2013 Rewind: My Top 10 YA/MG Reads

As the year winds down, the YA Buccaneers are taking a look at our favorite YA and MG reads of 2013, both new releases and old. You can see everyone's #1 pick listed here: http://www.yabuccaneers.com/blog/2013/12/19/2013-rewind-our-top-reads

I read 30 YA and MG books in 2013, along with a handful of adult books like Gone Girl, The Twelve, and several of the Song of Ice & Fire books. My top ten YA/MG list for 2013 is:

1. SIX INNINGS - As I said over on the YA Bucs, I was not expecting a MG baseball story to take top billing, but this lovely story about a Little League team and the championship game really stole my heart.

2. DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT - Laini Taylor. Do I need to say anything else? She weaves magic. 

3. MORE THAN THIS - I wrote a post on this book back on YA Buccaneers a while back--a very unique story that kept me guessing. 

4. WONDER - If you haven't read this one yet, do so. My nephew sent it to me and said it was one of his favorites. 

5. THE DREAM THIEVES - I have to admit, this book left me a little unfulfilled--I had that "I want the whole series NOW" feeling at the end. But the writing was absolutely lovely and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books. 

6. THESE BROKEN STARS - Thriller, romantic, space, done. For me, it was worth reading for the spaceship crash scene alone. I love huge action scenes!

7. TTHE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS - This one sat at the top of my TBR pile for a long time, and I finally got to it this fall--a wonderfully creepy and atmospheric MG read. 

8. THE PLANET THIEVES - I may have a weakness for space adventure, and this book is the real deal. Breathtaking action, inventive descriptions, and bold heroics--loved it!

9. WINGER - Andrew Smith is another favorite, and this book is a standout. Loved the voice so much.

10. UNDER THE NEVER SKY - I started out not sure what to think of this one--dystopian burnout, maybe? But the story grabbed me, and the characters were terrific, and by the end I was a fan. Looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!

Some Updates of a LOST PLANET Variety

We're about two and a half months away from the publication date of THE LOST PLANET--it's going to be a real book soon! Everything has gone so quickly that I can't believe it's almost here. The awesome people at Macmillan are cooking up some exciting plans for promotion, and while we're busy getting ready and finalizing details, I'm sure January is going to sneak up on us like a ninja.

Today I have some fun news to share. First, Publisher's Weekly put up their review of THE LOST PLANET, and it's a good one!

Link

Secondly, THE LOST PLANET is coming out in Spain next Monday, the 18th. Yes, next Monday! I'll be toasting that day with some good Codorniu cava. Here's the cover of EL PLANETA PERDIDO (I just love saying that):

Finally, if you can't wait to get a peek inside THE LOST PLANET, you're in luck! Macmillan will be releasing a free excerpt of the first five chapters next month. You can find information for pre-ordering here. 

That's all my news for now! Happy Monday!

A NaNoWriMo Tip Treasure Hunt!

The time for National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, is nearly upon us once again! This year, we lady pirates of YA Buccaneers have put our scurvy heads together to come up with a treasure hunt of advice for all you brave NaNo participants. And we have a prize drawing for you at the end of the journey! To learn more and get to the start of the treasure hunt, go here:

www.yabuccaneers.com/blog/2013/10/17/nanowrimothe-pirate-plan

Now, for my tip. Writing is solitary work, but one of the best parts of it is meeting other writers and sharing mutual support for the joys and the difficulties of the craft. NaNoWriMo is a prime example of how that support can help people accomplish amazing feats of writing! So take advantage of this time, and use the forums and Twitter to make new friends and participate in that group energy.

And now you must head on to the next leg of your adventure with our smiling pirate Curly McGee! Don't forget to comment below and enter the Rafflecopter to get your prize entry. I leave you now with this very NaNo-relevant quote from Jane Smiley, one that you may have seen me use before. I repeat it to myself regularly:

"Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist."

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's Up Wednesday: The Where I've Been Edition (With Cat Photos)

Well, hellooooooo there, strangers! If it looks like I'm blinking a lot in the bright sunlight, it's because I've just crawled out of the deadline cave. And I survived! Because I cannot word anymore, I'm easing back into blogging with a What's Up Wednesday (the weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funke, go sign up on either of their blogs!):

What I'm reading:

Not much since early August, but I'm commencing a major reading binge, starting with these lovelies:

What I'm writing:

The sequel to THE LOST PLANET! I turned in my completed draft to my editor Sunday night, and I'm feeling about a million pounds lighter. I had fun writing it, but it's no joke what people say about the first book under contract being a completely different animal than a book you write in your own free time. I learned a lot about what it takes, particularly energy- and focus-wise, to produce a book in a year, and I plan to use what I learned to make writing the next book go a little more smoothly. Because I'm not going to lie, there were some panic moments and maybe even an epic meltdown in there somewhere. Whew! I can laugh now because I'm on the other side.

What inspires me right now:

Having free time for the first time in six weeks where I don't feel the constant pressure of a deadline. I haven't entirely lost that feeling of productive churn, and I'm trying to harness it to pick away at some new projects. More sequel ideas, and one Shiny New Idea that hit me like a hurricane while I was revising and has been vying for my attention ever since.

What else I've been up to:

Um, besides my day job, that's about it. I've been a serious house rat for the past month, swearing off the gym, turning down social invitations, and ordering delivery when my refrigerator ran out of food. Luckily for my productivity, my husband has been out of town for most of the past month.

One thing I did keep up on was my Instagram account (which is all cats and food, because what else?), so I'm going to paste in some shots of from this time period. As you can see, I was not entirely alone. I had my two house goblins, Jack and Simon:

Nothing to see here. 

I don't function without breakfast. Every day.

My desk weasel.

I ate a lot of kale. What can I say? I live in California. And kale is delicious. I pretended I was a vegan for part of the month.

Until my husband came home for Labor Day, and cooked up this 9-lb rib roast.

We took our cat out on the patio on a leash. He loves his leash. Or at least the outdoor time that it brings. The leash is more like a hobble.

My cats are there for me when I'm writing.

There when I'm revising.

There with me burning the candle on those long, late nights.

And finally, a shot from the final stretch. Husband sent flowers and a sweet note of encouragement. Awwwww.

And that's where I've been! What have you been up to?

A Quickie Update

I haven't been blogging much as there's a deadline looming in my near future, but this week I'm up in the Bay Area on a work trip for my day job. Sitting alone in my hotel room at night is making me stir crazy, so I thought I'd hop online for some quick updates.

First and most exciting--we've sold translation rights for THE LOST PLANET in Spain! This is my first foreign sale and I'm so thankful to New Leaf's incredibly awesome subsidiary rights director, Kathleen Ortiz. I'm super excited to share my book with Spanish readers!

Last weekend was the summer SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, which was a blast as always. This was my fourth year attending, and I couldn't help but marvel at the changes that have happened since that first conference:

Year 1: clueless writer with a completed mess of a manuscript and no friends
Year 2: aspiring writer with a manuscript in revisions who'd started to make a few new friends
Year 3: querying writer who had just received an offer of representation the day before the conference
Year 4: soon-to-be-published author with a two-book deal!

These days I don't attend the conference so much for the content being offered as for the chance to spend time with "old" writer friends and make new ones. I also hosted the always-delightful Ghenet Myrthil at my home and had a ton of fun getting to know her better. And as an added bonus, my agent was on the faculty this year and I got to spend a bunch of time with her, which was so awesome. I seriously still have to pinch myself some days because I can't believe I get to work with her. She's the best!

I'm spending the weekend in beautiful San Francisco with my husband, but starting next week I'm going to be on a mega-tight schedule and will probably not be blogging for a while. So enjoy the rest of your summers, and I'll see you on the other side!

Congratulations Jessica!

If you live on the moon, maybe you haven't heard the news yet. Jessica Love has announced her book deal with St. Martin's Press--she's co-writing a YA novel with Chelsie Hill from the Sundance Channel's PUSH GIRLS!!

YAY JESS!!!!

Jessica is one of the funniest and most hard-working people I know. She works long, hard hours in her job as a middle school English eacher, on top of which she is working on her MFA, fits in all this writing, and yet she still has a fun social life! I just get tired thinking about it--I don't know how she does it. Go read more about the fortuitous timing of her incredible book deal and give her a virtual high five here: http://www.jessica-love.net/2013/07/in-which-i-shock-you-all-with-surprise.html

Introducing the YA Buccaneers!

Greetings from Istanbul! I'm jumping online mid-vacation to share something new and fun! Some fantastic writers have been working on a secret project for a while now, and just recently I was thrilled to accept an invitation to join their merry crew.

And now the big day is here!!! We are so excited to announce the launch of our new group blog:

 The YA Buccaneers!

A combined effort by ten amazing ladies, we've put together some pretty awesome content that we hope you'll come on by to check out!

Today's the official day of launch -- over the next two weeks we'll be introducing you to each member of the crew, not to mention, hosting a pretty incredible giveaway for all those that would like to join us on our journey!

Adventure awaits and we can't wait to set sail with you!