SMALL TOWN SINNERS winner & More Links!

Thanks to everyone who shared their struggles in the comments. I don't know about anyone else, but for me it helps to know I'm not the only one who gets her boat rocked from time to time. SMALL TOWN SINNERS is especially for us! But, alas, only one winner, so here we go...

*drumroll* The winner is.... *drumroll*

Tiff

Please send your mailing information to gerb (@) lindagerber (.) com and we'll get that sent out to you.

Meanwhile, I promised more links to go with this week's Tip with Jennifer Echols. To make it easier for everyone to follow them, I have edited yesterday's post to add the links here.

Have a great Wednesday!

FF - SMALL TOWN SINNERS with Melissa Walker

I'm excited to celebrate this week's release of SMALL TOWN SINNERS by Melissa Walker with another Freebie Friday.

The Author:
Melissa is both a GCC sister and TFC sister. You probably know her as the author of LOVESTRUCK SUMMER and the VIOLET ON THE RUNWAY series. She's also a former ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor, and currently manages the e-newsletter I Heart Daily. Also, check out the hilarious Before You Were Hot. You can find Melissa online on her website, on twitter, or on facebook.

The Book:

Here's the official blurb for SMALL TOWN SINNERS:

Lacey Anne Byer is a perennial good girl and lifelong member of the House of Enlightenment, the Evangelical church in her small town. With her driver's license in hand and the chance to try out for a lead role in Hell House, her church's annual haunted house of sin, Lacey's junior year is looking promising. But when a cute new stranger comes to town, something begins to stir inside her. Ty Davis doesn't know the sweet, shy Lacey Anne Byer everyone else does. With Ty, Lacey could reinvent herself. As her feelings for Ty make Lacey test her boundaries, events surrounding Hell House make her question her religion.

What people are saying about SMALL TOWN SINNERS:
"A devilishly-good read." - Lauren Myracle.
"Non-judgmental, nuanced, fascinating..." - Romantic Times
"Both tender and provocative..." - Publisher's Weekly
"Walker takes her character's crisis of faith seriously and sensitively..." - Kirkus Reviews

The Interview:

What inspired you to write SMALL TOWN SINNERS?

My friend Joy's mother, Betty, started telling me about her church's "Judgment House" and my jaw dropped. I researched more about Hell Houses and Judgment Houses, and then I pitched my ELLEgirl editor on a magazine story. She bit, I got to write the story. And the small town I visited, plus the teenagers in it, never left me. Here's that original non-fiction story:

http://www.melissacwalker.com/media/ellegirl-hellhouse.jpg

Are you superstitious in any way?

I would at first say no, but a black cat crossed my path the other day and my husband said, "We just got black catted!" So I guess we both noticed and worried a little, and that qualifies, right? For the record: Nothing bad happened... uh, yet?

Do you have any special writing rituals or totems to connect with your muse?

Now that I'm very pregnant, I've moved from my traditional writing chair (overstuffed, pink with flowers, so comfy!) to one of those exercise balls. Because good posture and bouncing seems more essential these days. But I still feel like that big blue ball can be a different kind of muse.

What's your favorite quote?
"A rising tide lifts all boats." (It helps me remember to avoid being jealous of others' successes. It's so much more fun to be joyful with them.)

What are you working on now?

My next book will be a May 2012 release from Bloomsbury. The title isn't final yet, but it involves a dual love story with a hefty dose of friendship angst. I'm deep in revisions right now!

If SMALL TOWN SINNERS were made into a movie, who would you like to see in the role of Lacey?

If I could shuffle around the cast of Friday Night Lights, I'd use them all to play the characters in this book.

The Freebie:

To be entered to win a signed ARC of SMALL TOWN SINNERS, leave a comment below telling us how your summer is going and/or if you have ever had a crisis of faith. The drawing will remain open until Wednesday, July 27.

For Writers - Emotional Thesaurus with Melissa Walker

This week's tip comes from Melissa Walker, author of the YA VIOLET series, and teen romance LOVESTRUCK SUMMER. She's also co-founder of the I Heart Daily newsletter, and co-creator of the website, Before You Were Hot. You won't want to miss her next book, SMALL TOWN SINNERS, the story of an evangelical girl who wonders whether falling in love means falling out of faith. It hits the shelves July 19th.
You can find Melissa on her website, on facebook, and by following her on twitter.

Melissa says:

I have a confession to make: When I write a book and want to “show” rather than “tell,” I turn to a lot of old standbys. (“She rolled her eyes.” “He bit his lip.” “She raised an eyebrow.”) Boring! The thing is, I want my emotional gestures to be varied and fresh… and I have an Ace up my sleeve.

The Bookshelf Muse (http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/) is where I found the Emotional Thesaurus, my guide to new and exciting ways to express what my characters are feeling! Just look at all of these ideas for “amusement” (http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2008/06/amusement.html), “guilt” (http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2008/05/guilt.html) and “relief” (http://thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com/2008/01/relief.html). It’s a goldmine!

Here’s my public thank you to Bookshelf Muses Angela and Becca. You’ve helped me through many a character gesture.

(Note from Linda... while you're checking out Bookshelf Muse, don't miss their excellent posts about settings here, here, here, and here.)

More links to keep you busy this week:

Authors Share Their Best Writing Advice (Wastepaper Prose)

10 Ways to Stay in and Write (Publishing Talk)

Creating Strong Characters (Fiction Notes)

Deepening Your Characters' Needs (Query Tracker)

Creating Fantasy Characters (Cynsations)

Ist or 3rd POV? (The Other Side of the Story) (part II)

Developing a Unique Voice (Adventures in Children's Publishing) (There are links within this link, all worth reading...)

On Writing Misery (Gail Carson Levine) (Love, love, love her.)

Getting the Most Out of Your Rewrite (Alan Rinzler)

Considering a Writers' Retreat? (YA Outside the Lines)

How about a Writers' Conference? (Genreality)

Mystery Writers Take Note (Shelf Awareness)

Why Agents Like Published Authors (Treated and Released)

The Value of the Rejection Process (Janet Reid)


Now go! Write!