Before we jump into my Book Blog, I wanted to point out a new feature on the website. If you click the calendar icon to your right, you’ll connect to a dynamic calendar of the upcoming YA MUSES’ topics! Just use the buttons to find out what’s coming in a week or in a month or in a year (ok, we’re not scheduled out that far, but still…)

Anyhow, on to the post!

This week I want to tell y’all about one of my favorite writing books, HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY by Orson Scott Card. Hear me out before you scoff, “Well, I write YA Contemporary or MG Historical…etc,” because this book is for every fiction author.

You see, the thing about speculative fiction (whose major arms include Sci-Fi & Fantasy) is that it’s all about telling a great story with great characters set in a world that people accept as reality. Oh, wait, that could be any piece of good fiction. And Orson Scott Card is a genius at setting the foundations for these realistic worlds, even if they occur galaxies away. (Don’t believe me? Read ENDER’S GAME right now. Seriously, I’ll wait.)

In HTWSF&F, Card gives us insight into his process, citing examples from his own work and seminars. Including tidbits such as:

1. “Nothing is sillier than a story that has some great event in the world that provokes only one response,” (This could be a zombie invasion or a take over of the cheerleading squad).
2. “Humble little facts will save us in the end.” (True for historical romances and hobbits).
3. “Instead, information must be trickled into a story, always just enough to know what’s happening.” (Ditto).
4. “…you should only use similes and analogies that would also be available to the characters in the story, so that the entire experience of reading contributes to the illusion of being in the story’s milieu.” (Be it in Fae, Klingon, or valley girl).

See what I mean? World building is world building. Often, we study masters like Orson Scott Card to see how they do “it.” With HTWSF&F, he tells us simply and eloquently. Honestly, a glimpse into this man’s mind is worth the price of the library card (or shoot, even buying the book).

Of course, executing is an entirely different matter…but at least he’s giving us the tools of a real craftsman and world-builder.

Recently, I was with a group of authors and book bloggers talking about—of course—books and this question came up:

What was the last book you read that made you cry?

I had a hard time answering. Really, I think it’s John Green’s latest, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, but that’s not really a surprise. It’s a stunningly smart book. Witty. Insightful. Both the main characters have cancer. You know what you’re walking into when you pick it up.

This week, however, I read one that had me crying hard at two o’clock in the morning.

The book is called FEARLESS and it moved me deeply. It’s not YA fiction—not even close. This is a biography of a Navy SEAL that I picked up after reading NO EASY DAY, which is the account of the Osama bin Laden raid. I’ve been on a little non-fiction kick. I write about heroic characters doing heroic things, but there are service men and women out there, in the military, law enforcement, firefighters, etc.—who are the real deal. After NO EASY DAY, I was hungry for more insight into the lives of these people, who inspire me with every small and great act of courage and selflessness.

I could tell you that FEARLESS is the story of a human being who was flawed and yet utterly extraordinary—but no matter what I say, it won’t really get that point across. It won’t portray the obstacles Navy SEAL Adam Brown overcame to become one of the most elite warriors in the United States military. It won’t show you how this man struggled more off the battlefield than he ever did on it—and triumphed. And it won’t describe to you how sad—how truly sad I am that we lost such an exceptional person in the line of duty.

A powerful book about the brotherhood of the SEALs. About faith. About love. About perseverance and honor and patriotism.

I almost want to assign it to you as required reading, but I will just firmly encourage you to pick it up. This is the kind of book that makes you want to become a better person.

And if you’re reading this and you happen to serve our country in the military, or in any branch of law enforcement:

Thank you.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love 
again.

  

This was a fun, romantic story about about two damaged teens who have both lost their sense of family.  While the story was romantic, there was also a nice bit of suspense as Echo tried to piece together what happened to her in the past.  Could it really have been as bad as she thinks.  Worse?  The characters were both struggling with their identities in the wake of tragedy.  Together, they try to help each other conquer the past, and end up helping each other find a more hopeful future.  
  
I liked that Echo and Noah both were such different people before their respective tragedies, and I could picture them both clearly- how they would have been if things had turned out differently.  Both are scarred by their pasts, figuratively and literally, and it is those experiences that bring them closer than they might have otherwise ever have been.

Echo is so betrayed by the people who are supposed to love and protect her, that trust is a hard thing for her.  And Noah does not want to love anyone, but still manages to develop close friendships, and is loyal to those he cares about.  Noah has a self destructive streak, which he wears like a suit of armor.  But Echo finds a way past it, and Noah finds a way to help Echo accept what she has become, scars and all.

Pushing the Limits is a fun, quick read that's full of heart and deep emotion.   

Every once in a while, a book comes along that challenges the way you think about black and white, and how you approach the grey in between.  A book that truly makes you wonder, what would I do in this situation? And you hope you'd do the right thing.

L.B. Schulman's LEAGUE OF STRAYS challenges the way we think about bullies and being bullied.  It challenges how we see weakness and strength and what we do with both of them.  The main character, Charlotte, stays firmly in the grey area.  An area where the bullied bully back, where cruelty is matched by cruelty and where apparent strength is shown really to be weakness.

I read this book the day after I finished line edits on Book 2.  And as much as I like to be challenged when I read, what I enjoyed most about it was Schulman's ability to pick up those fine details that make a scene, that define a character.  That's what line edits are all about - picking the "one bright detail" in each scene and making it shine.  Reading LEAGUE OF STRAYS made me see how well that works when it's done right, and made me want to revise all over again, so I could add spark to my own writing.

I feel I have to divulge that Lisa Schulman is a friend.  But even if I didn't know her, I would admire her abilities of description.  And of making her characters and setting unique.

Synopsis:

When a mysterious note appears in Charlotte’s mailbox inviting her to join the League of Strays, she’s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a motley crew of loners and an alluring, manipulative ringleader named Kade. Kade convinces the group that they need one another both for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have betrayed them. But Kade has a bigger agenda. In addition to vandalizing their school and causing fights between other students, Kade’s real intention is a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.
(from Goodreads)

“Fresh, exciting, and haunting [...] a must-have for any classroom or library shelf.” (VOYA Magazine, starred review)

From the Author's website:
Camden Pike has been grief-stricken since his girlfriend, Viv, died. Viv was the last good thing in his life: helping him rebuild his identity after a career-ending football injury, picking up the pieces when his home life shattered, and healing his pain long after the meds wore off. And now, he’d give anything for one more glimpse of her. But when Cam makes a visit to the site of Viv’s deadly car accident, he sees some kind of apparition. And it isn’t Viv.

The apparition’s name is Nina, and she’s not a ghost. She’s a girl from a parallel world, and in this world, Viv is still alive. Cam can’t believe his wildest dreams have come true. All he can focus on is getting his girlfriend back, no matter the cost. But things are different in this other world: Viv and Cam have both made very different choices, things between them have changed in unexpected ways, and Viv isn’t the same girl he remembers. Nina is keeping some dangerous secrets, too, and the window between the worlds is shrinking every day. As Cam comes to terms with who this Viv has become and the part Nina played in his parallel story, he’s forced to choose—stay with Viv or let her go—before the window closes between them once and for all.

I begged this book off of fellow YAMuse, Veronica Rossi, and read it on the plane back from the SILVER launch.  I love the male point of view and have always been intrigued by the idea of parallel worlds.  Emily's debut is a wonderfully evocative story that I highly recommend!  THROUGH TO YOU has sold in ten different countries and and Paramount Pictures/Montecito Picture Co. has acquired the film rights.

I'm also looking forward to meeting Emily on October 20 at the Boulder Bookstore's Teen Reads FREE Event.