I'm writing from Antioch University, where we're halfway through the Antioch Writers' Workshop. I'll give you a full wrap-up later, but for now, I'd like to bring you Denise Jaden, who is celebrating the launch of her latest, NEVER ENOUGH.Denise is another GCC sister. You'd never guess it now, but she spent her high school lunch hours trying to tame her curly hair in the bathroom, or playing freeze tag in the drama room. She attended the theatre program at college, and then enjoyed a variety of occupations, including stage production, mushroom farming, and Polynesian dancing. The first draft of her debut novel, Losing Faith, was written in 21 days during National Novel Writing Month. This is her second novel. She lives just outside Vancouver, Canada with her husband and son.
Loann’s always wanted to be popular and
pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire’s ex-boyfriend starts flirting
with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that
means betraying her sister.But as Loann slips inside Claire’s world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire’s quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. And Loann is frightened she could lose the sister she’s always idolized.
As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it’s too late?
"Intimate and enlightened... harrowing and inspiring. ...dramatically illustrates
the importance of speaking out and reaching out."
—Publishers Weekly
—Publishers Weekly
You can see the trailer for NEVER ENOUGH on YouTube
Denise's tip:
When asked for a tip about writing, I usually offer my usual advice about reading a lot and writing a lot, but I’d like to expand on that a little here. Something I learned while working on Never Enough (and my more recent manuscripts) is that I need to really push myself to get to the good stuff. Word counts may just seem like numbers for some, but I use them religiously to set goals for myself now. I find that often when I start, I will flail around with my words quite a bit. It would be easy to quit at this point, decide that I’d be better to come back another day when my brain is working properly. But if I don’t quit, if I push through, more often than not, I come up with a nugget of great writing, or even a new glimpse of something that solves a story problem.
You can find Denise online on her website, on twitter, and on her blog.
Also! Denise is running a contest on her blog, and you can win stuff! Check it out!
This week's link roundup:
For MG girls, Cassidy's LIGHTS, CAMERA, CASSIDY Charmed Summer Giveaway continues with quizzes, games, and winning! (lightscameracassidy)
10 Traits That are More Important Than Talent (Jody Hedlund)
6 Things to Learn from Hemingway (RachelleGardner)
4 Lessons in Creativity from John Cleese (CoCreativity)
3 Tips for Writers: Revising, Formatting, Querying (One Word After Another)
YA Market Tips and Trends (Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing)
How Are You Going to Grab Readers' Attention on the First 5 Pages? (CarlyWatters)
Query: It's Not Who You Know, it's What You Write (Bent on Books)
Ellen Hopkins on Fearless Writing (Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing)
The Reader Must Want to Know What Happens Next (JaneFriedman)
Getting Bendy (Plotting Twists in Crime Fiction) (Finding Bliss)
Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block (WriterUnboxed)
Boiling it Down (kidlit.com)
Character Clamor (Gail Carson Levine)
Interview with Literary Agent Gail Hochman (Barbara Rogan)
A Writer's Biggest Mistake (Yes, This Will Be On the Test)
Writers: Act Like a Professional (Writability)
Using Dialog Tags and Punctuation Correctly (Querytracker)
The Best Bad Writing Tips (Bookriot)
Fear of Failing as a Writer (The Writing Life. Simplified)
Productivity (Genreality)
Publishing Tips and YA Market Trends (Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing)
Thoughts on Reading (Read, Write, Reflect)
Look! It's an Idea! (Going from premise to plot) (The Other Side of the Story)
The Lie You're Listening To (Chance Scoggins) (Relevant to how we sometimes treat our writing selves.)
Now go push through and write!
