In Search Of YA Books for Women's Shelter

This morning, I donated a ton of books to my local women's shelter. I gave a lot of romance, historical romance, young adult and commercial fiction, and the residents and staff were so excited to get it! Before, they only had text books to read.

While I was there, I was so touched by the friendly staff and how eager they were to fill their empty shelf with books. One of the residents had a special request--she wants to read Twilight.

When I checked in with the director, she said her residents have been asking for the Twilight and Harry Potter series.

Blog readers, can I ask for your help? I'd really love to collect and donate the following books for this women's shelter. They are a non-profit shelter for homeless, pregnant women and their newborn. I was told the residents love to read, especially while they are nursing.

Here's what I need (number of copies is indicated in parenthesis)*:

From the Twilight Series
Twilight (1)
New Moon (0)
Eclipse (1)
Breaking Dawn (1)

From the Harry Potter Series 
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (0)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (0)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (1)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (1)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (1)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (1)

From the Divergent Series

Divergent (1)

Insurgent (1)

Allegiant (1)

From the Hunger Games Series

The Hunger Games (0)

Catching Fire (0)

Mockingjay (0)

Please help me spread the word and if anyone has a book or two to donate, please contact me via Twitter (@ValerieColeYA) or email (ValerieFM at gmail dot com).

*As donations come in, I will update the numbers above. 

Celebrating 10 Years of Twilight -- With Gifs

The news of a new Twilight novel exploded on Twitter this morning and there were so many discussions of what it meant for Stephenie Myer, the fandom, and of course YA writers.

And, of course, the first thing I remembered was the rise of Twihards, the excitement around each new book release and the movies--AND THE GIFS AND MEMES, you guys. THE GIFS AND MEMES WERE EVERYTHING.

In fact, deep in my Dropbox I have a little folder of them from 2006-2009 that I saved because they were so funny. I sorted through them this morning (I had a lot of Britney pre-meltdown and Rock of Love gifs too so don't judge me) reliving all my memories of the Twilight fandom. And now I'd like to share them with you.*

Here we go...

Okay, let's get it out of the way: Edward sparkled. We all know. And the memes and gifs were fantastic.

And no one really understood our fandom...

But we all knew...

And protected it like it was the special sparkly flower it was...

Because HOW adorable was RPatz? He was our heartthrob who could look like this on screen...

But in real life he was like this...

Move aside, Jennifer Lawrence. Robert and Kristen were the real media fail darlings (I used to have a gif of Kristen dropping her MTV Movie Award but lost it).

And his hair! Remember RPatz hair?? We were so obsessed with it!

RPatz rolled with his crew of vampires and we were onboard for the ride.

Pop quiz! What was the true answer to this question??

Here's a hint. And, congrats if you got his fandom joke!

And when the movie news started to slowly leak, we were so insanely excited. I remember gasping and flailing at this tease from ET.

And screamed when I saw this clip "HE ALMOST TOUCHED HER!!! HE'S COLD!!!"

So cold. 

And if anyone ever gave me crap for loving Twilight, I pulled out this gif.

And I went to Burger King for the first time since I was ten just for this beauty.

Let's not forget the special flower that was Jacob, who tried so hard to win our affections. Really, all he had to do was cut that damn hair and take his shirt off.

 But we all knew the real love was between Edward and Bella.

Speaking of Bella, she was extremely mature in her romantic pursuits.

 Even if she did fall for this guy.

But he was protective.

And sensitive.

  

And damn cool.

And could save you from a flying van and leap over a truck with a single bound.

So, YAY for Twilight! YAY for Stephenie Myer! YAY for the fans. If you'll excuse me, I need to run to the bookstore to buy my copy of Life and Death now.

*Guys, gifs and memes are not my own. Thank you to whomever created them. You are the true blessings of the Internet.

What I've Been Reading - September 2015

 

Last month, I finally finished my Summer Reading Challenge, which focused on reading books that had been gathering dust on my shelves. During that time, there were so many ARCs and recommendations for books I could not WAIT to read.

Hello, Goodbye, And Everything In Between by Jennifer E Smith

I love Jennifer E Smith, and even had the awesome privilege to interview her on my blog. I admire her writing style, which is 3rd person, present tense--an extremely hard combo to write in! Her stories are always fun and swooney. Hello, Goodbye, And Everything In Between follows the last night Clare and Aidan have together before they leave for college. Jennifer did such an excellent job capturing the last minute doubts and nerves before leaving for college, while also showing the strains the college process can take on families and friends, as well as the teen. I finished this book with a heavy heart and a goofy smile. I'd love to put this in the hands of every graduating high school senior. Hello, Goodbye, And Everything In Between is out now.

The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine

I've also had the opportunity to interview C.J. Redwine on my blog and was really excited for this ARC (which I stole from Jodi Meadows when I went to stay with her a few weeks ago). Going in, all I knew was that there were dragons and it was a Snow White retelling. 

What I was not expecting was for this to be such a high-energy, thrilling story. Lorelai was a brave and fearless main character, who took on her evil stepmother's magic with the powerful force of her own.

What really made this book exciting was Kole, a reluctant king who needs help in protecting his half-dragon, half-human kingdom from ogres. I loved the descriptions of his two hearts (one human and one dragon), and how one overpowered the other.

I'm excited for this series, which is several retellings that stand alone. The Shadow Queen comes out in February 2016.

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

You know it's a good book when you mention that you're reading it, and you get this reaction on Twitter.

I'll Meet You There combined some of my favorite things: a wounded Marine, a feisty girl, a lower-middle class setting, and blue collared jobs.

I'm not sure what there is to say that most haven't already. It's become a favorite with many readers in my circle, so I'm late to the party with this one. It came out in February 2015.

What's Up Next

Una LaMache is one of my favorite authors. I loved Like No Other, and was super excited about Don't Fail Me Now, which is about two teens who live in Maryland (my home state) and go searching for their dying father.

Also highly recommended has been A Million Miles Away, which is an Alloy-developed romance about a twin girl stepping into her deceased sister's shoes when her sister's boyfriend comes home from Afghanistan. 

For Your TBR Pile - The Nightmares! Series

Nightmares! and Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic
by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Random House
Published September 8, 2015

Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller's Nightmares! series has been on my TBR pile ever since it debuted last year. I was super excited when Random House asked me to review the sequel, The Sleepwalker Tonic. I fell in love with this series. Charlie Laird is a fantastic protagonist for both kids and adults.

In Nightmares! we meet Charlie after his mother has died and his father has remarried and moved them into his stepmother's purple mansion down the street. Charlie is sure his new stepmother is probably a witch, and battles terrible nightmares with her every night. Refusing to sleep, he's cranky with his Captain America-loving little brother, Jack and finds extra trouble for himself at school.

After crossing over into a portal into the nightmare world, Charlie faces his fears with the help from his friends (both human and not-so human).

Nightmares! - The Sleepwalker Tonic is a fantastic sequel to the world Segel and Miller have built. When sleepwalking zombies take over the neighboring town, Charlie knows where he can find the culprits.

What is awesome about this series is how easily the talents of Segel and Miller come together to create a powerhouse writing team. The characters are fun, quirky, and hilariously developed. The story has a lot of heart that will appeal to both kids and parents. This is a great series to read aloud.

Bonus: if you get the audio book, Jason Segel reads and has a variety of fantastic voices. Along with his involvement in the Muppets movies, the Nightmares! series shows that Segel knows how to develop awesome stories for children and parents alike. I'm excited to see what he'll continue to do in this space.

September 2015 Check In

Hello, hello!

Wow--I can't believe this summer is completely over. It started in such a strange space for me. I left my job in advertising to concentrate on writing. I was really frazzled and scared and completely freaked out to take such a huge risk. Now I feel much more settled and am really proud to have a lot of new accomplishments under my belt. 

My writing is going well. I finished a manuscript that I'm really proud of and started a new one last month. I took an entire month to outline and brainstorm--something I don't typically do. Usually, I start a new WIP by diving in headfirst and not really worrying about things like PLOT or STRUCTURE. This time, though, I put in the time and have something really, really solid. If I can manage to write 1-2 chapters a day, I can finish a first draft in 3 weeks. I have no idea if that's actually going to happen, but it's a really great position to be in.

I've been chronicalling some fun stories this summer. You can find them here:
The Birthday When I Almost Died
How I Got Stranded In The VA Mountains

And there was also Pitch Wars! Stephanie Scott and I picked an awesome contemporary YA written by Jenn Kompos. I'm so excited to sink my editing teeth into this MS and help make it awesome for the agent round.

I've been reading everything and anything I could get my hands on. In May I started a Summer Reading Challenge and picked 11 books that had been collecting dust on my shelf for way too long. I ended up reading 29 books total this summer. A few ARCs popped up for review and I strayed a bit from my list at times. 

2015 Reading Challenge

Valerie has read 63 books toward her goal of 100 books.

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63 of 100 (63%)

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I'm still going to yoga about 2-3 times a week and I absolutely love how it helps me clear my head. I've always been a hater of all things exercise and have been anti-movement of any kind. Yoga helps me feel strong and centered. I wish I'd found it a long time ago.

And, of course, I'm still super into Big Brother. I'm completely Team Johnny Mac and absolutely hate almost everybody else left in the house. This season has been really fun and the cast members have been really vicious and brutal. Can Vanessa just leave already? She's such a villain and her crazy switch makes me super nervous. I miss Meg and James and Jason--all the good ones got voted out. *sigh*

Fall is going to be double awesome. I can't wait to get my basic on and start picking apples and wearing Uggs again. See you in October!

My Birthday!!!

Typically, I post about my writing goals on Monday as part of the Ready Set Write intensive, but NOT TODAY, PEEPS.

Because...

And while the vast majority of my birthdays have always been awesome, I was thinking about possibly the most traumatic birthday of all time.

That's right, Terry* and Bryan (my parents), brace yourself for the story I am about to tell the world.

THE BIRTHDAY WHERE I ALMOST DIED.

Growing up really close to Baltimore, of course my family had a boat and most weekends we were out on it fishing and swimming. Since my birthday is at the end of August (and basically isn't August like the Sundays of summer?), we went out for one last outing before school started the next week.

After we came back into the marina and docked, my mom realized half-way up the floating dock that she'd left my two-year-old brother's diaper bag in the boat. Being the birthday girl, she of course trusted me to run back and get it.

With each bounce of the dock under my feet, I'd been so proud. First, I was eleven which felt very grown up (which would wear off as soon as my doomed period would come that fall and I'd whither into an emotional mess of WHY ME. GOD, WHY ME). Plus, I'd been trusted to go back to the boat all by myself. I leaped back into the boat and grabbed the diaper bag. Now the tricky part...navigating between the considerable gap between the boat and the dock (made even wider from my awesome leap).

I tossed the diaper bag onto the dock, and wobbily balanced on the side of the boat. Even though I spied the puddle of water on the dock, I still leapt for it anyway (hey! I was eleven. No one said I had a fully formed brain).

I slipped. I fell. I splashed down in the two foot gap between the dock and the boat. When I came up, gasping for air, I reached up, but because of the low tide, my fingers couldn't grasp the edge of the dock. Barnacles covered the poles holding the dock up, and I sure as hell wasn't touching them...EVEN IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. Because barnacles...yeeeeeew! >_<

Treading water, I tried to think of a plan. Here I was in dirty bay water wedged in a hole where no one could see me and then I remembered....THERE WERE ALSO JELLYFISH IN THIS WATER.

You guys--jellyfish. *shiver*

My sister and I always leaned off the deck and tried to poke them with sticks. I was sure they would come for me. They would seek their revenge. I was going to die.

There was only one thing to do. Humiliated, I called for help.

I tried a polite, "Help?" And when I realized no one was going to hear that, I went for the helpless scream. "HELLLLLLLP!!"

Moments later, a man ran down the dock with a pole and fished me out of the water. My mother, completely traumatized (and continues to be so whenever I tell this story--SORRY MOM, I NEEDED BLOG CONTENT!), came running with my Dad. Meanwhile, all I could do was say "THERE WERE JELLYFISH. I KNEW THERE WOULD BE JELLYFISH!" Ugh. Jellyfish.

We never went back to that marina. Not until this summer when my Dad got a new boat. In May, I stood on the dock close to where I once fell and Dad asked me if I was going to have PTSD flashbacks of that day. The funny thing is that when I was a teenager, I'd break into a cold sweat about it. It was possibly the most traumatic incident of my childhood and maybe my entire life.

I suppose the moral of the story is...sometimes you forget to let go of things and they let go for you. Or something like that.

Or, just, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

*Mom, I swear. I'm fine. It wasn't your fault and I really only like telling this story for the entertainment factor. You did nothing wrong. I'm okay. Go back to playing Words with Friends.