Tulsa Library Day of YA Coming!

 

This coming week, the Tulsa Library is hosting a wonderful event called Tulsa Day of YA. This FREE event “celebrates young adult literature and those who love it by bringing together authors, fans, and aspiring writers through workshops, panel sessions, and academic discussion.”

Doesn’t that sound fantastic? I can hardly wait!

The event begins with a special opening keynote on Friday night, February 21, with Justina Ireland, author of DREAD NATION, in conversation with Tulsa Artist Fellow Juliana Goodman.

I just finished reading DREAD NATION and it is so good! I can hardly wait for the sequel coming out soon!

On Saturday, February 22nd, the day begins with a Women in YA panel featuring Cindy Pon, Justina Ireland, Sonia Gensler, M. Molly Backes, and Juliana Goodman with Ally Carter moderating.

How awesome to have two fabulous Oklahoma SCBWI writers on this panel! Am I right?

The rest of the day continues with great break out sessions and a FREE lunch. The day concludes with a book signing! What more could a lover of YA want?

All events will be held at Central Library, 400 Civic Center, Tulsa, OK 74103.

To attend this free conference, you must register in advance. Lunch will be provided on site. If specific accommodations/assistance are required or would improve your experience at Tulsa Day of YA events, please reach out to Teen Services Coordinator Leah Weyand at leah.weyand@tulsalibrary.org or 918-549-7490.

For details on the speakers, the schedule, or answers to your most pressing FAQs, visit the event website here.

Fall is for Festivals! Book Festivals are Everywhere

Nothing makes a bibliophile happier than going to an event that celebrates books, where they have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language of books, hang out with other like-minded booklovers, and BUY MORE BOOKS! Or maybe that’s just me.

Original Photo credit Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

I, for one, am thrilled at how much our literary world has grown in Oklahoma in the past few years – from the increase in independent book store openings (which has led to an increase in author events!) to new book festivals and book cons, I’ll take it all!

Here are a couple of great events that are fairly new to our state coming up this fall that you won’t want to miss!

OK Book Fest – September 21, 2019 – Oklahoma City Boathouse District

The Mission of this festival is to bring “authors and readers together to create an exciting venue where literacy, artistic expression, and cultural experiences are celebrated”.

This is a completely FREE event. Featuring over 100 authors from around the country, including some of our own SCBWI OK favorites!

 

Tammi Sauer                                        Jerry Bennett      

 

 

 

 

Gwendolyn Hooks                               Brenda Maier  

 

 

 

 

Traci Sorell                                             Kim Ventrella 

 

 

 

 

Barbara Lowell                                       Brad McClelland     

 

 

 

 

Mariana Llanos                                      Mike Wimmer     

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Lynn Barnes                          Una Belle Townsend

 

 

 

 

Susan Myers                                          Alexandra Ott

 

 

 

 

There will be panel discussions, presentations, crafts, poetry readings, book signings, food trucks, and more. Check out the website for a full listing of authors and for a schedule of events.

 

Oklahoma Teen Book Con (OKTBC) – November 16, 2019 – OU Memorial Union Norman, OK

 

The OK Teen Book Con is a FREE event that strives to connect teens to YA authors and their books. There will be author panels, book signings, author meet ups, a teen artist gallery and more!

It has a new home in Norman, OK, this year which will probably make it much better attended than when it was in Guthrie. Last year they had the awesome Maggie Stiefvater of the RAVEN CYCLE books – I’m a HUGE fan!

This year, the phenomenal Neal Shusterman will be the Keynote Speaker! I had the pleasure of seeing him speak at the LA SCBWI conference a few years ago and he was wonderful. He talked about his fabulous book CHALLENGER DEEP. So moving.

 

The fine folks at OKTBC keep announcing other authors that will be attending a little at a time, just to keep us hungry for more. You can follow along on their Twitter or their Instagram account to see who else will be announced and to keep up with information on this event.

If you are a YA author and would like to attend this event, you can find an author submission form and the submission criteria on the event website.

How about you? Are you planning on attending any book-related events this fall?

PARASITE Release Day

 

My dear friend K.T. Hanna celebrates the release of her final book in her Domino Project series, today. As a special treat, she’s giving some behind the scenes insight into her characters and this outstanding series.

First, let’s learn more about her newest book!

 

PARASITE (The Domino Project #3) by K.T. Hanna

Published by: Amaranthine Press

Release Date: February 22, 2016

Genres: YA, Science Fiction, Fantasy

Amazon | Signed Copies from Watermark Books

Plot Summary:

With the Damascus closing in on the Exiled, Sai and Dom must put their grief and inner demons aside as they rush to free the people of the Protected Conglomerate from the influence of the psionic grid. 

Chipped and placed under house arrest with a guard, Bastian’s only hope lies in reaching his core to disrupt Deign’s ruthless plan. 

 Intent on putting a stop to the Damascus and the GNW’s reign, Dom discovers the true extent of the parasite within. Just when Sai thinks the Exiled have a chance, their greatest weapon turns on them. (From Goodreads.)

What an exciting series!  Recently, K.T. received some wonderful news when her first book, CHAMELEON, was reviewed by Kirkus.

“Hanna takes familiar sci-fi genre elements… and spins dystopian gold.” Kirkus Reviews

Can’t ask for much better than that. And now, to celebrate Parasite’s release, Chameleon and Hybrid are on sale for $0.99! 

 

 

 

 

Without further ado, let’s hear from K.T.

Guest Post

Thank you so much for having me. I wanted to tell people a little bit about Dom, and how The Domino Project books came to be.

It might surprise people who’ve read the books to know that Domino has always been my favorite character. These books originally started out as two completely different novels. One with a school that trained psionically gifted people to be assasins, and another set on a different world with a race of engineered beings called the Dominos.

The Domino Project is called that because when they were created it was in a sense a way to topple opposition. Make them fall like dominos.

In his own book, Dom was an alien engineered being that can totally meld with the shadows. A part of a larger faction of assassins and infiltrators, he malfunctioned and separated himself from his orders and the others like him to make his own way in the world.

Sai was his sidekick in these books and far different to what she is in Chameleon.

The other book, Jaded, was home to Aishke and Bastian. They were student and teacher, respectively, in a school where her abilities led to Bastian training her to take over his position of assassin. I still adore the first scene I wrote for that book.

When I came up with the idea to meld both books, I didn’t realize how amazing the world and characters would turn out. I’m so excited that people can read the whole trilogy now.

I hope everyone enjoys the conclusion.

.

About K.T.

KT Hanna has a love for words so extreme, a single word can spark entire worlds.

Born in Australia, she met her husband in a computer game, moved to the U.S.A. and went into culture shock. Bonus? Not as many creatures specifically out to kill you.

When she’s not writing, she freelance edits for Chimera Editing, interns for a NYC Agency, and chases her daughter, husband, corgi, and cat. No, she doesn’t sleep. She is entirely powered by the number 2, caffeine, and beef jerky.

Note: Still searching for her Tardis

 

Author Links:

Website│Twitter│Facebook│Goodreads

 .

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of PARASITE, K.T. is holding a giveaway! The giveaway includes a Domino Project Swag Pack and a $10 Amazon gift card.

ENTER HERE!!!  ➤➤➤ a PARASITE Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be announced after March 4th.

Book Blitz Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

HYBRID Cover Reveal

I met K.T. Hanna a few years ago through mutual writing friends, and by participating in her #writemotivation project. I’ve since come to know and love her dearly. Not only is her brain dark and twisty when it comes to plotting, she’s just the right kind of nerdy – the extreme kind.

I had the pleasure of celebrating with her this past summer in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas,  along with a jovial gathering of family and friends, when she released the first book in the Domino Project series. What great fun! Now, I’m delighted to be participating in the cover reveal event for her second book in the series, HYBRID.

About K.T.

KT Hanna has a love for words so extreme, a single word can spark entire worlds.

Born in Australia, she met her husband in a computer game, moved to the U.S.A. and went into culture shock. Bonus? Not as many creatures specifically out to kill you.

When she’s not writing, she freelance edits for Chimera Editing, interns for a NYC Agency, and chases her daughter, husband, corgi, and cat. No, she doesn’t sleep. She is entirely powered by the number 2, caffeine, and beef jerky.

Note: Still searching for her Tardis

About the Book

HYBRID (The Domino Project #2) is the sequel to CHAMELEON. It’s set in the wasteland of earth after a meteor shower causes ecological disaster, damages the atmosphere, and gives the gift of an alien parasite to the world. Book two furthers Sai, Bastian, and Dom’s journey in their fight to live free from GNW imposed rules.

As Sai recovers from her life-threatening injuries, she struggles to piece together her damaged relationship with Dom. He fights the parasite within, suddenly freed from the interference of the other Dominos in his head.

Inside Central, Bastian’s Shine dosing has become a dangerous dance. Enhanced security protocols and endless meetings have him on a tightrope, with little room to move without revealing himself.

When the GNW release the Damascus to begin their systemic hunt of the Exiled, the noose closes around the rebels and their allies. If they can’t disable the threat, the Exiled won’t be the Damascus’ only agenda. (Plot summary from Goodreads.)

Without further ado – here’s a teaser of the cover by the amazingly talented S.P. McConnell.

 

Go see the full cover at YA Interrobang!

Isn’t it GORGEOUS!?!?!

Sit back and bask in this for a moment.

It’s available for pre-order on Kindle for $3.99 and will be available on November 10th, 2015!

It will also be available in print via CreateSpace, Amazon, but best of all, the local indie store is being really supportive and already has it available for pre-order in print there!

Watermark Books

 

Haven’t read CHAMELEON? There’s still time to catch up!

Get it HERE!

 

About the Giveaway

Celebration!

To celebrate, we’re giving away a copy of books 1 & 2! With an Amazon e-card, and a SWAG pack!

Winners will be announced on Monday October 19th!

ENTER HERE!!!  ➤➤➤  a HYBRID Rafflecopter giveaway

In Celebration of Banned Books Week – a TGNA post

 

Surprise! Two posts in one day.

It’s Travel Tuesday over at The Great Noveling Adventure and I’m sharing ways that you can celebrate Banned Books Week.

I had the pleasure of attending the most amazing event last night put on by our local Booksmart Tulsa group. I had the opportunity to hear the phenomenal Salman Rushdie speak.

Outstanding! Inspiring!

Talk about the ultimate way to kick off this week. I applaud the gang at Booksmart Tulsa for pulling off the greatest Banned Books Week event.

EVER.

I have no idea how they will ever top that.

For some ideas on how you can celebrate this most revered of bookish holidays, check out this excellent blog post.

Here’s a preview:

 

 

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) – I looove that they have an office devoted to this! – promotes awareness to book challenges and at the same time celebrates freedom of speech during Banned Books Week, what an awesome thing!

And that week is now. YAY!

For this Travel Tuesday, I am supplying you with fantastic links so you can participate in this great event.

I know, I know…you’re very welcome.

To see the rest of the post (which will show all the fabulous links, as well as a great visual aid depicting last year’s most challenged books) click here.

I’d love to hear about how you’re celebrating and what you’re reading for Banned Books Week, too.

 

If you’d like some company as you write, please join us each week day morning on Twitter!

I host AM #wordsprints over on the TGNA group Twitter handle @Novel_Adventure from 6-8am CST. We sprint in 20 minute blocks with ten minute breaks in between each session. This season, I’m throwing in some fun challenges each day to keep things interesting.

Hope to see you there!

Tammi Sauer Day Proclaimed!

Sometimes in can feel like the arts are being squeezed out of our children’s lives with educational budget cuts gutting arts programs, along with the emphasis on testing, one may worry that creative thought was being pushed out of emphasis altogether. It’s refreshing when city leaders take it upon themselves to thrust children’s literature into the spotlight.

Here’s some fantastic news about one of our very own OK SCBWI authors:

photo credit: Dana Lang Photography

Press Release: July 9 Declared Tammi Sauer Day in Edmond

(Edmond, Oklahoma—June 26, 2015) Edmond Mayor Charles Lamb and the Edmond City Council have declared July 9 to be named in honor of local children’s author Tammi Sauer. Sauer, a three-time winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, is a dedicated Edmond resident who is committed to working with Best of Books, her local independent bookstore. Each year, Best of Books provides Sauer’s books for her many school visits across the state and region.

During Tammi Sauer Day in Edmond, Sauer will be at Best of Books to sign and talk about her latest book Ginny Louise and the School Showdown from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9. She is tentatively scheduled to receive her proclamation at 5:20 and speak at 5:30. Crafts and goodies for kids and refreshments for all will follow.

I had the pleasure of getting a sneak preview of this book at our spring conference and it is just adorable. I got to hold this lovely book in my hands and admire shiny details of spot gloss while reading the tale of Ginny Louise, a hedgehog after my own heart. Her approach to dealing with outlaws of the bully variety is delightful and refreshing.

GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN (Disney-Hyperion, 2015) by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

The Truman Elementary Troublemakers are a bad bunch. Especially these three: Cap’n Catastrophe, Destructo Dude, and Make-My-Day May. But they are no match for Ginny Louise, the new hedgehog in school. Her unwavering cheerfulness in the face of their bullying will make young readers holler with glee. Full of rhymes, wordplay, and comic misunderstanding, this book will lend itself well to reading aloud as well as discussions about peer dynamics. (Plot summary from author’s website.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her editors loved it so much, they asked her to write a second Ginny Louise story! You’ll love Ginny Louise, too. But don’t take my word for it, you can read the Kirkus Review here.

Order your copy today!

 

 

Tammi has twenty-three books under contract with three of those titles debuting in 2015, including Ginny Louise. The two other titles are: Your Alien (Sterling), and Roar! (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster).

I am so happy for Tammi and really enjoy watching her succeed. I may have to buy an additional bookshelf as my Tammi Sauer section is growing by leaps and bounds – I even have a rare signed copy of her first YA book. Don’t tell her, though! She may try to steal it back from me. (I kid.)

Many of us from the OK SCBWI gang plan to be there at Best of Books on July 9th to help Tammi celebrate her special day. If you’re in the neighborhood, or even if you have to travel half a day or so, come on over and join us! It’ll be a grand time!

Learn more about Tammi Sauer here.

Follow Tammi on Twitter here.

 

As an additional bonus, Tammi shares some background information about Ginny Louise on her group blog here.

 

If you can’t be there for the big event on July 9th, you can catch her on Twitter as Tammi will be our special guest this month on #okscbwichat! Come join us for a live chat with Tammi on July 28th from 7-8pm CST.

 

SUMMER NIGHTS is here! – a TGNA post

 

It’s Media Monday over at The Great Noveling Adventure and I’m discussing the release of our first flash fiction anthology! It’s a time of joyous celebration for us over at TGNA.

Normally, I give just a preview of the post, but I want share the whole thing here for once. I’d love for you all to download a copy and, of course read my story, A THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT.

Here’s the post:

Media Monday is all about giving our readers a gift and what better gift than our own stories?

We decided to add in stories from some of our talented readers. That’s what this site is all about – the shared writing journey.

I had the pleasure of reading through the entries and the agony of helping to eliminate all but the best stories to include alongside our TGNA alumni. This has been such a fun process and I hope you enjoy this collection as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you.

Here it is!

Our very first anthology, ready to download with love from us to you, our faithful readers.

And for FREE!

 

SUMMER NIGHTS is the first flash fiction anthology compiled by The Great Noveling Adventure. The collected stories run the gamut from first love to heartbreak, revenge to forgiveness, redemption to murder. They, like the thirteen authors who contributed them, are widely varied, but they each demonstrate the same truth:

A lot can happen in a single night.

With stories from:
Jenny Adams Perinovic Gabriella Crivilare
Cristina R. Guarino Antonius M. Hogebrandt
Neil Kettles Sarah Kettles Valerie Lawson
Adriana Marachlian Kyrie McCauley L.S. Mooney
Susan Nystoriak Kate Sheeran Swed R.B. Stewart

 

Download your copy now!

 

Download for free: PDF · EPUB · MOBI

 

Please share this with your friends and let us know what you think. You can even post a review on Goodreads!

 

Friendly Twitter reminder:  If you’d like some company as you write, please join us! I host AM #wordsprints @Novel_Adventure weekdays from 7-9am CST. (We’re starting an hour later during the summer months.)

Closing Out March with a Bang – a #writemotivation check in

To say that I had a positive experience at our SCBWI OK spring conference would be quite the understatement. One of the first things that happened before our speakers took the stage was the winners of the face-to-face critiques were announced. Each speaker chooses two manuscripts from their selections and those lucky souls get to sit down and discuss their writing for ten whole, uninterrupted minutes. I had not one, but two separate manuscripts chosen.

That was a first.

I was beyond thrilled, beyond honored. (Thankfully I was not beyond speech.)

The two speakers who chose my MG and YA manuscripts were both so fantastic. They gave me insightful suggestions that fit right along my vision for each story – neither thought I had to scrap the entire thing a rewrite either as, say, a paranormal/historical dystopian/time-travel piece. I can’t wait to get back to revising. Is it any wonder I had such a hard time concentrating on the rest of the conference? Once I made my way back into the main room, I did my best to stay focused. The speakers were all so brilliant, so diverse and amazing. It was just an all-around wonderful day. A recap of the rest of the conference will be coming later this week.

For now, let’s take the final look at this month’s #writemotivation goals:

1. Make progress on new YA project (Pretty Vacant) including plotting out new story arc and starting on first draft with word count goal of 30K. I fell short by 10K, but this story did get off to a good start. I’m happy with the progress made.
2. Submit first YA manuscript to at least 15 agents. Only sent out to about one-third. Lame, lame, lame.
3. Read at least 6 books this month. Done! By the skin of my teeth. (That is a weird saying.) Good thing I brought some more books home from the conference; I was almost out – ha ha ha! I can’t even say that with a straight face.
4. Get back into exercise routine slowly – at least three times week. No comment. (I did dance on stage during the conference while killing time before a bit, but I’m not sure that really counts. And sorry for those who saw that. For some reason, having my back turned made me think I was invisible.)

I hope you all had a productive March.

I am one of the few NOT participating in the A to Z challenge during April. (A themed blog post every day all month long? Those guys are crazy.) I will however, be setting more #writemotivation goals since I have some serious (and exciting) work to do.

If you want to join in all the fun, pop on over and sign up for #WriteMotivation April! 

Pride & Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge Finale

It’s been awhile since I’ve written about the Pride & Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge. The last time was my review of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries vlog series on Youtube. How much fun was that? I have really enjoyed the year-long bicentennial celebration of one of my favorite books, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen, and I loved discovering what a vast fandom her books have. So many works inspired by the fictional relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, such an amazing achievement for an author! One could read nothing but these works if one so chose.

To end the year with a bang, and in the month of Austen’s birthday no less, I crammed in as much P & P action as I could. As the new year approached, I finished reading the original text and then watched two movie versions of the novel. Austen’s use of language to vividly portray such wonderful, flawed characters, was by far, my favorite part of this year-long celebration.

Speaking of characters, some of my favorite lines from the book involve the frequent discussions of character:

• “I did not know before,” continued Bingley immediately, “that you were a studier of character. It must be an amusing study.”

“Yes, but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at least that advantage.” (Elizabeth Bennet to Mr. Bingley.)

• “There are few people in this world whom I really love, and still fewer who I think well. The more I see of the world, the more I am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.” (Elizabeth Bennet to her sister Jane.)

• “I am particularly unlucky in meeting with a person so well able to expose my real character, in part of the world, where I had hoped to pass myself off with some degree of credit. Indeed, Mr. Darcy, it is very ungenerous in you to mention all that you knew to my disadvantage in Hertfordshire – and give me leave to say, very impolitic too – for it is provoking me to retaliate, and such things may come out, as will shock your relations to hear.” (Elizabeth Bennet speaking with Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy.)

• “I write without any intention of paining you, or humbling myself, by dwelling on wishes, which, for the happiness of both, cannot be too soon forgotten; and the effort which the formation, and the perusal of this letter must occasion, should have been spared, had not my character required it to be written and read. You must therefore, pardon the freedom with which I demand your attention; your feelings, I know, will bestow it unwillingly, but I demand it of your justice.” (Letter from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet.)

• “When my eyes were opened to his real character – Oh! had I known what I ought, what I dared, to do! But I knew not – I was afraid of doing too much. Wretched, wretched, mistake!” (Elizabeth Bennet speaking to Mr. Darcy.)

• “Allow me to say, Lady Catherine, that the arguments with which you have supported this extraordinary application, have been as frivolous as the application was ill-judged. You have widely mistaken my character, if you think I can be worked on by such persuasions as these. how far your nephew might approve of your interference in his affairs, I cannot tell; but you have certainly no right to concern yourself in mine. I must beg, therefore, to be importuned no farther on the subject.” (Elizabeth Bennet speaking to Lady Catherine de Bourgh.)

Ah, such fantastic language, and oh, what a beautifully written heroine, don’t you think?

Watching the movies just let me revel in my favorite bits of the story, with some lovely eye-candy to boot. As many in the challenge have said, you always love your first P & P movie the best, and mine is the 2005 version with Kiera Knightley and Matthew McFadyen. Although I did enjoy the 1995 Colin Firth mini-series as well, (who doesn’t love that swimming scene, right?) I felt the emotional impact was stronger in the 2005 version. I mean, come on, Matthew Mcfadyen’s trembling hand after he helps Kiera Knightly in to the carriage? Who didn’t feel weak at the knees right then?

(Let the debate begin!)

Have you been following this celebration? What are your favorite parts of Pride & Prejudice?

Exciting News

This past week has been quite exciting here. This is just a quick post to update you on a few of the highlights.

One of the most exciting things that made my week spectacular was when I received this tweet after I posted my review of See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles:

WOW!!!

I never thought in a million years an author I read would read my review of her book, love it, AND then pass it on for others to read! Such a fabulous thing to do. Could I love her even more? I think not.

If that wasn’t enough to make a girl’s week, I escaped to the Oklahoma countryside for the weekend and stayed at a beautiful bed & breakfast with my favorite writing people for the Agent Day conference. I had the pleasure of meeting KT Hanna for the first time, face to face – what a wonderful hugger! (I also got to see more pics of her new baby, the little cutie with those adorably squishy cheeks.) I also met Heather Cashman and Sarah Crespo who’d traveled with KT all the way from Wichita, Kansas, to attend out Agent Day event. It was so great to meet these online friends in person.

I will be happy to share the plethora of information I learned about agents and the world of agenting with you all very soon. The lovely Hannah Harrison, who gave the keynote speech, will also be stopping by for an interview in the near future to expand on her fantastic and inspiring presentation.

Front view of the Statehood Inn in Chandler, OK

There was a beautiful wrap-around front porch, complete with rocking chairs and one very curious cat with big green eyes.

Inside the kitchen at the Statehood Inn. Love all of that light!

The only drawback to the rural location of the conference was poor WiFi service, but frankly, it was nice to be out of touch for a few days. Upon my return home, I discovered some exciting news waiting for me in my inbox.  As some of you may know, I gave an interview myself recently for Jenny Perinovic at The Great Noveling Adventure. Well, I had so much fun doing the interview that I applied for one of the openings they had on their blog. And guess what? They invited me to become part of their team! Of course I said yes. So exciting! I’ll be posting once or twice a month on whatever topic I’d like. Artistic freedom? Yes, please.

I’m still recovering from an amazing weekend and all of this great news, but I wanted to make sure I shared it with you. Big things are coming, I can just feel it. Stay tuned to enjoy the ride.