THE MEME PLAGUE Cover LOVE! (by Angie Smibert)

I just ate up MEMENTO NORA and THE FORGETTING CURVE (read my Afterglow reviews here and here), and then found out I have to wait for THE MEME PLAGUE to be released before I can have any closure.

Gah!

But to my happiness, author Angie Smibert updated her blog with this gem last Tuesday:

On goodreads

And some good news! THE MEME PLAGUE has a new release date: AUGUST 13, 2013!!

So I still have to wait, but not as long as for some other books I'm anticipating. And at last we'll get to hear more from Meme Boy, or whatever he's calling himself now, and have some more news from the underground. Yes, yes, I know I am a nerd.

The Memento series is cult-worthy. If you haven't read the series yet, check out the books below:

In other news, I'll have a fabulous daily deal to share with you bookish bargain hunters tomorrow. So come back and take advantage of that!

World Book Day: Donate a Book

Yesterday was World Book Day, according to my favorite curriculum provider, Sonlight. They posted an article citing research which suggests a home library during the teen years may influence children to finish college later on.

Beneath the article, many commenters praised the idea by telling their own stories of having a home library, or a library card and a fabulous local librarian. Books, they said, were their portals into another realm, their windows to the world beyond their front doors.

A few suggested charities who provide all children with books, to begin a home library of their own. That's where I found these guys:

Firstbook.org

A small donation can give four new books to readers who may not otherwise have books of their own. When I remember some of the first books I owned, The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts and See You Later by Christopher Pike, I get all warm and gushy inside. 

What were the first books you owned?

Blog Chain: Keep Calm and Fall in Love with Your Best Friend's Brother

Source: Buy Poster

Kate's topic:

As a reader and/or a writer what are some of your favorite fiction
tropes? Are you sucker for secretly in love with best friend type
stories, stories set in mysterious boarding school stories, stories
that contain time travel, or something else entirely? As a writer how
do you try to give the tropes you tackle in your own books a fresh
spin?


My favorite tropes are:

• kids discovering special powers
• kids trying to keep powers a secret
• best friend loyal to the end
• grade school crush turns out to be a jerk/intellectual lightweight
• true love is the friend right under your nose the whole time
• someone new comes to town
• central authority is no match for the small but determined rebellion

tropes I don't love:

• quest journeys (these are so hard to pull off in a unique way because of the iconic ones)
• best friend betrayal (it just makes me too sad)
• villain more relatable than the hero (obviously)
• anti-hero

I think tropes are always customized differently by each author. The only time we think they're cliches is when it's a trope we personally don't like. So we go, Oh no, not another best friend love story! Or Yikes, the discovery of special powers... again! That doesn't make them cliche. 

All people are the same. 

And all people are different. 

I think the key for writers is hitting on tropes that aren't overdone for the moment. Like maybe avoid writing about vampires and dystopian societies with a strong central authority... for now. Not because these are cliche, but because readers may be getting tired of seeing them... for now. The answer is to read a lot and thereby keep your finger on the pulse of our collective consciousness. 

When someone recycles an old trope that hasn't been used in a while, it suddenly feels unique and genius! It's not because the author's a genius. It's because people have been looking for something outside the tropes currently being used. 

So long as I, as a writer, make each character as unique as real people, the reuse of these tropes will be under good regulation. 

What are your favorite tropes?  

Check out Christine Fonseca's thoughts from yesterday and Demitria Lunetta's tomorrow.

Trying Something New: Scrivener (plus coupon!)

This has been shared around lately: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/literatureandlatte.com

It's a coupon code for Scrivener, which Cassie Clare used for her Mortal Instruments series, and which countless other authors have also used to help them organize complex novels.

I've wanted to learn this writing software for some time, but I've been intimidated by two things:

1) The financial investment in my writing which it represents, and
2) The complexity of the software itself.

But two tweeters (a couple of my favorite writer peeps) encouraged me to try it out. Because of the coupon linked above and my admiration for these tweeters (@wes_chu and @authoressanon), I bit the bullet and bought Scrivener.

Yesterday was crazy with kid-watching, menu-planning, and food-purchasing, so today will be my first chance to experiment with Scrivener. I'm told that watching the tutorial is as much fun as raking leaves (Wes Chu's words), and that it can be frustrating at first, but I shouldn't give up (Authoress). Both of them swear by this program today.

So I'm looking forward to the time AFTER the tutorial when I can implement the tools Scrivener provides with ease and grace... you know, after all the leaves are raked.

Have you used writing software? Which software? 

I also recommend WriteOrDie, especially if you have writer's block. It's $10 for a full license, and is especially useful for cutting out distractions like this blog. :)

Awesome Bookish Uses for Pinterest: New Leaf Literary and Month9Books

Querying? Your literary agent research just got easier (and more visual-learner-friendly)!

Check out this awesome use of Pinterest by literary agency New Leaf Literary:

See more of New Leaf Literary on Pinterest

Each literary agent has her own board, each book has its own board. Brilliant, no? I think so!

Tech-savvy literary agencies aren't the only bookish entities using Pinterest awesomely, either! Check out Month9Books, an MG/YA publisher of all things speculative fiction:

See more of Month9Books on Pinterest

Upcoming titles are all represented here, as well as contest entries/winners as part of a book promotion, and other bookish stuff which speaks to the personality and character of Month9Books as a whole.

Do you use Pinterest to express yourself professionally? Until now I've been using it mostly for time-wasting, cute birthday party ideas, and setting research. But now I'm starting to see the potential for more.

Add it to the social media toolbox!

And follow me on Pinterest. I follow back writers and bookish peeps. :)

Spies vs. Espionage!

Look what I got in my mailbox! 

Shiny new books with a common concept: spies! 

The Gail Carriger one is SIGNED! I may give it away if I can bear to part with it when I'm through reading.

Also Known As (by Robin Benway) on Goodreads

Etiquette & Espionage on Goodreads (Gail Carriger's first venture into YA, set in the same world as the bestselling Parasol Protectorate series)

Tomorrow is our March 1st Mystery Agent contest!!! If you write for children from PB thru MG on to YA, and you have a polished manuscript, enter to win a full read from a first-class literary agent. That'll be at Operation Awesome!

THE LIVES OF TAO by Wesley Chu: Cover Reveal!!

Sharing the awesome! Operation Awesome's very own Wesley Chu has his cover for his SF book.  Introducing...

THE LIVES OF TAO

Seriously, just stare at this for a minute if you're not laughing yet. It goes perfectly with the book.

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. 

He wasn’t. 

He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. 

Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…

~~~~~~~

Here is the link on good reads: HERE

It comes out in just a few short months (April 30th) so add it to your list.

Or go ahead and PREORDER it now!

~~~~~~


Wesley Chu was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was just a pup. It was there he became a Kung Fu master and gymnast.

Wesley is an avid gamer and a contributing writer for the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. A former stunt man and a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he can also be seen in film and television playing roles such as “Banzai Chef” in Fred Claus and putting out Oscar worthy performances as a bank teller in Chicago Blackhawks commercials.

Besides working as an Associate Vice President at a bank, he spends his time writing and hanging out with his wife Paula Kim and their Airedale Terrier, Eva.



OKAY, now don't forget the always awesome MYSTERY AGENT CONTEST on March 1st. We've got an agent who specializes in children's books (PB, MG, YA) with specifics here.