here are some of my favorite Metric lyrics:

From Black Sheep:
Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when
Our common goal was waiting for the world to end
Now that the truth is just a rule for you to bend
You crack the whip, shape shift and trick, the past again

We get such a great picture of these two characters, without knowing their names or what they're wearing or what they had for lunch yesterday. We know that they are having this reunion, because she SHOWS us, and they have a past that you want to know more about. And then we have the metaphors. I can totally relate to seeing someone after a long time and having the encounter transform your memories. We also see how this other person has the upper hand in the relationship, all in less than 50 words.

From Gimme Sympathy:
We're so close to something better left unknown
I can feel it in my bones
Gimme sympathy

After all of this is gone
Who'd you rather be?
The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

Oh, seriously
You're gonna make mistakes, you're young
Come on baby, play me something
Like "Here Comes the Sun"

This song gives a great illustration of voice and word choice. "Something better left unknown" is such a moving combination, with this sense of trepidation as the one character begs the other to "feel" with her, and ultimately to help her move forward. The conversation rings true, and it brings the listener into the connection by having her draw personal connections. Sometimes we have to take risks like this. Maybe the reader won't have the reaction you intend for a reference, but by letting her make it, you deepen the connection to the story.

I'll wrap up for today so I can get to work on my WIP with all this musical inspiration. But stay tuned for future posts in the series, highlighting Death Cab for Cutie and The White Stripes.

Here is a video from the concert, featuring Help I'm Alive. (The audio is really loud, so if you want to give it a listen, be sure to turn it down a little.)

RTW: Best Book of September

Today YA Highway asks, "What was the best book you read in September?"

This gives me the perfect opportunity to review The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke, which I read through a SBB ARC tour. The Assassin's Curse debuts October 2, 2012.

 

The summary:

 

When teenage pirate Ananna refuses an arranged marriage, the intended groom's family orders her assassination. Instead of killing the hired assassin Naji when she has the chance, Ananna saves his life, activating a curse that binds them together. Forced into partnership, Ananna and Naji must work together to break the impossible curse and evade enemies coming at them from all sides.

 

The review:

 

I really loved The Assassin's Curse, enough to make it my best book of September. (And I read some great books this month -- Throne of Glass, Starters, A Need So Beautiful, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, and Cinder.)

 

From the opening chapter Clarke displays a powerful voice, complete with slang and dialect that teeters on the line of "over-the-top" without ever crossing it. The intrigue of magical pirates and assassins hooked me, but the characters really captured my heart. Cursing, thieving, and headstrong, Ananna felt more real because of her faults. And Naji was perfect as the brooding, dangerous leading man with a mysterious past. If you like a slow-building romance with plenty of action, The Assassin's Curse is the book for you.

 

5 out of 5 stars

 

Sometimes before I write a review, I visit Goodreads to help with the summary or to see what other readers have to say. The Assassin's Curse has many great reviews there, with an average over 4 stars, but I came across one that was truly awful. The reviewer trashed the book, and while I know readers can have vastly different reactions to a book, this one really bothered me. The reviewer felt that the romantic element was completely thrown in at the end, and I couldn't disagree more. Clarke does an excellent job of "showing" Ananna's feelings for Naji without "telling." As a writer, I couldn't help but wonder if the reviewer missed the subtlety, or if she just didn't connect with the characters like I did. Is it just me? Does it bother you when you read a terrible review of a book that you loved?

 

Music for today: Help I'm Alive by Metric 

 For Road Trip Wednesday, in honor of this month's Bookmobile book, Marissa Meyer's CINDER, name a fable or story you'd like to see a retelling of. If you're feeling creative, come up with a premise of your own!

Better late than never! I had this post almost ready to go last night, then ended up spending most of the day waiting for my car to be serviced.

I haven't read Cinder yet, but I've heard only wonderful things about it, and it is on my TBR list. Cinderella was my favorite childhood story. I collected different versions, which frustrated my mother to no end. Pretty in Pink is still my second all-time favorite movie. (Fight Club is the first.)

Fairy tale retellings are huge right now, and I've seen so many that I'd love to read lately in query contests. But which story would  I love to see retold, again? Cinderella. But this version would be called Sweep.

No one remembers Sweep's real name, the one he had before his mother died. Raised by his step-father and step-brothers, who use him for free labor in their janitorial business, Sweep can't wait until he has enough money saved to run away and make a new life for himself. When a client begs him to go to charity ball in his place, and offers to pay him a month's salary to do it, Sweep thinks he's finally found a way to escape. At the party Sweep is mesmerized by a millionaire society girl who wouldn't have given him a second glance any other day. Just when Sweep thinks everything is going his way, he's mistaken for his client and kidnapped at midnight. If he can survive his captors long enough for his princess to find him, with only his glove as a clue, Sweep just might get the happy ending he was hoping for.

That's just a little off-the-cuff idea, but you get what I'm going for: A boy who is rescued by a girl in shining Armani.

Which fairy tale would you love to see re-imagined?

Music for today: Love Song by Adele

Happy Monday! Congratulations to the winners of my 100 Follower Giveaway:

$25 Amazon Gift Card - Nickie Anderson

Starters, signed by Lissa Price - Katy Upperman

Finn Flanagan and the Fledglings - Sara Biren

 

 

Thanks to all of you who follow Unavoidable Awkwardness. The best part about blogging in this YA writing community is meeting so many awesome people who love words and books and young people. Now I start the countdown for my 200 Follower Giveaway!

 

I'm thrilled to be a part of Deana Barnhart's Gearing Up to Get an Agent (GUTGAA) this week. Please stop by and check out the amazing entries. There are so many titles I wish I could go buy at the book store today!

 

Coming soon, I'll be reviewing The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke. I'm also planning a blog series on what music can teach us about great writing. Be sure to stop back by over the next month to check it out.

 

Music for today:  Hold On by Alabama Shakes

It's time for Road Trip Wednesday! Boy, have I missed you guys! I hope now that summer is over I'll keep a better blogging schedule. Today's question is:

What word processing program do you use to write your manuscript, and can you share one handy trick you've learned in that program that has helped you while you write?

Today I'm mostly looking forward to read everyone else's tricks, and to see if some of you can sway me over to Scrivener once and for all. I write in Microsoft Word. It's not very manuscript friendly, but it's what I have, and what I'm used to. I doubt it counts as a trick, but my favorite function is the search. When I realize I'm using unnecessary words too much, I can search and cut them all out pretty quickly. My main offenders are "so" and "just." I also search when my characters go overboard with their habits. Um, roll your eyes much, MC?

On a side note, I met many of my writer-blogger family members here on YA Highway, and I finally crossed the 100-follower mark last week. I'm having a giveaway to celebrate, and to say thank you to all of you! If you'd like a chance at a $25 Amazon gift card, a signed copy of Starters by Lissa Price, or a copy of Finn Flanagan and the Fledglings by Kip Taylor, please scroll down to Monday's post or click here to enter!

Music for today: Madness by Muse

Hi everyone! To celebrate breaking the 100-follower mark, I'm holding my first Giveaway! The top prize is a $25 Amazon gift card, and I'm also picking winners for a signed copy of Starters by Lissa Price (nabbed at the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles) and a copy of Kip Taylor's Finn Flanagan and the Fledglings.

You must follow the blog to enter, and you'll get extra entries for following me on Twitter and tweeting about the giveaway. The sign-ups begin today, and the winners will be picked on Monday, September 17. Thank you all so much for joining me in the Awkwardness! a Rafflecopter giveaway