Today I'm pleased to welcome GCC sister and friend Melissa Walker to the blog to celebrate the release of her new book, Unbreak My Heart. Melissa's the author of Small Town Sinners, the Violet on the Runway series and Lovestruck Summer. She has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. Melissa manages the e-newsletter I Heart Daily, and blogs for ReaderGirlz, an online community for teens. A Chapel Hill, NC native, Melissa now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
The book:
The year that broke her heart. The summer that healed it. A dual love story.Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams' heart. She fell for her best friend's boyfriend and long story short: he's excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life. Enter her parents' plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now. Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he's just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem's walls and heal her broken heart? Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem's heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colansanti will flock to.
(Susane Colansanti agrees, BTW. She calls Unbreak My Heart "A super cute love story!" and says, "Melissa Walker will inspire readers to never stop believing in true love.") : )
Melissa's Tip:
"Let the scene play out in your mind a little bit before you put ink to paper (or, um, fingers to keyboard). Sometimes I do this in the shower, and thinking through a moment can really help!"
(P.S. You can enter to win an iPod loaded with the Unbreak my Heart soundtrack (and a copy of the book!) courtesy of Bloomsbury Teen here: Unbreak My Heart Playlist Contest. AND, you can find Melissa online at the links above, and on her website, on her blog, on twitter, on pinterest, and on facebook.)
This Week's Link roundup: (I don't know why they appear highlighted and I don't have the time to figure out how to change it, but I figure you won't mind to much, as long as the links are working, which they are. Enjoy!)
Ginger's up on the SiWC Blog! (Surrey International Writers' Conference)
33 Things to Do When You Are Angry With Your Novel (YA Highway) : )
22 Storytelling Rules via Pixar (The Pixar Touch) Awesome!
20 Tips for Creating Lovable Romance Heroes (Writing Novels)
8 Dialog Mistakes to Avoid (Fiction Notes)
7 Reasons to Kill Your Characters: Murder 101 (Fuel Your Writing)
7 POV Basics (Jody Hedlund)
5 Proven Tactics to Increase Your Productivity (WorkAwesome)
3 Mighty MacGuffin Generators (Red Pen of Doom)
Visceral Reactions: Emotional Paydirt or Melodrama? (WordPlay)
Fears and Tears (Write Anything)
Keep Readers Close to Action and Emotion (Editor's Blog)
Expressing Thought-Reactions in Fiction (The Blood-Red Pencil)
Revealing Character Through Detail (Publishing Crawl)
Opening Image (Elana Johnson)
Creating Villains or Other Bad Guys in MG Novels (That's Another Story)
Smart Writers Expand Time (Writers in the Storm) (Love Margie Lawson!)
Writing Dangers: Shiny New Idea Syndrome (Writability)
Writing Dangers: Shiny New Idea Syndrome (Writability)
Writers Must Write Every Day (Editor's Blog)
Writing Credentials (and why they don't matter) (Adventures in YA Publishing)
Why Writers Must be Observers (Writability)
Writing Credentials (and why they don't matter) (Adventures in YA Publishing)
Why Writers Must be Observers (Writability)
Another Take on "Show, Don't Tell" (Writers' Digest)
Filter Words (Laptops and Latte)
Conference Etiquette (Navigating the Slush Pile)
Writing a Marketable Children's Short Story (WOW!)
Picture Book Revising (Notes From the Slush Pile)
Quit Wasting Time (Author Media) (This is for you, social media junkies...)
Avoiding Homonym Headaches (Blood Red Pencil)
Mapping Out Your Story (DIYMFA)
Writing Scenes: Stepping Forward and Falling Back (Writers' Digest)
Literary Devices: Foreshadowing (Fantasy Faction)
Focus (Tight Scenes) (Edit To Rent)
What it Takes to Get Writers Writing (LA Times) (Fun distraction - with links.)
Ever Get Jealous? The Green-Eyed Writer (Beyond the Margins)
Writer/Reader Contracts (Writer Unboxed)
Why Write Strong Female Characters (i09)
What it Takes to Get Writers Writing (LA Times) (Fun distraction - with links.)
Ever Get Jealous? The Green-Eyed Writer (Beyond the Margins)
Writer/Reader Contracts (Writer Unboxed)
Why Write Strong Female Characters (i09)
Road Closed: When Writer's Block Takes Out the Bridge Pt. 1 (Genreality)
Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better (The Brilliant Blog)
Now go read a great story (like Unbreak My Heart!) and WRITE!
Now go read a great story (like Unbreak My Heart!) and WRITE!
