Cool Reads for Hots Days – a TGNA Post

 

It’s List of Five Friday over at The Great Noveling Adventure and I’m discussing great books to keep you cool on hot summer days.

Here’s a preview:

I have to say this one was inspired by my AC going out at 3 AM last night and my brain melting along with the rest of me. As I waited for the repairman to show “sometime this afternoon” which was obviously code for 6:45pm, all I could think about, all I wanted as I slowly turned into a human puddle of sweat and sadness, was to sit in a vat of frozen lemonade and read a fantastic story.

Here are some choice picks to get you through a scorching summer day:

1. SHIVER (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater – I think the title says it all. I’m feeling cooler already, aren’t you? 

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

To see the rest of the List of Five, click here.

While you’re visiting the site, you may notice we have some exciting news! We have put together an anthology of short stories that will be available to download for FREE on June 21st!

Here are the details:

TGNA Summer Nights is the first anthology compiled by The Great Noveling Adventure and includes flash fiction stories by current and former contributors to TGNA, as well as some of your fellow readers! They’re short and sweet (or not so sweet, depending on the story), and they range from romance to horror, friendship to fêtes to love lost.

What binds them together? They all take place in the course of a single summer night.

We are leaking the first lines of one story every day until the release on Twitter and Facebook. It’s been such fun. I can’t wait for this to come out!

 

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.)

Fantastic Literary Events in April – a TGNA Post

It’s List of Five Friday over at The Great Noveling Adventure and I’m sharing a list of literary events happening this month that is sure to excite every bibliophile among us.

Here’s a preview:

Don’t you just love spring? Creativity is in the air! It’s blooming right outside your window. And it’s just mind-blowing how many cool events are happening this month for people like us who love books. What’s even more amazing is some of them are happening RIGHT NOW! I had to take time out today to share them with you. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out.

1. YA SCAVENGER HUNT 
   

   

   I remember when this bi-annual celebration of YA authors was a much smaller two-team event. Now it has mushroomed into EIGHT TEAMS! During this event – now in progress and ending April 5th at noon PST – you visit each participating author’s website to find out about new authors and exclusive content. You will also find on each page highlighted numbers you’ll need to enter the grand prize contest. This grand prize is unbelievable; one book from each participating author – that’s 160 books! – will be shared by six winners. Many authors may have additional giveaways on their own websites, so there are many opportunities to win FREE BOOKS and other fun literary prizes.

    

To read the full post, click here.

I do want to mention that one of the events discussed is an opportunity to submit an entry for consideration in our first ever TGNA anthology that we will publish later this summer. We’re VERY excited about this latest project.

If you like a challenge or need some company to help you write in the mornings, feel free to join me on Twitter every weekday. I host AM #wordsprints on Twitter @Novel_Adventure from 6-8am CST.

Writing Getaways – a TGNA Post

It’s Travel Tuesday over at The Great Noveling Adventure and I’m discussing the ultimate getaway for a writer – a writing residency. Don’t know what that is? Want to find out more about it?

Here’s a preview:

Last week I made to mistake of taunting all of my northern friends on social media with pics of me in flip flops, basking in the sunny spring-like weather we were having, while they were shivering in their tea cups.

This week, a winter storm finally hit my little corner of the world with a nice little layer of ice on top to add to the misery.

Touché, weather gods.

Now, I pile on the layers trying to stay warm and long for those rays of sunshine.

And some time away. Far away.

A friend of mine just returned from a two-week writing retreat and that got me thinking about doing something similar. I searched online and then I found this wonderful site about writing residences. Places where you can go and write undisturbed for a big chunk of time in beautiful places all around the world – sometimes at no charge or for a very small cost. What kind of heaven was this? There is some paperwork involved – applications to fill out – but why not take the chance? There are many to choose from and it sounds like a delightful way to spend some focused alone time. Think of it as summer camp for writers.

To read the full post, click here.

If you’re an early morning writer and you’d like a little company, I host AM #wordsprints every weekday morning on Twitter @Novel_Adventure. Join me if you need some motivation to get your writing day started.

And don’t forget to check out our new forum section. You can look for a critique partner, get your first five pages workshopped, or have your query critiqued.