2011 Retrospective

Personally speaking:

2011 was very hard. For so many reasons. Writing made it better, but we'll get to that in a moment.

Literarily speaking:

I read 165 Books in 2011!

That's about 14 books a month. 

Event-ually speaking:

I attended the Breathless Reads tour and met:

Michelle Ball of Hooked to Books & Shannon of Books Devoured. 

I am pleased to say these ladies are my good friends, now. 

I attended BEA with Andye, Amy, Kit and Austin from ReadingTeen. Along with a bunch of other awesome bloggers such as the fabulous Chelsea Swiggett! 


We're all planning more shenanigans in the new year. 

I found the experience overwhelming to say the least. However, I'm glad I did it, because next time, I'll know what I'm doing... I hope.

Bloggishly Speaking:

This year I celebrated my first Blog'O'Versary!

At the beginning of the year I had roughly 600 followers. That number has more than doubled!


Update: Just hit 1,400 followers before midnight!!! 

My twitter has exploded! I have over 1,200 followers. I didn't even have a twitter a year ago!

Klout came on the scene, and I currently have a 48 score. If anyone ever figures out the science of it all, I would love to know. 

Facebook. Not until recently did I begin to use my Blog's FB page. Followers started to find and follow it. Since my most recent post was from last September, I figured I would try to look like I cared. 

Goodreads. I love being your friend on Goodreads. You can read my early reviews there. Friend me on Goodreads. I love Goodreads.

Vloggily Speaking:

I began Vlogging this year and am in LOVE. 


My In My Mailbox vlogs are your favorite meme here on MPB. 

I will continue the growing of my youtube channel in 2012, as well as enjoying being a Totally Booksessed Babe! 

Saturday will never be the same.

Bookishly Speaking:

My favorite book is still The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, however new to my ultimate top ten this year are Divergent by Veronica Roth and Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. 

Authorishly Speaking:

I finally figured out what was wrong with my book. After two crappy drafts, the third is a completely new book with the same original concepts.

I woke up from a dream this past July and wrote it out. I got it write(Right? Write.)the first time. 

Both books have helped heal my heart. 

Futuristically Speaking:

I have made a 2012 Resolution, and it is this:

Live Fearlessly.

 





"GR: Tris's society has five factions: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the truthful), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent). Goodreads member Becky Webster asks, "When you were 16, what faction would you have chosen? How does that compare with the faction you would choose today?"

VR: When I was 16, I would have chosen Candor. I found it difficult to trust people when I was younger, for various reasons, and I think I would have seen Candor as a place in which it is safe to trust, because everyone is so transparent. Now, I would choose Dauntless. I struggle with fear on a daily basis, and sometimes it makes me feel like I'm trapped—sometimes it even keeps me from doing what's best for the people around me. I think bravery makes you selfless, it makes you honest, it makes you trust people. Brave is something I want to be."

Best I've Read 2011

Best of the Best, a winner in every category 

on The Mod Podge Bookshelf 

with Gabrielle Carolina 

Vloggin' and she knows it

Clockwork Prince: YA Scavenger Hunt

I'm today's hunt stop for the 2011 YA Story Scavenger Hunt!

Follow the hunt every day during the month of December! 

Answer the daily trivia questions from MG and YA books published during 2011 to be entered into the YA book giveaway.

Today's question is from Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare.

Question #59: Who did Jessamine marry in secret? 

(“No one” is a possible answer.)

 

Remember to fill out your answer in the form at Most Important Letter here!

Leave a comment below telling me your favorite YA novel of the year, your GFC follower name, and a way to contact you by e-mail, and you'll be entered to win an upcoming ARC of 2012!

Happy New Year Hop (2012)

It's almost a new year!

Which is as good a reason to giveaway books as any other. Reasons like it being Tuesday, Dinnertime, and feeling a shift in the wind suffice in my opinion... 

I'm making it Reader's Choice! 

The winner will pick between three finished copies of these titles:

Just fill out the Raffelcopter and, if you want, tell me what literary hero you would kiss at midnight if, you know, they weren't in our minds... darn.

15 Debutantes of 2011

Favorite 15 Debuts of 2011

 on The Mod Podge Bookshelf 

with Gabrielle Carolina

 She's a Vlogstar

2011 Top Ten

Top Ten Books of 2011 on 

The Mod Podge Bookshelf

with Gabrielle Carolina

Vloggin' like a Rockstar

2011 Author Wrap-Up with Myra Mcentire

What was the best book you've read all year? Tell me about it! 

MM: Oh my word! So hard to choose. I've just read WONDERSTRUCK with my son, and he is not a fan of reading, so probably that one. It's an absolutely gorgeous book.

What was your favorite thing you wrote?

MM: TIMEPIECE is the follow up to HOURGLASS, and writing it almost killed me. But I learned so much, not just about writing, but about life and balance and what's important.

What was your biggest writing struggle, and how did you overcome it?

MM: Writing with small children! I overcame it when the last one went to Kindergarten!

What can we expect from you in the new year? 

MM: Well, the follow up to HOURGLASS, called TIMEPIECE, and hopefully some short stories from the HOURGLASS world.

Write down your 'Writing Resolution of 2012!'

MM: Just keep swimming. :D


Myra McEntire
HOURGLASS ~ Egmont USA 
http://myramcentire.com


" ... the story centers itself in Emerson's voice--by turns sardonic, world weary, ardent, and hopeful." --Publisher's Weekly

2011 Author Wrap-Up with Jennifer Hubbard

What was the best book you've read all year? Tell me all about it!

JH: One of my favorites of 2011 was Lisa Schroeder's The Day Before. It's a verse novel about a girl and a boy who are drawn together the day before their lives are going to change.

And I finally got around to reading The Hunger Games trilogy, and I see why every one's been talking about it!

What was your favorite thing you wrote? 

JH: I write so much, I have no idea. I try to write something worthwhile every day.

What was your biggest writing struggle, and how did you overcome it?

JH: Transitioning from one book to another was the biggest struggle. I needed to rest and let the story come to me.

What can we expect from you in the new year? 

JH: My second novel, Try Not to Breathe, should appear in January 2012. It's the story of a boy recovering from a suicide attempt, and his relationship with a girl who's trying to reach her dead father through psychics.

Write down your 'Writing Resolution of 2012!'

JH: I don't make yearly resolutions about writing; I just try to write every day. But my New Year's resolution the past few years has been to do less, to make more room in my life.

Jennifer R. Hubbard

www.jenniferhubbard.com

The Secret Year (Viking, 2010)

Try Not to Breathe (Viking, 2012)

My website: www.jenniferhubbard.com

My blog: http://jenniferrhubbard.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @JennRHubbard

Try Not to Breathe ordering page:

http://www.amazon.com/Try-Not-Breathe-Jennifer-Hubbard/dp/0670013900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308101594&sr=1-1

Merry Christmas from MPB

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Gabrielle Carolina


P.S. As a special gift from Charlotte Bennardo, Natalie Zaman, and myself, if you buy Sirenz before the New Year, and send me the receipt at ModPodgeBooks (dot) gmail (dot) com, the authors will send you signed swag like the bookmark featured in this video!

Cover Lover: Retrospective 2011

My name is Gabrielle Carolina, and I am a 

Cover Lover.

The first step is admitting it.

The second step is writing about it.

The third step is to identify my enablers.

2011 was a great year in covers. Too good.  

Trend of 2011:

Illusions...

Is that hair? Or snakes? She is a girl? Or a bust of a girl?

Knock, knock on wood. 

Who's there?

From Breathtaking to Creepy in one 180* turn. 'Nuff said.

Where there's hair, there's a fire.

"Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate fade away on..."

What? Not much of an illusion you say? Hold that thought, I need to blow your mind.

Is he trying to save her, or is he dragging her down? 

Depends on who "he" is, doesn't it?

Foreign Cover Love of 2011

Aussie cover of Hades

Aussie cover of Glow

The UK cover of The Night Circus

Re-covered Loves of 2011

Top Five Cover of 2011!

Fifth Place

Fourth Place

Third Place

Second Place

Best Cover of 2011!

2011 Wrap-Up with Holly Cupala

HC: Hello, Gabrielle Carolina! Thank you so much for inviting me to The Mod Podge Bookshelf and introducing me to your readers! 

What was the best book you've read all year? Tell me all about it!

HC: Best book I’ve read…tough to pick just one. I’ve loved AUDITION by Stasia Ward Kehoe, and I couldn’t put down THE RIGHT AND THE REAL by Joëlle Anthony, coming in April 2012. I’ve also been catching up on my Agatha Christie mysteries. :)

What was your favorite thing you wrote?

HC: I think some of May’s lines in DON’T BREATHE A WORD (coming January 3rd). She was constantly surprising me with her sass—honestly, I did not know I had a scrappy, vulnerable, funny homeless girl lurking inside of me! 

What was your biggest writing struggle, and how did you overcome it?

HC: One of the things I struggled with most while writing TELL ME A SECRET was my clever and cut-throat internal critic. But I learned I could outsmart her…by outrunning her! I set a timer for 15 minutes and try to write as freely as possible, especially during the difficult first draft. I wrote much of DON’T BREATHE A WORD that way. Since then, I’ve become much better at ignoring her until I need her during the editing process. 

What can we expect from you in the new year?

HC: DON’T BREATHE A WORD is coming January 3^rd! It’s about a suburban girl, Joy, who runs away from home to escape her powerful and secretly abusive boyfriend. She flees to the streets of Seattle, where she comes under the protection of a group of homeless teens, including dreamy musician Creed. When one of her new friends’ lives is in danger, she must choose whether to stay silent and safe or go home to face the abuse—and lose Creed.  

Also I’m working on a new young adult novel, about more secrets of course! 

Write down your 'Writing Resolution of 2012!'

HC: For the last few years, my resolution has been to release my to-do list to the Higher Power of To-Do Lists, then tackle it one speck at a time. The biggest writing speck is to finish the aforementioned new novel... 

Thank you, Gabrielle Carolina, and I hope your readers enjoy DON’T BREATHE A WORD! 

www.hollycupala.com

www.dontbreatheaword.com

My facebook page

Twitter

DBAW on Goodreads

Preorder on Amazon

2011 Author Wrap-Up with Gabrielle Carolina

What was the best book you've read all year?

GC: I read Jellicoe Road this year, along with a smashing host of other wonderful novels. I'll be Vlogging about them all soon. However, I read Jellicoe Road twice. I feel that says something in and of itself, that you want to walk back into a world you have so recently inhabited, even with thousands more out there for you.

What was your favorite thing you wrote? 

GC: My very favorite thing? My novel. I could quote for you the line from the book I love most, though it would be followed up by about fifty other "runner ups." Really, the book as a whole is what meant the most to me. It's a contemporary, which I will be querying as an adult novel, and it explores the gray areas of three best friends as they live a very unique life inside a music production studio that they run together.

What was your biggest writing struggle, and how did you overcome it?

GC: My biggest writing struggle was trying to figure out how to fix my YA novel. I rewrote it twice this year. Finally, I learned, I had to start over from page one, and try again with a new setting, several, in fact, and write it from first person. It's been a rewarding experience. I've written as much as I previously wrote in a year in a matter of weeks. This time, I think I got it right. Write? Right. 

What can we expect from you in the new year?

GC: For me to query both novels. Past that, it's all up to God, fate and perfect timing. I'll also be writing my first YA contemp, and possibly an adult historical fiction highly influenced by the Bronte sisters that explores women in art and women as artists.

Write down your 'Writing Resolution of 2012!'

GC: Be fearless... I think I'm going to make that my all-over resolution. 

P.S. Today is my half-birthday!


These are the challenges I will be participating in this year:


2012 Debut Author Challenge


2012 YA Historical Fiction Challenge

The Chosen Ones: Cover Reveal!

I like to think of it as my half-birthday present:

May I just say that I honestly love this cover. I honestly love you...

When you sign up to be a part of a reveal, you never know what you'll get, but I 'wowed' upon opening up this file. 

Now for the best part, the summary! Read it and weep out of need-to-read, then go ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS SHELF!

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?

Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly. 

Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger. 

But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?