Teen Fiction Contest!

Teen fiction contest deadline is Nov. 11

Teens in grades seven through 12 can write a short story or a few chapters of a book, up to 10 typed pages, for a Teen Fiction Writing contest. The entry deadline is Nov. 11. Any genre, from contemporary, historical, fantasy, realistic, steampunk, horror or paranormal, is acceptable. The contest will coincide with a teen author event being held at Barnes & Noble on Route 59 in Nanuet at 3 p.m. Dec. 11.

The authors are Shannon Delany, author of “13 to Life”; Margie Gelbwasser, author of “Inconvenient”; Shari Maurer, author of “Change of Heart”; Jen Nadol, author of “The Mark”; and Jame Richards, author of “Three Rivers Rising.” They will read from their novels, talk about writing and publishing a book, and sign copies of their books.

The winner will get a 15-minute one-on-one critique with one of the authors before the Dec. 11 program and a signed copy of the author’s book. Entries may be e-mailed to shari.maurer@alumni.duke.edu or brought to the Nanuet Barnes & Noble store. Visit www.sharimaurer.com.

Sunday Squirrel

As you may know, I'm a bit of a squirrel watcher. Only because I live in NYC and my wildlife interaction is limited to pigeons and squirrels, and the occasional rat. I've seen a raccoon, a few hawks, and a opossum before, but not often. Anyway, squirrels. They're cute and I like them, so I take pictures whenever they come to my yard. I post the pictures on my facebook every now and then, but I decided I want to start sharing them here. So I give to you Sunday Squirrel! :D Yay! Every Sunday (I will try to remember every single Sunday) I will post one picture of a squirrel that I've taken. Starting now.

>:)

Happy Halloween!

Whether you're trick-or-treating, partying, or staying home and watching scary movies with a bowl full of popcorn with extra butter, be safe and enjoy!

I'm getting a 55 gallon fish tank (YAY!) today, but after I set that up, I will be taking my tiniest human, a ballerina, to a few of our neighbor's houses to beg for candy. Then we'll be watching scary movies (after she's in bed) and passing out candy! But not too much candy because I need leftovers. I deserve them. Yes.

What are you up to tonight?

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And don't forget, Monday, new story at Tangled Fiction, started by me. This one will be told on Mon, Wed, and Fri in three parts only.

Official Announcement!

I've mentioned here recently that there were going to be some changes at Tangled Fiction. As October comes to a close (with one of the coolest holidays ever), we've made the official announcement on the Tangled Fiction blog! Hop on over there to check it out!

Change is a good thing.

Tangled Fiction

My contribution and the finale to UNCHARTED, our second collaborative short is up on the Tangled Fiction Blog!

There will be some changes made on TF! Starting November 1st, we will be posting on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, giving you one full story a week instead of a month!!

We'll kick things off with a piece started by me! Don't miss it. Um...Please.

Inspiration from Libba Bray

The following comes from a recent blog post by YA author Libba Bray. It was written in response to a teen girl with a life-choice dilemma: Do what she wants with her life, or do what will make the adults in her life happy. I applaud Libba (and it's not the first time) for writing this and for sharing it with the world. I WISH someone had told me this when I was a teen.

http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/58659.html

Teens, what *you* should be doing.

"Listening to music. Eating pizza before your metabolism goes to hell. Dancing. Spending a Friday night with your friends at the local playground having conversations about life, liberty, love, and Lady Gaga while sitting on a merry-go-round. Reading great books. Reading trashy books. Inventing personas. Trying on identities. Learning to drive. Going to concerts and games. Playing sports. Disdaining all of the above. Creating random Facebook pages filled with quotes you love one day and find hopelessly déclassé the next. Making art. Examining your hair for split ends. You should have the luxury of occasional boredom so you know what it feels like and so you know how to respond to its inspiration. You should not be so overscheduled and exhausted. Teenagers are not supposed to be mini-adults or over-achieving automatons. There is supposed to be a long on-ramp to adulthood."

Rebel Books Halloween Sale!

Right now, if you buy a copy of REBEL MOON (includes a werewolf short by me) you'll get MISERABLE MIDDLES for 5.99 British Pounds (converts to about $9 USD). This offer is available only through twitter and facebook, not on the website, so for more details, you need to send an email to RebelBooks at hotmail dot com with the subject "Happy Halloween"! If you happen to get a copy of Rebel Moon, I would absolutely LOVE to hear from you!

http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/default.aspx

REBEL MOON

(An Anthology of supernatural tales)

by Various

Have you ever wondered what Death would look like if he approached you at a bus stop? Or what would happen if a vampire’s chosen victim turned out to be more than they had bargained for?

Rebel Moon is a collection of stories that will whisk you into worlds of vampires, werewolves and witchcraft so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride as sometimes the dead have more of a life than the living and if this book teaches you anything it is to always expect the unexpected!

From the teen witches you wouldn’t want to cross in One Witch Down to the dark comedy of Evil 101, this is a book you won’t want to put down.

MISERABLE MIDDLES

by Phoebe Penhalligan and Boo Irwin.

Illustrations by Karen Hurd.

A collection of tales from the Underworld Kingdom including "A Miserable Middle", "The Bloody Ballad", "The Petrified Prince" and others inspired by the recent debate over unhappy endings in children's fiction. The beautiful cover illustration has been designed by Karen Hurd. This collection of tales may sometimes have a miserable middle but they all end happily, well kind of!

(Excerpt from "A Bloody Ballad")

"Saxo Douglas walked into the room keeping his eyes on the floor. He was tall and thin with long black hair and a snub nose. He was not a musician by trade and this was his first audition. As he took his place before the King and Queen he raised his eyes and so visible was his suffering that the Queen removed her earplugs for the first time that day. He had not yet uttered a word and yet she could feel his pain as if it were her own. The King however was only interested in blood and gore, he liked a bloody ballad or a song of suffering, but as far as he was concerned love was not for songs it was for poetry, and poetry was definitely not one of his favourite things.

"What will you be singing about today?" ventured the King warily.

"Love." Saxo replied simply. "I will sing about a love so powerful that it was more important than all the riches in the world!"