Zombies vs Unicorns Smackdown!

Thursday, September 23rd, 6 PM--The great Zombies vs. Unicorns debate WILL go down at Symphony Space in NYC. Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, Holly Black, Naomi Novik, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Scott Westerfeld and Maureen Johnson have a scholarly debate about Unicorns versus Zombies! Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to go (no babysitter) but it sounds fantastic! If you're in NYC and you do go, pretty please take pictures!

From http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6379-thalia-kids-book-club-zombies-vs-unicorns-

The editors of the new collection Zombie vs. Unicorns Holly Black(The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Justine Larbalestier (Liar) (pro-unicorn and zombie, respectively), gathered strong arguments for both sides in the form of short stories by an eclectic group of YA novelists. At this event the editors are joined by contributorsMaureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes), Libba Bray(Going Bovine), Scott Westerfeld (Leviathan), Naomi Novik(Temeraire series), and Alaya Dawn Johnson (Racing the Dark), who will argue for their side. What side are you on? Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? Ages 10 and up.

In Zombies vs. Unicorns, half of the contributors portray the strengths for good and evil of unicorns, and half show the good and evil side of zombies, with the two editors adding their own hilarious commentary throughout the anthology. The original zombie/unicorn debate between Black and Larbalestier started on their blogs in 2007 as a feud about which creature made for better fiction: The original feud, as well as downloadable assets and a voting area, can be found athttp://promo.simonandschuster.com/zombiesvsunicorns/.

"I am extremely pleased to be working with Simon & Schuster to ensure the clear and final victory of the majestic unicorn over the zombie. For too long, the zombie has dominated the public consciousness, but the reign of the unicorn is at hand!"

-Team Unicorn editor Holly Black

"I think that posterity will look upon this as the moment when the mythology of rainbow-farting unicorns was finally laid to rest, and zombies took their rightful place at the top of the food chain,"

-Team Zombie editor Justine Larbalestier

Unicorns are sort of awesome, and I love Holly Black's WHITE CAT, but I am

Tangled Fiction Tuesdays!

Part III, by me, of The Importance of a Strawberry Tart is up on the TF blog! Go check it out! And come back next week for the deliciously creepy conclusion by Anne Marie!

The Importance of a Strawberry Tart, Part III

Smoke filled the room. It was almost enough to nullify the ghastly odor of the raccoon. Almost. Georgia rubbed her eyes, trying to lessen the sting. “Eudora?”

“Georgia! Oh, thank heavens!”

Georgia lifted her skirts, stepping carefully through the cloud of hickory smoke, lest she step on George and squash the other side of his face. Her stomach twisted at the thought of that milky white eye exploding beneath the weight of her buckled shoe

to read more:

http://tangledfiction.blogspot.com/

or

http://community.livejournal.com/tangledfiction/

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I post my installment of The Importance of a Strawberry Tart on Tangled Fiction! Stop by and check us out!

http://community.livejournal.com/tangledfiction

Also on blogger

http://tangledfiction.blogspot.com/

Speak Loudly

It's September and the book banners are at it again. Being challenged this time is SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson - the story of a girl trying to move on after she'd been raped by a classmate. Book banner calls it "soft porn" when there's no sex in the book! Spread the word and fight book banning. #speakloudly

Visit Laurie's blog for more on the conflict:
http://madwomanintheforest.com/this-guy-thinks-speak-is-pornography/comment-page-1/#comment-25762

Reminder: Tangled Fiction!

Just a quick reminder that this Tuesday will be my turn to write a portion of the first ever Tangled Fiction short, The Importance of a Strawberry Tart! So please come by and give us a read. If you haven't read part I by Natalie C Parker and part II by Valerie Kemp, you totally should!

http://community.livejournal.com/tangledfiction/

You guys can leave comments on lj by signing in with twitter or FB

or

http://tangledfiction.blogspot.com/

This blog is going to be a long term thing, so keep an eye out! We're sure to do contests, games, and lots of fun things in the future.

Epic Contest of Awesome

The totally fabulous Angela Ackerman of The Bookshelf Muse would like to thank her 1,000 loyal minions, and to do so, she is having a contest of epic proportions!!!!! Go enter!

FROM TBSM:

General Drawing:

5-First Page critiques
2-First Chapter critiques

Special Drawing Challenge

It's simple: SPREAD THE WORD about this contest! If you do, I will include you in a special drawing for a three month mentorship with me.

What the mentorship will entail:

--A three month partnership where I will help you in any manner I can toward stronger writing, publication, increasing your online platform and helping you with agenting questions/search


--I will help you build or improve your query (if needed)


--A full read of your manuscript, offering advice on improvements and helping to brainstorm solutions if desired.


--An in depth look at your web presence and suggestions to hone your blog, increase followings and make suggestions with other social media to strengthen your online exposure


--Emails to answer any questions you have about writing, blogging, getting an agent, leaving an agent or how the agent relationship works


--General support!

So, do you need a mentor, someone to bounce ideas around with, brainstorm solutions, ask questions about writing or platforms? I may not be 'book published' yet, but I've been around and picked up a few things. :) I also have the good fortune of being agented by Jill Corcoran of The Herman Agency, and have written over 1200 critiques for other writers, helping them strengthen their writing. Maybe I can help you, too.

HOW TO ENTER:

If you'd like to enter for the General Drawing, you MUST be a Follower (new or old) and leave a comment. That's it, no big hoops to jump through. Just stop in and say hey, and of course I always appreciate tweets, blog links and general word spreading, but that's up to you. :)

If you wish to also enter for the mentorship draw, you MUST be a follower (new or old) AND fill out this simple form I've attached.Normally I don't do the form thing, but for something like this, it will help me stay organized.You don't need to be at the query stage or anything, just a serious writer intent on improving. :) If you think I might be able to help you on your journey, please enter!

Contest closes Wednesday, September 29th, so get those entries in, and once again thank you for spending time here at The Bookshelf Muse!

Things I Try To Remember

When writing fiction:

• Every scene needs to move the plot forward, needs to accomplish something
• Every scene page needs tension
• Don't be passive! Make things happen to your main character, not through a third party
• Ask yourself if this could be dramatized
• Be lenient with adverbs (she admonished, gravely)
• "Substitute the word 'damn' every time you are inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and your writing will be as it should." - Mark Twain
• When writing an action scene, don't slow it down with descriptions

These are just a few things I keep in mind when writing. I'm sure there's more, but these are probably my most important.

Do you have any little rules you try to write by?