Good Luck, Good Luck, Good Luck..

...to all you NaNoists out there. I still think you are bonkers, but admire you greatly none-the-less.

 If you are having second thoughts this morning then fabulous Chuck Wendig has words of wisdom for you here. 

In the meantime, here are some cheers for you to sail off into the wordy sunset with.

Get the chocolates in and  to it!!!

Drum roll please for The Sentinel

My friend Holly Martin has just released her first book The Sentinel, a YA Adventure.

The lovely Holly and I met through the Sunlounger shenanigans, where she won the competition. You can learn more about Holly here and on her blog here.

In the meantime, here's the blurb and some fabulous praise:

When Eve is rescued from a horrific coach crash by her teachers, she is shocked to discover they possess super strength and speed.  But what happens next is even more harrowing.  

In the aftermath of the crash she discovers that everyone in her life from neighbours, doctors, dentists, teachers, shop keepers and even her family and friends are actually super strength Guardians sent to protect her.  They all have one thing in common, a single minded ferocity that she must be kept alive at all costs.

However, she is surrounded by secrets and lies.  Those in the know deny all knowledge of what happened that fateful night.  Everyone else carries on as normal, seemingly unaware of the new strange world that she has stumbled against. 

With the help of Seth, her best friend, Eve discovers the prophecies surrounding her true identity and the super strength she too holds. With her Guardians pledged to protect her, her closest friends ready to die for her, her own hopes and dreams are put on hold whilst she battles to control the amazing powers she has been bestowed with. 

But those that seek to destroy her move ever closer.  Will the Guardians be enough to protect her when so many are prepared to stop at nothing to see her dead? And will she be strong enough to fulfil her destiny when the time comes?

A fast paced fantasy adventure for young adults. 

With high speed car chases, airborne fights, amazing stunts and super powered beings, this is a story of loyalty, friendship and love.

Praise for The Sentinel
It’s a book you HAVE to read, because it’s incredible. An outstanding book that has left me bereft its finished. I wished I’d savoured it for longer. This book was one of those that once you started it was impossible to come away from. It was fast paced, exciting, full of suspense and action that had me gasping in shock at twists I never imagined could happen. It’s a story of courage and adventure. And no matter how dark it gets, there’s always love and hope. – Victoria Loves Books Blog

It's really hard to find the words to describe how amazing this book is.
This is definitely the best debut I've read this year! I just love this book, I want you all to read this book, in fact you all need to read this book! - Love of a Good Book Blog

Holly Martin throws Eve in at the deep end, subjecting her protagonist (and readers) to a torrent of drama right from the off. - Jack Croxall (Author of Tethers and X)

It's a supercharged, superfast, superhero story with great characters that you'll want to gobble up in one sitting. – Sharon Sant (Author of Runners, The Sky Song Trilogy and The Memory Game)

Happy Publication Holly!

Crazy Lunatic Writing

Being October it means it is almost November, (see, that's a university education, right there...) which for some means it it is nearly Write-Like-a-Crazy-Lunatic month, aka NaNoWriMo. (I just looked at the site, there are 72,998 of them/you signed up already with two weeks to go. )

 No, I’m still not doing it; I’m sticking to my same sorry list of excuses as I mentioned last year here. I am however not a complete lazer at the moment and am two weeks into my own quest of writing 5k words a week until Dec 20, in the hope of giving birth to the majority bulk of a 1^st (verbal vomit) draft on something new. So far there are indeed words accumulating, although they are pretty sketchy, but hey, you can’t fix empty space, can you?

 Anyways, back to NaNo. Here are a couple of links for anyone considering it, from YA Stands and also sage words of wisdom from the ever entertaining Chuck Wendig.
My own advice is obviously still to get good chocolates in for rewards and incentives, but the planning idea is probably a winner too.


Anyone mad enough? contemplating it?

Inspiration required?

Two sites to flag up if you are in need of writing inspiration.

 Firstly, if you are looking for real-life contemporary disasters and life angst, you need look no further than FML. Yes, it is wrong to laugh at the misfortune of others, but they have posted it to share, and I have been in tears of laughter over a few of them.

PostSecret is a site  which I find fascinating as a concept, but it also throws up hundred's of plot premises. Essentially, people  from across the globe are sending postcards they have made with a secret they are keeping to the PostSecret address in the states. The newly arrived secrets get displayed every Sunday. You can trawl the archive too. Some are funny, some are heartbreaking, all of them are interesting

Go have a look, and don't tell me that there isn't anything there that can send your creative juices flowing.

Nooooooo!

That thing where a book that you have been loving, as in L-O-V-I-N-G, ends in a way that you would never have chosen. It might be a true ending and valid blah blah blah, BUT IT WAS NOT THE ENDING I WANTED!!!!! *Stamps feet*

That.

*Cue Belated fanfare* My Autumn TBR Pile

Considering how late it is, this one almost needed a drumroll rather than a fanfare. Apologies. The school start just got in the way.

The pile looks like this;

The Ides of April - Lindsey Davies (Historical Crime)
You against Me - Jenny Downham (UK YA Contemporary)
Underworld - Meg Cabot (YA Fantasy)
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume (Womens Fiction)
You don't have to say you love me - Sarra Manning (Womens Fiction)
Locked Inside - Nancy Werlin (YA Contemporary)
The Seven Wonders - Steven Saylor (Historical Crime)
Severed Heads, Broken Hearts - Robyn Schneider (YA Contemporary)
By Any other Name - Laura  Jarratt (UK YA Contemporary) 
The Church of Dead Girls - Stephen Dobyn (Thriller)

on the e-reader - 
How We Met and other stories - David Levithan (YA Short Stories)
I'm going to hazard a guess that some New Adult will sneak in here at some point too. Sneaky things...

Still to come;
Awaken - Meg Cabot - (YA Fantasy)
The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell (Thriller)
The Dream Theives - Maggie Stiefvater (YA Fantasy)

Considering I normally stick with YA, I'd say this pile is a bit of a departure in terms of diversity. There isn't quite a 50%-50% gender split, but there are some boys in there, including the obligatory David Levithan tome, because I love him.  Have I mentioned that before? I have? Many times? Good. Because I love him. I would read his and John Green's shopping lists if given the chance. (The Robyn Schneider book is in this pile purely because it is compared to John Green's writing on the front cover. It had better not disappoint, Publishers Weekly...)

I'm particularly looking forward to the books by Jenny Downham who previously wowed me with Before I Die, and also Laura Jarratt's follow up to Skin Deep.

Naturally I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on Maggie Stiefvater's new book, the second in the Raven Boys Quartet,  out later this month. 

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

I haven't forgotten...

So it is the first of September, which means there should be a shiny brand-spanker of a TBR pile here.
Can you see it?
No me neither.
 But it is taking shape.
It just isn't ready yet. Too many of the books are are still en route.

Won't be long though. And there is still time for recommendations.