Why Retreats Rock

So, if you've been wondering where I've been the last week, I've been Branson for the AWESOMEST WRITING RETREAT EVER. I don't say this to gloat or make you feel bad, but to encourage you to get together with your writer friends for a few days and just hang, because it is amazing.

Writing retreats are awesome, not because of the inside jokes you come away with, but because you get to spend time with people who get you. People who don't think it's strange that the first thing you do in the morning is turn on the coffee pot and the computer, rather than shower. People who don't judge you when it's 5pm and you're still in your pajamas. People who aren't afraid when you talk about the voices in your head. It really doesn't get better than that.

I honestly can't explain how awesome it is to sit down to write and hear nothing but the soft click of fingers on the keyboard and see this:


(Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff)


(Kiersten White - below Freddy The Moose - not pictured)


(Victoria Schwab, Sarah Darer Littman, Julia Karr, Jessica Spotswood)

Not only is it inspiring, but it's demystifying. NYT Bestselling authors sit down with their laptops and write, just like me. There's no magic, just hard work.

If there's any wisdom I can offer from my time here in Branson, it's that writers need time with other writers. It doesn't have to be far away at a lodge, or for a week, with 22 other writers. It can be a weekend in your backyard, the results will be the same -- a feeling of kinship that we miss sometimes when we're on the other side of computer monitors.

So go make your own retreat, or mini-retreat, or weekly sit down with another writer. It's so worth it! (And if you can get Maggie Stiefvater to come and bake you cookies from scratch, all the better!)

Contest Monday featuring the Dark Side

Happy Monday to all! It's a bittersweet Monday for me, because football season is over, but what a game to finish the season (GO PACKERS!) As always, we have some great contests this week:

Victoria Schwab author of the debut YA urban/green fantasy novel THE NEAR WITCH is giving away a signed ARC of THE NEAR WITCH, as well as a finished copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis (with a signed bookplate) and MUCH more! Check it out here. Contest ends February 9th.

A Life Bound By Books, The Bookologist, Kid Lit Frenzy, and The Undercover Booklover are giving away a KINDLE! If you read my post last week, you know I debated whether or not to include this contest, but I'm in a good mood tonight--you can thank the Green Bay Packers. It's actually an amazing giveaway for those of you looking to convert to the dark side. Deadline is 3/4/11. 

Give some link love below if you have a contest you'd like to announce: 

Friday Book Recommendation

Today's recommendation is THE MOCKINGBIRDS by Daisy Whitney

Summary: Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

Why I chose this book: I really can't say enough good things about THE MOCKINGBIRDS it's painful, honest, and ultimately uplifting. But not in a cheesy or over the top way. It's raw, and brutal. But not in an exploitative way. It's encouraging and brave and it's the one book I wish had been given to me when I was seventeen. I think this book is SO IMPORTANT. It needs to get into the hands of every teen, boy and girl. So, yeah. I love this book. You should read it.

More Contests!

It was my week to do the contest Monday post and after I posted I discovered a few awesome contests since then that I though should be mentioned. So here they are.

Shelli Johannes of Market My Words is having a Pay It Forward contest! One lucky winner will get a personal recommendation to her awesome agent Alyssa Henkin at Trident Media Group. (Alyssa focuses on children's books and reps many great YA writers.) Seriously, you don't want to miss this!
Contest info is HERE and ends this Friday, February 4th.

The Merry Sisters of Fate are giving away an ARC of BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton this week! This is the very first ARC of BLOOD MAGIC to be given away! Find out how to enter here. Contest ends February 4th.


Victoria Schwab author of the debut YA urban/green fantasy novel THE NEAR WITCH is giving away a signed ARC of THE NEAR WITCH, as well as a finished copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis (with a signed bookplate) and MUCH more! Check it out here. Contest ends February 9th.

Sleeping with the Enemy

I've been married for almost 15 years to an adjectives-can't-describe-how-wonderful-he-is man. And then, last week, he drops a bombshell. This wouldn't be a big deal to most people, but I'm not a normal person (my hubby would have a field day with that statement). You see, he knows how much I love books: the weight of them in my hands, their come-hither covers that beckon from across a crowded bookstore, the smell of their delicious pages. I have overflowing bookcases all over my house attesting to this obsession. Yet my dear hubby announces that when the new version of "this thing" comes out in April, he's getting it:

He says the iPad2 will allow him more freedom to read "on the go." The stench of betrayal is strong in the house right now.

I'll admit that I'm part of a dying breed, and that I might be an eighty-year-old woman trapped in a thirty-something's body, but my hubby knew that when he married me (e.g. he informed me that I'm the only person under eighty who reads Reader's Digest.) Sadly, my hubby isn't the only source of betrayal. I can include my sister and most of my book club among the ship jumpers. No one in my book club had an e-reader several years ago. Now, 8 of the 11 women swear by their Kindles, Nooks, and other artificial books, and one of the three hold-outs is looking into getting one. Only one other woman in the group wants nothing to do with them because she loves her old-school books as much as I do *winks at Christy.*. 

The only upshot to all this is that since my hubby and I are both psychologists, we can do the marital therapy on our own...because we clearly need it.

How many of you out there have converted to the dark side? Any other old-fashioned books lovers out there? Am I really the only person under 80 who reads Reader's Digest?