The Most Influential Writers Ever

This is a lemming. What does a leader look like?

Guess what's happening at The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog..Period next week?

Oh you don't know? 

Fine, I'll tell you. ;-)

News from Tom Dhorman, the managing editor:

Cortnee Howard, the editor in chief, is hard at work compiling the internet's first official "twitter list" of the Top 100 most influential writers on Twitter. There will also be several "sublists" broken down by category (including things like YA fiction, poetry, romance etc). 

I'm very excited about this project, which is slated to launch on Monday. 

Spread the word and follow @BDCWB  and @Artlifefreedom on twitter to send suggestions. 

Who do you think is the most influential writer on twitter?

I'm gonna go ahead and say @kierstenwhite! I also love @staceykade and @gailcarriger. If you don't know, these are the authors of PARANORMALCY, THE GHOST AND THE GOTH, and SOULLESS, respectively.

And just for fun, tell me who you think WOULD be a twitter author celebrity if the internet had existed during their time. C.S. Lewis, for me.

Why Do Books Excite You? #reading

Mmm, yummy.

That's my question for you today. Why do books get you excited?

I'm thinking about my own crazy behavior lately: staying up all freakin night to finish MOCKINGJAY, then till 3:30am to finish the sequel to EVERMORE; in between times, sifting through the incredible (and copious) contests available right now at WriteOnCon.com. Holy book giveaways, Batman!

And I have to reflect a little on what it is about fiction that gets me so stinking excited...

Is it the new book smell?

Is it the Disney effect?

Is it the unreal other-worldliness?

Is it the prestige of saying, "oh yes, I read that in one sitting, minus bathroom breaks"?

Is it the vicarious thrill of experiencing an adventure through someone else's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose? (Head, shoulders, knees, and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes.)

Is it the sense of completion, that all is right with the world, when the last page is turned and there are no further epilogues to be read?

Why do I love fiction so much?

Why do you?

Contest WINNER! (and the Earth on Fire)

The Earth on Fire (from NASA)
"On August 1, 2010, almost the entire Earth-facing side of the sun
 erupted in a tumult of activity.
This image shows many different aspects
of the news-making solar event."  

Okay, so my news isn't so earth-blazing (hee hee):
The winner of the 50-followers contest is Sandy Shin! 

Email your shipping address to katrina (dot) lantz (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your prize of the best punctuation book ever: Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and to all my faithful blogging buddies. I should do this more often. I love prizes!

What is your favorite kind of contest?

a) writing, like a pitch or a bad query or pick-up lines

b) following, tweeting, blogging by points

c) creating something, like vlogs or drawings

d) answering questions (like our "how do you rate your punctuation skillz" query)

e) something else brilliant I haven't thought of

What about prizes?

books, gift cards, critiques, t-shirts?

Let me know in the comments. :-)

Monday's Collection of Awesome

Mondays can be rough, what with the tearful goodbyes to the weekend and all. But this Monday has some special consolation prizes for the weary weekday warrior:

1. As promised, Amparo's putting on: An Awesome Thanks: 100 Followers Contest

-It's our way of saying thank you to our fabulous followers who helped spread the word so fast about the new Operation Awesome blog. Just follow and comment for a chance to win one of six prizes, including 10-page critiques, and a custom-made blog banner or button. You can be a new follower or an old friend. All are eligible.

2. I know you've missed them because I've been missing them, too: WriteOnCon gals are back!! And they've got a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT  via vlog.

-Also skip on over to Elana's blog to grab the new WriteOnCon button. The code is in the side bar.

3. If you've been wondering what to do with that book you wrote that's "good writing, but not unique enough to stand out in this competetive market", give this quick read a look: Rewrite Your Book

-It's my weekly writing tip over at The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog, inspired today by Mandy Hubbard.

MOCKINGJAY as Political Statement

In the Districts, the idea of a republic is completely alien. There is only President Snow, and his Peacekeepers. No checks nor balances as there are in the United States government...or as there used to be. 


Nowadays, the lines between the three branches of government (executive, legislative, judiciary) are so blended as to make them almost meaningless. Congress debates whether or not things are constitutional (the judiciary's job). The Supreme Court creates law, even at times overruling multiple votes by the people. And the President steamrolls them both from the bully pulpit. It has been this way for decades, and it is getting worse. 


Whatever your politics, we can all agree that the less WE THE PEOPLE participate in government, the less power the people have. This line in the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy left me with goose bumps: 


"In return for full bellies and entertainment, people had given up their political responsibilities and therefore their power." -Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


How is the Capitol with its Districts like our world today? Without spoilers, please share your thoughts in the comments. 

Interviews, Book Excitement, and Follower Contests

I am sick today. Fuzzy head, achy muscles, and stuffy nose sick.

But it's okay! Because there are so many exciting things going on right now!

Interviews!! I'm doing a series on WriteOnCon's fabulous organizers about how it was to put together the world's first completely free, completely online writers conference, and what's next for WriteOnCon!

Each Friday, I post an interview over at the Operation Awesome blog. Currently, we've got:

Elana Johnson
Casey McCormick (this one's fresh from today, so skip over and say hi to Casey!)

I just recently posted an interview with literary agent Natalie Fischer, in case you missed that one. Update: This interview now includes her favorite TV shows and movies. Woot! She's a BONES fan. :-)

There's a tab across the top of my blog (go ahead and look) for all the interviews I do, whether they're based here or over at Operation Awesome. It's a great resource for writers who want to learn more about agents and the online writing community (which is probably the best online community in the history of online communities!!!).

Book Excitement!! Last night I finished reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. I am now officially caught up with y'all who are just now reading Mockingjay. Give me a day and I'll be caught up with y'all who already finished Mockingjay! :-)

Can I just say that all of you who read Catching Fire before Mockingjay came out are freakin' book warriors?! I think I might have gone insane from that Lord-of-the-Rings-esque ending--that wasn't really an ending--if I hadn't been able to turn to the first few chapters of Mockingjay immediately after. So I'm in the throes of District (no spoilers here) and the leaders who kind of creep me out. Pray for me to get to the sunshiny parts soon.

There is sunshine, right? Right? (See this post about my fear of dark literature.) Of course I am loving the trilogy, and marveling at Suzanne Collin's genius in creating something so compelling and complex.

Follower Contests!! Of all the funny situations: my blog following is now at 49 at the exact same time as Operation Awesome is at 99. We are just on the cusps of 50 and 100! I'm not making an official announcement, but I will say that we have something fun planned as soon as we reach 100. Thank you, by the way, for all your support of Operation Awesome! We are honored to have reached so many wonderful writers in such a short time (the blog is only 10 days old). Our goal is to give back and pay it forward, and that gets easier with every awesome follower who shares our links or retweets.

As for me, I plan to do something special when Mr. or Mrs. 50th Follower comes along.

*insert drumroll*

A contest to win my favorite punctuation book of all time:

EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation 

I read this years ago, but it stays with me always. If you'd told me before I picked it up that I'd actually enjoy reading a book about punctuation, I'd have given you that raised eyebrows look you're giving me now. Stop that! You'll wrinkle your forehead!

It really is hilarious, especially if you're already one of those people who can't stand it when people say, "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less." Or maybe you're one of those people who balked when you saw the movie poster for Two Weeks Notice (where's the apostrophe?!!).

But even if you're not. If you're the opposite--someone who doesn't get punctuation (but desperately wants to)--this book is for you.

When I hit fifty followers, one winner will win this frawesome book! Update: WE HAVE OVER 50 FOLLOWERS! The contest is a go! Comment to enter.

To enter, leave a comment telling me on a scale from 1-10 where you stand on the punctuation train, 10 being punctuation expert and 1 being "where the heck does this semi-colon go?"

Happy writing, everybody! And good luck!

Linky Thursday: Writerly Links for Today

I totally spaced in my last post on linking to some seriously awesome stuff for writers. So here I go with a special Linky Thursday post. Chickity-check it:

Join THE GREAT BLOGGING EXPERIMENT over at Elana Johnson's blog, plus get some great tips on how to blog effectively as a writer.

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner lets you sit in on a Pub Committee Meeting to see what editors and marketing directors think about your book.

My awesome CP, Kelly Andrews (or is it Andred?) writes about pen names and what prompted her to use one over at OPERATION AWESOME.

And if you still don't believe Paranormalcy is the IT book this year, don't take my word for it. Check out Shannon Messenger's glowing review and a contest where you can win a signed copy

or read author Kiersten White's response to hitting #7 on the NYT Best Seller list in the first week! This is her first published book, people!

Ask a Literary Agent (Year 1) is an awesome free e-book available for download that compiles questions and answers about writing and publishing by agent legend Noah Lukeman, author of The First Five Pages and The Plot Thickens.