Revising Your Story

Below are a few of the slides from the workshop I taught at the Idaho Writers' Conference, April 27, 2019. If you're interested in this workshop or any of the other workshops I teach, click on the "appearances" tab above for more information.

Here are a few snapshots from the wonderful two-day conference:

Book Review: FREEFALL by Joshua David Bellin

Releasing September 26, 2017, from Simon & Schuster, you can pre-order Freefall from Amazon and other major booksellers now.

Freefall is another engaging novel from master world-builder and storyteller, Joshua David Bellin.

I thoroughly enjoyed this space adventure!

Description from the publisher:
When the 1% and the 99% clash, the fate of the human race hangs on the actions of two teens from very different backgrounds in this thrilling sci-fi adventure.

In the Upperworld, the privileged 1% are getting ready to abandon a devastated planet Earth. And Cam can’t wait to leave. After sleeping through a 1,000-year journey, he and his friends will have a pristine new planet to colonize. And no more worries about the Lowerworld and its 99% of rejects.
Then Cam sees a banned video feed of protesters in the Lowerworld who also want a chance at a new life. And he sees a girl with golden eyes who seems to be gazing straight through the feed at him. A girl he has to find. Sofie.

When Cam finds Sofie, she opens his eyes to the unfairness of what’s happening in their world, and Cam joins her cause for Lowerworld rights. He also falls hard for Sofie. But Sofie has her own battles to fight, and when it’s time to board the spaceships, Cam is alone.

Waking up 1,000 years in the future, Cam discovers that he and his shipmates are far off-course, trapped on an unknown and hostile planet. Who has sabotaged their ship? And does it have anything to do with Sofie, and the choices—and the enemies—he made in the past?

My review:

Freefall is Joshua David Bellin's third novel published through Simon & Schuster, and this book does not disappoint. Often times, I struggle to follow a non-linear narration, but Bellin handled the narrative skillfully and I actually found myself highly engaged when jumping back and forth in the story's timeline.

With the story set in space in the future, Bellin utilizes fun word plays such as "corponations" and "MexSanto" to help build the world of the novel. The words I did not enjoy as much were the cuss words, which included taking the Lord's name in vain quite a bit. But those are my personal preferences.

While it is necessary for teenagers to solve their own problems in a young adult novel, I did wish that Cam's parents had been more involved. I wanted to see more interaction with them at the beginning and in the middle to help justify their involvement at the end of the story.

Those were the only two minor details that bothered me. EVERYTHING else I loved! 

I'm telling you . . . if you enjoy Sci-fi and/or young adult novels and/or adventures and/or monsters . . . this story is a must read, because Freefall is an engaging novel from the master world-builder and storyteller, Joshua David Bellin.

Bellin amazes me with his ability to develop characters, settings, and monsters, allowing readers to envision every aspect of the story.

I am a fan for life, and I look forward to reading his next story.

My favorite line from the book:

Pre-order your copy from Amazon today!

Fall 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! 

I'm Margo Kelly, and I'll be your hostess for this leg of the hunt. I write thrillers, and I'm excited that my second novel, UNLOCKED, has been born into the world! Somewhere along this scavenger hunt, I've shared exclusive content related to UNLOCKED, and clear down at the bottom of this post, I'm giving away a signed hardback copy of it (exclusive to readers of this post) along with a super cool flashlight key chain! Yup. That's right. 

(So be sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the bottom of this post before you hop off to the next site in the scavenger hunt!)

By the way, you are currently hunting on TEAM GOLD.

This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors ... and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt.

Add up the clues, and you can enter for the prize -- one lucky winner will receive:
one book from each author on the gold team! 

But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon on Sunday, October 9, 2016!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM -- but there are five other teams, each with a different set of books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE RULES

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the gold team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator). 

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by October 9, 2016, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

I am happy to introduce you to the author I'm hosting for the hunt:
Erica Cameron

Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, asexual, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She is also the author of The Dream War Saga, the Assassins series, and the upcoming Ryogan Chronicles, plus co-author of the Laguna Tides novels.

Find out more information by checking out Erica's website or find more about her book here! 

Kindra’s moral compass has never pointed north, but that’s what happens when you’re raised as an assassin and a thief. At sixteen, she’s fantastic with a blade, an expert at slipping through the world unnoticed, and trapped in a life she didn’t chose. But nothing in her training prepares her for what happens when her father misses a target.

In the week-long aftermath, Kindra breaks rank for the first time in her life. She steals documents, starts questioning who their client is and why the target needs to die, botches a second hit on her father’s target, and is nearly killed. And that’s before she’s kidnapped by a green-eyed stranger connected to a part of her childhood she’d almost forgotten.

Kindra has to decide who to trust and which side of the battle to fight for. She has to do it fast and she has to be right, because the wrong choice will kill her just when she’s finally found something worth living for.


EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
 from Erica Cameron

-- YASH has ended, and so the exclusive content has been removed. See you next YASH! --

* * * * *

Now don't forget to enter the YASH contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me and 19 other authors on TEAM GOLD. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on team gold, and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

But before you go, you'll need to know that my favorite number is 11, and there are 11 chances in this exclusive Rafflecopter giveaway for you to win a signed hardback copy of UNLOCKED and a super cool flashlight key chain! (This contest is separate from the YASH contest. Only visitors here are eligible.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author: KATHLEEN BALDWIN

Tweet #YASH

Not Really a Necromancer

One of my favorite lines in UNLOCKED comes after Plug introduces Hannah to his dad, Necro. He's a tattoo artist, and most of his designs feature death in some regard. So ... his friends call him Necro, short for necrophilia or necromancer. But he's not really a necromancer. ;)