For those of you who have a hard time attending a writer's conference, either because of time, money, or perhaps your unswerving devotion to having your butt in the writer's chair, this conference might be for you. The 2nd Annual WriteOn-Con will happen August 16-18, 2011. Last year's conference had over 11,000 participants. There will be hourly events, live chats, videos, online forums, and it is a great chance to network and connect with fellow writers, illustrators and agents. Many of those agents will be prowling for new talent as well and you'll be able to post your work.
So if you're a children's or YA writer/author, register for the conference by going to their website here. Not all information may yet be available, so if not, bookmark that site and keep checking back!
I've always been a fan of P.C. Cast's Goddess books, so I thought I would try her and her daughter's YA series, The House of Night. As with many of the YA series available right now, the main character is a vampire, and Marked is her struggle from becoming a vampire to starting to find herself.
In Marked, vampyres (spelled with a y, and not an i) are made by being marked with an outline of a crescent moon. Full vampyres, if they survive "the Change", end up with a fully colored moon, as well as intricate and unique tattoos around the face and eyes. Vampyres are a part of normal society; it's almost a given that you will know one. Many of the famous actors and actresses are vampyres (any of them with talent and a copious dash of good looks), and this is taken as fact by the normal populace. Being marked comes with a price, however. The main character, Zooey, must leave her normal life and family behind to move in to the House of Night where she will train to become a vampyre, or she will die.
Many people equate this series to Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, full of teen angst. While the angst does exist, the spiritual quest of the main character is what sets it apart for me and gives it a more adult feel. Nyx, the Greek Goddess of the Night, is the patron goddess of the vampyres, and she speaks specifically to Zooey, urging her to be her eyes and ears. This is definitely a hard task for a teenage girl who is surrounded by catty classmates, too cute boys, and a blossoming bloodlust. The school is well thought out with it's nighttime classes, which includes fencing and equestrian lessons instead of the typical gym class, and health food in order to keep the young fledgling vampyres in tip-top shape. Each of them has a mentor to guide them through the process, and a roommate in which to confide.
A quick, fun ride, with a steamier, stormier edge than many of the YA books on the market, Marked is definitely worth a read. And if you like it, move on to Betrayed, it's sequel.
Sirena, the narrator of Donna Jo Napoli's young adult book "Sirena", longs for what her sisters want - immortality, and she is told that the only way to obtain it is by loving a man and having him love her in return. Unfortunately Sirena carries a terrible curse. Half fish and half human, she and her mermaid sisters are oddities to humans and fish alike, not fitting well in either world. What's more is as a siren, her beautiful voice can captivate and enchant a man forever, but since her and her sisters live within the rocky crags near Crete, her voice also spells their doom. Sadly, in Sirena's world, most of the silly sea-faring humans are unable to swim, so even if their boat crashes near a hospitable island, they drown in the salty waters, their last vision of land and the beautiful creatures that lured them there.
Unhappy with her lot in life, Sirena strikes out on her own one day and happens upon an injured young human male being left by his shipmates on the deserted island of Lesbos. Bitten by a sea serpent, the man is dying and Sirena nurses him back to life, and falls in love with the process. This is a tragic tale of love, and the reader knows that their love cannot last forever, however it is that tragic love that tugs at our inner longings to find love in unexpected places and hope that all will turn out for our heroine in the end, though perhaps not in the way she wishes.
Napoli's writes in the present tense, which at first can be disarming, but with the tense choice, she immerses the reader in the tumult and beauty of the sea. One can feel every squeak of the passing porpoise and every prickle of the starfish as Sirena makes necklaces to make herself beautiful. The novel is lush with feeling, imagery and Greek mythology, and the reader will not only enjoy the story, but will learn a lot about Hera, Heracles, and the creatures that inhabited the ancient Grecian ocean in the process.
Being a fan and student of mythology in all its forms, I enjoyed this novel immensely. But hopefully books such as this one will inspire readers to seek out the timeless tales such as "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" and will inspire a new generation of Classicists in order to keep that part of our history alive...and swimming.
While in England, WH Smith ran a stellar sale where I was able to buy one book, get one 50% off. Of course this encouraged me to take a chance on a British author, and I happily selected The Book of 1000 Days by Shannon Hale. Entranced by the cover alone, I hoped that this book would deliver a solid fairy tale, where the hero (or heroine, in this case) takes all. I was not disappointed.
Taken from a Grimm's fairy tale, and set in a fantastical Mongolia, Hale has lovingly named all of her characters with fragments of Mongolian words for who they represent. The heroine Dashti, for example, means good luck, and the main squeeze Tegus, means perfect. It starts when Dashti, and the princess she has just agreed to serve, are thrown into a tower for seven years, all because the princess refuses to marry a brute of a prince, and prefers another. Dashti, happy with more food than she could ever want, keeps her spirits up, but when rats start devouring the food, and howling is heard from outside the tower, things can only get dicey. A journey ensues, and Dashti, forced to impersonate the princess, gets into more muck than a mucker maid ever has before, as she begins to fall for Khan Tegus, the princess's soon-to-be-betrothed.
The writing is charming and Dashti instantly likeable for her lower-class naivete and her desire to be a good person. She constantly tears herself between her duty to the princess, her duty to the ancient ones, and her duty to her own heart. Convinced that something is wrong with the princess, Dashti sings to her regularly, songs of healing, though the heroine is never quite sure what she needs to heal. A lovely treat is that the princess also grows as a person due to Dashti's never wavering loyalty and friendship, and the trouble that the two girls get into.
This is only one of several fairy tales retold by Hale, and was pure fairy tale charm. After all, sometimes you need a book where a hero isn't born a hero, but claws her way through to make the world a better place, no matter what that world may be.
Visit Shannon Hale's website here.
The second book in her YA Darkest Power series, The Awakening picks up where The Summoning left off, without a lot of backstory. Betrayed by Chloe's Aunt Lareun, she and her friends have been recaptured by The Edison Group. The group genetically experiments on supernatural teenagers, and it is during this stay that they learn that they are failed genetic experiments with powers that may or may not be able to be controlled. Through a series of teenage relationship posturing and bickering, including another betrayal and an unlikely friend, Choe escapes to be reunited with her friends Derek and Simon. This second book, obviously a middle book in the series, is their attempt to reach a safe haven in the boys' fathers' friend, Andrew.
One of the more unique qualities of The Darkest Powers series, as well as Armstrong's adult series Women of the Otherworld, is her ability to humanize the supernatural, which also extends to demons and necromancers. As a young necromancer, it would be easy to discount Chloe as a freak of nature, but Armstrong does a remarkable job of pulling the reader into Chloe's head and letting the reader feel her anguish and fear as she comes to grips with her powers.
If you are interested in the paranormal/fantasy genres, pick up a copy of The Summoning, Armsrong's first book in this series. After reading two of them, the series promises to be a fun romp through supernatural-dom.
For those of you who have a hard time attending a writer's conference, either because of time, money, or perhaps your unswerving devotion to having your butt in the writer's chair, this conference might be for you. The 2nd Annual WriteOn-Con will happen August 16-18, 2011. Last year's conference had over 11,000 participants. There will be hourly events, live chats, videos, online forums, and it is a great chance to network and connect with fellow writers, illustrators and agents. Many of those agents will be prowling for new talent as well and you'll be able to post your work.
