I usually only post a blurg (blurb in a blog) after I read a novel I love. I haven’t yet read Crash Into Me because it was just released yesterday and I haven’t managed to get my hands on a copy yet. However, since the author, Albert Borris, isn’t able to promote the book himself, I thought I’d give him a hand.

Albert suffered a massive stroke in December. Here’s a little about his story, from the Class of 2K9 blog:

This past December, just months before the release of CRASH INTO ME (Simon Pulse), Albert suffered a stroke so powerful, his doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.

And alive he is, having made a full physical recovery, enough to roughhouse with his two young sons and work out at the gym. However, Albert is still working on recovering something else: his words.

To be sure, they are all up there in his brilliant mind. He just can’t get them out – verbally or on paper – in the correct order, yet. But he’s working on it.

And here’s a little about his debut novel, Crash Into Me (again from the Class of 2K9’s blog):

When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens mak e a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides…and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living–or if there’s no turning back.

You can help Albert by spreading the word (blog about this, or just pass on the link to someone who might be interested) or by buying the book!

Peace….

1. Fantastic electrical storm last night, plus hail, plus ongoing pouring rain. Meanwhile, Son2 is at woodsman camp on a nearby island.... Lucky him. ;)
2. I slept through the phone ringing early this morning. It was the staffing office asking if I could work today. So, I lost a potential day of work and the very helpful paycheque that goes along with it, but I gained a day to devote to writing. (Bills, schmills... I'd always rather write than head to the day-job!)
3. I did a word-count check on the novel I'm revising and ... ta da! ... I've now added more than I originally cut (which was about 13000 words). Not that I'm hung up on word counts, but it does seem to be a bit of a milestone. I still have one new chapter and a handful of new scenes to write (plus a HUGE amount of rearranging and tweaking), but I'm happy with my progress so far.
4. I switched my ISP a few weeks ago, despite the new ISP's VERY persistent sales agents that totally annoyed me in the weeks leading up to my choosing to switch (it was purely a $ thing for me). And now, I've decided that the new ISP sucks with great amounts of suckage, despite being a large, popular company. I will likely switch again.... Sigh.
5. I have managed to turn Son3 into a total HP fan. He's done nothing but read today (a good thing to do during the aforementioned pouring rain). He's currently 1/3 through HP and the Half-Blood Prince. (He knows I won't take him to see it in the theatre, though, at least not without me seeing it first.... I think the Inferi and the Dementors may be a bit much for him on the big screen!) As for me, I'm totally stoked to see the movie!

That's all for now. Have a great week! :)

Peace....

This week’s Fix-It Friday revision tip comes from Dia Reeves, whose debut YA novel, Bleeding Violet, will be published by Simon Pulse in January 2010.

Read your manuscript out loud to catch awkward, clunky sentences or phrasing.

Thanks, Dia. Great tip! This is something I do, too, but I try to do it when no one else is home. My family already thinks I’m crazy, and hearing me mumbling aloud in my office would only serve to cement their opinion. :)

Cross-posted from www.sharigreen.com.

Lauren Barnholdt is giving away an ARC of Catching Fire!! http://laurenbarnholdt.com/2009/06/30/catching-fire-arc-giveaway/trackback/

The low-budget news team reports on Aspiring Author’s progress.

New books = yay! Here’s what I got today:

(Dull Boy, by Sarah Cross; Always Looking Up, by Michael J Fox; Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen)

Okay, enough shopping. Time to get back to work. (Sadly, I can’t read these quite yet, but they will be sweet incentive to reach my revision goals — kinda like no ice cream until you finish your cake, which I know is a bit of a twist on the old saying, but revisions are fun, too. Just not quite as fun as jumping into an awesome new book. Revising is cake, reading is ice cream. So no ice cream until I finish my day’s cake quota. And I’m thinking I should probably back away from the analogy right about now….)

Wishing you peace and good books. And ice cream. 

Cooked supper over a beachfire last night, then spent a couple hours exploring the reef with my daughter today. Life is good. :)

(Posted a few new reef pics on my flickr page if you want to see.)

Hey, guess what? It’s time for a bonus mid-month 20 Questions YA Author Interview. I’m happy to welcome Danette Haworth to my blog. Danette’s first novel, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck By Lightning, is actually MG (shhh…) but she’s such a super sweet person that I just had to have her visit.

Danette Haworth is related to a Romanian prince, or so her grandmother has claimed. Ruling her kingdom from her home in Orlando, Danette spends her days writing books and her nights cooking suppers nobody likes. She is partial to chocolate ice cream and U2.

And now… 20 Questions for Danette!

1. Morning person or night owl?
Night owl! It takes two double cappuccinos in the morning to turn me back into a human.

2. Outliner or pantser?
Outliner until The Hotel of Blueberry Goodness. Then I became an accidental pantser.

3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
Haven’t they done their evil already?

4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
“I am just like Violet.”

5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
“Mad World,” sung by Adam Lambert on American Idol.

6. What was the last movie you watched?
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Again! I love Captain Jack Sparrow!

7. What was the last book you read and loved?
Second Fiddle: Or How to Tell a Blackbird from a Sausage by Siobhan Parkinson

8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning, heh-heh

9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
Netti, but don’t make me hit you.

10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
I’m ascared of bugs!

11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Driving auction cars to a new location.

12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Take my baby to the emergency room. (Oh, me too, Danette. That’s scary stuff for sure!)

13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
Sunday drivers! The sign says 55 mph, not 40 mph!

14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
My children, of course! And Violet Raines! But if I can name only one thing, it would have to be my children, who’ve read Violet Raines.

15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
Siobhan Parkinson! I didn’t want to misspell her name.

16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
Turkey.

(Photo from National Geographic Travel.)

17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
The one I just took—me and my family and a beautiful cabin set by itself in two hundred acres on a ridge in the Smokies.

18. What’s your favourite sports team?
The YMCA basketball teams my sons are on.

Thanks a lot, Danette, lol – now I’ve got this stuck in my head:

19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
Revisions! I’m polishing up The Hotel of Blueberry Goodness, which comes out with Walker BFYR in 2010; then I’ll put finishing touches on Me and Jack, Walker 2011.

20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
Writers write.

Thanks, Shari! This was the funnest interview ever!

Thanks so much for being here, Danette!

writerjenn posted a Summer Reading Challenge -- check it out, and if you want to join her, sign up in the comments (on her post, not mine!). It's easy -- only ten books -- but the criteria may just nudge you out of a reading rut to discover some gems you might otherwise have missed.

Like Jenn, I hope to read way more than ten books this summer, so this challenge feels like an "achievable goal", which is the best kind of goal, IMHO.  What I really love about this challenge is making a commitment to read certain books that have been on my TBR pile for ages. Finally, it's time!

Here are my 10 books for the challenge:

1 classic: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
1 re-read: The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
1 Authors Now book: Dull Boy, by Sarah Cross
1 from a genre I don't usually read: Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
1 "impulse book": we'll see what catches my eye! ;)
5 others:
-- The Heart of Christianity, by Marcus Borg
-- Always Looking Up, by Michael J. Fox
-- Rules, by Cynthia Lord
-- Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
-- Need, by Carrie Jones

Ooh, I can't wait to get started! But first, back to my regularly-scheduled revisions....

The low-budget news team reports on Aspiring Author's mysterious disappearance.