Book Rec: Perilous by Tamara Hart Heiner

YA covers such a fascinatingly wide range, from paranormal romance to historical to sci-fi, but Tamara Hart Heiner's debut novel Perilous is something I haven't seen before: classic suspense for the YA crowd. Before I get into my review, here's the blurb for the back cover:

Jaci Rivera has plans for her sophomore year: go to regionals with the track team, make the honor roll, and eat too much pizza with her best friends, Callie and Sara. Her biggest concern is Amanda, the pushy girl who moved in a few months ago. What she doesn't plan for is catching a robber red-handed, or being kidnapped. The desperate thief drags her and her friends 2,000 miles across the Canadian border. They escape from his lair, only to find that he has spies and agents watching their path home, waiting to intercept them and take them back. Then Jaci finds something out about her family. Something which irrevocably connects her to their kidnapper, and makes her question their chances of escape.

Four girls go to the mall. They have a few little mishaps, and end up witnessing a robbery and being kidnapped - and Tamara Hart Heiner makes it believable. I was impressed with her ability to take somewhat crazy situations and convince you that a couple of fifteen- and fourteen-year-old girls can end up kidnapped, escaping, and trekking hundreds of miles through the woods to get home.  The characterization of Jaci and her friends was spot-on and convincing. 

What struck me most about this book, though, was the pace and tension. From the shocking first chapter on, it's hard to pull your head out of this book. For me, it was almost too much at times - I wanted the girls to find a safe place and trustworthy people, but their paranoia quickly becomes yours, and it was hard to breathe at times. I was definitely invested in these characters, especially Tamara quickly demonstrates she isn't so attached to her characters as to guarantee a perfectly happy ending! When the ending does come, though (and I finally got to breathe a little easier!) it's satisfying, while leaving some subplots open. Can we expect a sequel, Tamara? (I'll read it!)

Overall, this was a different read, but I really liked it. I thought it was interesting that there's actually an adult perspective in the book - the detective who is searching for the girls - but he and the girls never actually intersect. I thought that was an unusual and risky move for a YA novel. My minimal nitpicks? I thought there were a few HUGE coincidences that occured throughout the book, but Tamara laid the seeds for those so well that I was able to pretty much suspend my disbelief. The tone of the novel is a little formal (which I think is pretty common in debut novels) and serious (which is understandable, given the events and tension of the story) for my preferences, but Tamara's prose is clear and competent - I think her writing can only get better as time goes on.  And, since I have a few questions about what happens to the girls next, I'm hoping to see a follow-up ASAP!

Definitely recommended for all fans of YA and suspense. Be sure to check out Perilous on Amazon - and I'll even give you a $10 gift certificate for Amazon if you'll learn just a little more about Perilous and Tamara Hart Heiner.

New giveaway for Perilous: $10 Gift Certificate

Tomorrow, I'm posting my review of Tamara Hart Heiner's debut novel, Perilous. But today? I have a giveaway. :)

I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky reader.  The rules for entering are pretty simple:

1. Follow This Is Not My Day Job,
2. Answer three questions correctly to celebrate the debut of Tamara's new novel!

• What grade was Tamara in when she started writing Perilous?
• What state does Tamara live in now?
• What are the names of the four girls in Perilous?

They'll be easy to answer, I promise, but you'll find out a little more about this debut novel on the way!

Be sure to check back tomorrow night for my review, and enter before midnight on the 19th!

 And if you haven't entered yet, be sure to enter the Citrus Tree art print giveaway!

Simultaneous Subs and Tiers

(Advice from someone who knows more than me)

In my writing class, we recently got into the business side of things.  The teacher has published a few dozen pieces in various literary magazines, as well as a volume of poetry, so I thought his advice might be interesting to the rest of you. :)

• Do simultaneous submissions, but do them within a tier.
• This means you need a tier list with about 8-10 journals or magazines in each. The top tier is the journals you'd love to be published in... even if they're long shots. The odds of getting into The New Yorker with an unsolicited manuscript is low, but if you're going to submit, do it in your top tier. This might also include journals like the Atlantic or Glimmer Train, or Poetry or other big journals. Or whatever your dream publication credits would be.
• Then a mid-tier, and a third tier. He only went to three tiers, but you know me. I have five.
• It's important to do your simultaneous subs within each tier before bumping down to the next. You don't want to submit to Joe's Basement Literary Journal and, say, Narrative, and have Narrative accept after Joe's - you'll already be obligated to Joe's.  So stick with one tier, and once (if) you've gotten 5 or 6 rejections in that one, move to the next tier.
• When a piece does get accepted, politely notify the other journals where your story or poem is still under consideration that you are withdrawing your piece. Most places don't mind simultaneous subs these days (or at least, grudgingly accept them, for writers' lives are short and reading periods are long), but we still need to be courteous.

This advice got me excited about querying more of my short fiction and poetry. That excitement lasted through the creation of my tier list and fizzled out when I started actually preparing more submissions. :p Oh, and then I got a rejection back from my last batch that I sent out.  Booya.

Random Thought #31

"If you start with a real personality, a real character, then something is bound to happen; and you don't have to know what before you begin. In fact, it may be better if you don't know what before you begin. You ought to be able to discover something from your stories. If you don't, probably nobody else will."

-Flannery O'Connor

I read this quote today and loved it.  Sometimes as a story-starter, I write a story from the point-of-view of someone who completely opposes my perspective on the world... I never know if I'll find my way back to my perspective or end up "agreeing" with them.

It's a little bizarre not to know where we're going when we sit down at the keyboard, but the discovery's half the fun.

Things that make me sigh

Has anyone else had terrific problems with Blogger lately? I had an admittedly (pleasantly) distracted weekend, but I did try to post a few times and it just would. not. work.  It was frustrating.

Other things that also irritate me:

1. Plagarism. There's a big blogger who copied some other content without crediting its source, which has been a big brou-ha-ha. That isn't actually what attracted my ire - I think it's wrong, but it's been addressed, moving right along. But there were people defending her by saying that a) plagiarism is not a big deal cause, well, it's the interwebs and copyright just isn't the same, wild west blah blah blah, or b) that it's ridiculous that bloggers have to cite sources like they are writing a reference paper. Erm, no.

2. Not having the satellite radio in my car working, because the guy who sold me the brand-new car is convinced that I do not have satellite radio. Even though it comes standard in the car. And the satellite radio is installed. But I need him to active my free three-month trial.  And he does not believe me.

3. The fact that I cannot fold sheets to save my life. Seriously, sheets are hard. I would happily pay someone to come in and fold my sheets for me. But I don't think that's a viable solution (anyone want to earn $10?), so no one will ever see the inside of my linen closet.

4. Good T.V. shows going bad. I've been disappointed by all my old standbys lately - Doctor Who, Glee, Fringe and Bones.  Like, there are only six hours of TV I want to watch each week. Could those hours be awesome?

5. My entire schedule. I finish grad school in the spring. Have I mentioned that lately?

However, the salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks makes me happy, I am loving the cool fall weather, and I had the chance to race golf carts around a golf course while drinking Miller Lights this weekend... so it all balances out.

Secretariat

I had the chance to see Secretariat earlier this month, which opened today! So I wanted to take tell you all a little about this film, based on a true story about a horse named Secretariat and the woman who believed in him (and in herself). But first, the trailer:

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. Horse racing holds little interest for me, to be honest, and I'm not sure how I feel about it from an animal rights standpoint. But despite a few little hiccups (a few cheesy lines and some dialogue that implied The William Shaltner School of Acting), this was a good film.


Penny Chenery, a housewife with four kids who grew up on a horse farm, finds out her mother has died, and returns home. There she finds the farm in disrepair, her father increasingly confused. She decides to stay on, and begins to make decisions about the horses - although her brother thinks a housewife shouldn't be making business decisions, and her husband wants her to return home.  Most of all, Penny believes in a horse - Secretariat - believes in him so much, in fact, that she believes he can win the Triple Crown. She assembles a motley crew around her - assistant, trainer, jockey.

I loved that Secretariat passed the Bechdel test with flying colors - women talk to each other about business and about their lives. I loved the representation of a strong woman who trusts herself to make the right decisons, and stays cool under disagreement from the menfolk (in 1973). And it's just a great story. I went into it knowing very little about Secretariat's history and if he won the Triple Crown or not, so I won't fill in any more of the details.  For a feel-good, family-friendly sports flick with an unusual amount of feminism, though, I'd definitely recommend Secretariat - if you don't mind a little bit of unapologetic sentimentality.

Six years ago, I walked into a friend's apartment to watch a crappy horror movie, and walked out with a handsome, funny man I'd spent the night arguing politics with.

A few months later, we confessed our love to each other while highly intoxicated and agreed over pancakes the next morning that we meant it, even sober.

Five years ago, a few weeks after graduating college, I packed my car with everything I owned and cried when I kissed him goodbye.

Two weeks after that, we agreed we'd rather be seperated from each other than with anyone else.

Four years ago, we moved to California, to begin a new life together.

Three years ago, we married on a sunny beach in Cali.

Four months later, I boarded a plane for Iraq - a year spent keeping our relationship alive by phone and letter. I came home, and we moved back across the country, starting life together over again. A year ago, we bought our first house together.

And the adventure continues - for the next fifty or so years. "Marriage is finding that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." Happy anniversary, babe.

Critiquing is HARD (way harder than math)

I just got home from my writing class, and since it's 1015pm and I want to sleep, I will be brief.  :)

Today I was the primary critiquer on another student's non-fiction piece and a flash fiction short. I loved the criticism I got on the first few chapters of THE GODDESS OF VENGEANCE WORE PINK GALOSHES (more on that later) so I really want to do a good job of critiquing when it was my job, too. But I felt like my comments were too specific, not broad enough, and not necessarily well-organized or explained.  Hopefully it came across better than I think, but man.

Critiquing seems so much harder to me than writing. Maybe that's why even revising my own work is hard for me!

I'll still be providing comments on everyone else's writing the rest of the semester, just not as the primary critic, so if you have any suggestions or hints for me, I'd love to hear them!

P.S. Does anyone else remember the "Math is hard" Barbie scandal from back in the day?

FanFic: What's Your Take?

I just finished reading the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer story anthology, volume 1 (I have a cat named Buffy; obviously, I couldn't resist something Buffy related).  It was fun reading, and I couldn't help but think it would be fun writing.  In a geekier past (let's pretend), I also loved the Star Wars spin-off novels, like the adventures of young Han Solo.  And maybe the Indiana Jones books, too.

Obviously, the professionally licensed fan-fic is a little bit different; it's considered canon, but there's also a certain level of writing quality guaranteed.  When I go looking for Veronica Mars fan-fic on the web, on the other hand, because I need to know that Logan and Veronica eventually get back together, what I find is sometimes find are great imaginative storylines without the technical writing skills to back them up.

And, I'm reluctant to write my own fan-fic because I don't generally write for my eyes alone. Although I write for myself first, I want to share my work with readers. I guess I could writer something for the interwebs, but that's out of my usual lane.


Do any of you write fan-fic? Or read it? I'd love to hear about it!

Wheels

This weekend I bought my first brand new car. I'll always love my first car, a geriatric gold Saturn station wagon that was so far from cool it was actually hip (that's what I believed, anyway).  After a lot of pondering about what constituted a "Guin car", I bought myself a green Subaru Outback. It can carry two bikes, two kayaks and my camping gear, it can tow a small boat or a cart for home project supplies, it gets good gas milage, and it it also has the all-important luxury of heated front seats.

All my musing about what kind of car fit not just my lifestyle, but my personality (VW Bug convertible? A big SUV like the Honda Pilot? A Mini-Cooper?) made me think about the wheels our favorite characters drive. 

It's just one more of the little details that help define who our characters are and what's important to them. James Bond drives an Aston-Martin. Jace Waylander in The Mortal Instruments series occasionally hops onboard a demon bike. There's Bella's truck in the Twilight series and all the sports cars of the Cullen brood.  My protoganist, Lauren, in The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes drives a Honda Fit; in Shards of Glass, April drives a Ford Thunderbird. And that's important, because April is flashy and wild, and Lauren is practical and sweet.

It's not like cars define our characters (or us), but as writers we should try to use a rich detail rather than a bland one whenever possible. And as readers, we appreciate details that are specific rather than vague. What does your favorite character have for wheels?

NaBloWriMo, Pursenickety Purses

My blog tends to get back-burnered with everything else going on during the school term, but I saw NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month) and thought it'd be fun attempt that prior to NaNoWriMo in November. I also have a goal of commenting on at least five blogs a day.  I tend to be bad about commenting when I'm busy (especially since I can't blog from work), but I miss you guys when I don't manage to visit. :)

Not book related, but I wanted to share this fun giveaway - Envy My Cooking is giving away a $40 gift certificate to Pursenickety.... go here to enter. Or not, because I really want this:

Giveaway! Sweet writing art from Citrus Tree

I love Etsy. Who doesn't? As artists ourselves - in one way or another - I think it's cool to support other artists.  But I have a special place in my heart for writing-related art...

...especially this fine art print, UNBLOCKED, from Citrus Tree:

Love this too much... I'm buying one for me (or maybe four... I have a couple of favorite prints. Like this one... and this one. And this one gets my imagination going crazy). But you all get to enter to win your very own copy of this great print!

The fine print: This contest is open to new and old followers in the U.S. and Canada, but if you're a vintage international follower, you're welcome to enter too - I'd be happy to pay the extra shipping for my international friends. :) Giveaway ends 19 November (extended!).

Click here to enter...

Chicken and Chorizo Paella/Brown Sugar Frosting

Darling readers, I have a fun giveaway post coming tomorrow, but tonight I'm going to cheat a little. I realized I don't have enough content to try and do two seperate blogs (not until I finish school or quit my job, at least!), but you all seem pretty receptive to me writing about other things besides, well, writing.

So today I hoped to do some boundary-pushing (for me) with a recipe post.  I love paellas, but MJ is allergic to seafood.  It turns out you can make a tasty paella without seafood, blasphemous and Americanized though it might be. Here's mine - I started off with a recipe from one of my go-to cookbooks, Perfect Chicken (which pretty much describes me in the kitchen). But it rapidly evolved (devolved?) based off the ingredients I had on hand, since I made this on a whim out of things found in freezer, fridge and pantry:

Chicken and Chorizo Paella
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves
1/2 onion, diced as finely as you really care to after a long day at work
2 chicken breasts, chopped to 1/2 inch cubes
1 pork chop, chopped as above
5 oz chorizo (half a sausage), in slices, halved
12 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 quart sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 c. peas (I thawed some frozen peas)
2 c. rice
4 c. chicken broth
saffon threads
salt and pepper
paprika
cayenne
parsley
red pepper flakes (you might use a diced pepper and no pepper flakes, I didn't have any or that would have been my preference)

Soak a few saffron threads in a few teaspoons hot water (if you prefer, you can use a package of saffron flavored yellow rice in substitution for the saffron and rice - saffron is expensive!).  Brown the mushrooms in a little butter and extra virgin olive oil and set aside.  Meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken breast and pork. To the same pan, add a little more butter and olive oil and add garlic, onion, chorizo, pork and chicken; cook over medium-high heat until chicken and pork are cooked through.

Add the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, and let the tomatoes sweat a little. Season with a generous pinch or two of cayenne, paprika, and parsley, and a light dusting of red pepper flakes (specific, I know, but that's how I cook  - just like I write, without much direction :p).  Add the saffron, and let it all cook for a minute. Then add the rice, mixing well with the spices and liquid, and allow to cook for another minute.  Add the chicken brother, bring to a boil, and then set on simmer until the rice has absorbed the liquid.  I like my rice to still have a bit of toothiness, but that's up to you - it took about 20 minutes of simmering for me to be satisfied.

The result is a spicy, flavorful, one-pot meal with protein, starch and veggies - and except for the prep, not much work! (Isn't that always the case)

MJ and I had chocolate cupcakes with brown sugar frosting for dessert. The cupcakes were leftover from the Betty Crocker gluten-free cupcake mix  I made for my mom, who has Celiac's - I was surprised by how tasty these were, by any cupcake standard and not just by a dietary-restriction standard.  I whipped up this delicious brown sugar chocolate frosting to go with, very creamy and with a rich flavor.

Brown Sugar Chocolate Frosting:
Ingrediants:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. cocoa powder (Any cocoa powder, but I loved Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate & Cocoa in this - I also want to try it with my usual dark chocolate cocoa powder)

If you have a mixer, it takes little to no active time or energy to make frosting, and yet it impresses people so much (which, besides the nom-nom-nominess of it all, is one of the things I like about baking for friends and family). This recipe is no exception:

If you have a stand mixer,  beat heavy cream on high; add in brown sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder. Beat until the frosting looks like frosting - creamy but stable.

One of the nice things about this recipe is the frosting stows nicely in the fridge and comes out still spreadable, which is great if like me, you'd rather keep the cupcakes in an airtight container and the frosting in the fridge until it's time for them to unite. :)

Oh, and I think we can safely add to the list of things that are Not My Day Job? Food photography.

SPOILERS EVERYWHERE/Why My Husband Owes Me a Massage

Warning: Spoilers for Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instuments series may follow, though according to my husband, it's not a spoiler because anything could still happen!

So, despite my best intentions to dive into some genre literature instead of more YA, I accidentally read City of Bone by Cassandra Clare while on a business trip. Which led to me selecting City of Ashes for our camping trip last weekend, and encouraging M.J. to read City of Bones (which he wasn't excited about, just like our camping trip, and we all now how that turned out - he's now reading the second book).

Today in  Target was my first chance to get the third and final book in the trilogy, City of Glass. Now, if you didn't know, the books revolve around a girl, Clary, who meets a boy named Jace who is a Shadowhunter - a demon hunter - and discovers that she's also a Shadowhunter.  Because she's related to Jace. Who she is now in love with.

Yeah, Luke and Leia style. Only Jace and Clary have a lot more chemistry. The books have a great plot, but it's the whole frustrated-love-because-holy-crap-incest that has me rushing to find out how the story ends.

So M.J. takes the book off the shelf at Target today, flips it open to the end, and reads one random sentence aloud, without reading it to himself first.

"Valentine lied - Jace and Clary were never brother and sister."

I sputtered for a minute, shocked.

"Oh. I can't believe I just read that. Oops. Well, it's an isolated sentence; it's not necessarily true - there's no knowing how the story ends. I didn't just ruin the end of the trilogy for you. Really."


Yeah. And the man still thinks I should bake him cookies this week, can you believe that?

Unplugging: This Is NOT a Tutorial

Man, the small tsunami that is my life in a new semester started and I just vanished under the blogging waves, huh?

(There's a reason I don't use metaphor much in my writing, by the way).

Well, a part of my recent disappearance was school, writing class, and my ongoing attempts in the gym to redevelop some type of muscular definition (Result cloudy, try again after diet, says the Magic 8-Ball of my personal trainer), but the other part was my unplugged weekend.  For the part few weeks I've been turning to M.J. enthusiastically, preferably in the early morning as we're making the sleepy uncaffeinated commute to work, and saying, "We're going CAMPING!"

To which M.J. said, "Ugh. Yeah. Camping." Which is why I have to be so enthusiastic, you see, for the two of us. And also because it irritates him, and marriage is finding that one special person to antagonize for the rest of your life.

And then it was Friday, and "We're going camping TODAY!"

"Ugh."

"And it will be FUN!"

"Ugh."

Friday was a long day full of stupid people, and that's all I'm going to say about that.  By the time we got the car packed and got underway, it was after dark and I was doing Lamaze-type breathing techniques to prevent myself from short circuiting. It was really an ideal weekend to leave humanity behind. But not so far behind that there wasn't a discount department store if we forgot something, not that we'd ever be so disorganized...

We got there and set up our tent in the dark, which was quite the comedy of errors, since it's a brand-new tent and we were trying to read directions by the headlights. Also, the people at the next campsite over had their lawn chairs set up facing in our direction, and they just stared at us the entire time as we asked those deep questions of life like, "Wait, so where do these little poles go?"  Their staring was creepy.  The fact that they were still staring at our tent did not prevent us from setting it a-swaying. I had to do something to improve MJ's attitude about camping.

The next day we stepped out into the FREEZING COLD AIR Holy Crap Nature and were eager to get breakfast going. Except that our little hibachi grill was a sad grill.  It did not have a propane regulator. So here's the first photo from our camping trip:

 So, we bought supplies because we weren't going to have much of a camping experience without fire, and ate trail mix until we finally managed to get back to the campsite and start a fire.

Even with the generous use of lighter fluid, that put breakfast around 11am...

But there was BACON! And pancakes cooked in BACON GREASE! And it was seriously the most tasty meal I've eaten in ages.

And in case you were wondering based off my photo, no, combs and cosmetics are considered to be not in the spirit of camping.

We played mini-golf, played cards, poked at the fire more, grilled various meats, toasted an entire bag of marshmallows, stared at the flames, drank a lot of rum and Coke (me) and beers (him), asked each other deep questions... OK, that was me.  I waited until M.J. tried to wrap his mouth around a burning marshmallow and then asked, "So, would you consider yourself a cultural relativist?" Somehow it was all terribly relaxing.

Eventually we discovered that the campsite actually has Wi-Fi. But you know what?

I was happier unplugged.  Just for a little while.

And on Sunday when we drove home, M.J. asked, "So when are we going camping again?"

You know, being right might be even sweeter than pancakes cooked in bacon grease paired with a rum and Coke for breakfast!

*Oh, and the people with the creepy staring turned out in daylight to be a family of Mennonites. Not sure if that makes me feel better, or worse...

Finding that first line: Bodie's Men

Every story starts with a first line. For me, that line is crucial - I fumble around with my storytelling until I have the perfect, reel-you-in first line. At least, a first line that reels ME in and keeps me writing. Whether the rest of my tale can live up to that first sentence or not, for me it has to be there to propel the plot forward.

I've written bits and pieces of BODIE'S MEN, my novel about a female Marine lieutenant struggling with a love triangle, taking care of her platoon after coming home from Iraq, and a difficult relationship with her disappointed parents. But it wasn't until today that I came up with that first line, while sweating in spin class and trying to think of something besides my burning thighs, pounding techno and the instructor yelling "And SPRINT! SPRINT! IT SHOULD HURT!"

Why yes, yes it should.

Are you ready?

Despite all the drunken promises we made to always be there for each other, it was days before I found out Josh lost his legs.

I guess I'm ready to write.

What do you need to start a story? A first line, a vision of the ending? 

WIP Wednesday

The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes... is resting. Shh.

While I take a break before tackling revisions, I want to write more short stories and poetry. Does anyone else find it hard to resume the short forms after working on a novel for a while? I have tons of novel ideas right now, NO short story concepts.  Ghaa.

But I sent out what I have already polished, formatted and ready to go. Three stories, three poems, and a non-fiction query are out to various 'zines.

Hopefully my writing course beginning next week will help me get some inspiration up in here while I try to forget about The Goddess of Vengeance.  What do you guys find sparks inspiration?

Happy Labor Day! Summer Writing!

Happy Labor Day, all! I'm spending today organizing closets, shopping, doing laundry and getting ready for the frenetic fall months ahead  (Grad school starts again tomorrow! I'm taking classes and working part-time as a TA! Writing classes start the 15th! NaNoWriMo is coming in November! And I still have that pesky full-time day job!). What are you doing this Labor Day?

Some of us were trying to write a novel this summer (here's the old post about it), with a goal of finishing before Labor Day. Mine was The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes. Blessedly finished a few days ago - I was thinking I might not make it for my own challenge! 

So how did the summer writing go for everyone else?  If you weren't participating in the challenge, did you still have a good writing summer? 


And who's doing NaNoWriMo? I'm already looking forward to the fall (and also nervous about my crazy schedule, but hey...).

Help! I'm missing out on genre fiction!

I'm coming up towards the end of my 100 Books in 2010 challenge, since I've read 88 books so far this year, so I've started to think about what gaps I have in my reading for the year. As a writer, I want to try and be well-rounded and read outside of favorite genres.

So here's what I've read so far  (view the full list of titles here)
Middle grade: 4
Young adult: 35
Historical fiction: 2
Romance: 0
Suspense/thriller/mystery: 5
Sci-fi/fantasy: 1
Fiction: 27
Non-fiction: 7

I've definitely skewed towards Young Adult and non-genre Fiction. Honestly, the wealth of genres within what we term YA (from contemporary romance to science fiction to fantasy to mystery) probably kept me from realizing earlier that my reading was so lopsided!

I have a few books I'm still finishing (both non-fiction, Richard Wright's Black Boy and Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran).  But I need to start looking for some new novels - and I'm thinking genre fiction deserves a turn.


Any fantasy, sci-fi, romance or suspense/mystery recs for me? And has anyone else taken a look at what they've read this year and noticed any trends?

Finit!

I typed the last words to (the first draft of) The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes today.

It was: "Then they might have kissed, but the waitress brought their pancakes."

And then the birds sang. And I bought myself a frozen yogurt.

On to revisions, beta readers, and the next project...!