Night, and Her Train of Plot Bunnies...

In a completely desperate move, I knocked myself out with sleeping pills last night. I hate them, so the scrip usually expires before I use them all. But in my drug-induced sleep, I had one of those really weird dreams that's part memory, and woke up remembering this novella I'd written on a retreat weekend back in my college days. My memory is vague on the process. I believe I tapped out most of it on an Alphasmart under a flowering chestnut tree in Scotland... but it would have been around 1992-1994, so that seems unlikely.

Crawling out of bed, I took a wild shot.

I'll be damned.

Crammed between some old term papers I refuse to throw away was a red folder with a label too worn to read. Opening it, I found the story I'd dreamed about. The title is ESCAPING HOME. I had no memory of it prior to the dream last night, and only a sketchy memory of it even as I opened the folder. Basically I knew it was a young adult novella about an abused girl who leaves home, lives on her own, but is forced from one place to the next through a series of tragedies. The only constant in her life is a desire to escape poverty and cruelty and to somehow attain an education.

But there it was... complete an nearly pristine inside a ratty red folder. Since I am trying very hard to get back on track with NaNoWriMo I have no time to give this story. Still... it has earned some love. So next year, when I get a small gap, I'll be paying some sucker to type it into a word file, and will give it a home via CreateSpace. Survivors should always stick together.

P.S. Art nerds got the title. :)

Flirting with Disaster, baby!!

If you missed Rhonda Stapleton's Stupid Cupid, here's your chance to get both THAT magnificently adorable title and THIS complete gem of a follow-up, Flirting with Disaster. Rhonda's voice is infectious, endearing, and truly addictive. I could not put SC down, and am completely SALIVATING for the new title, which is sold out at the BN in Cambridge til they restock from the back room because Ahmed picked up all 5 copies on the shelf. (Note to BN employees... CHOP CHOP-- get them out there!!)

And let's face it, why read one and not pick up the other? This is a perfect opportunity to pick up both titles and consume them with greedy abandon. That way you are ready for the third in the series, which is coming up sooner than you think. YES! Rhonda's that good. They released all three pretty closely together. Do you really want to be the only person on your block who isn't on the Stapelton bandwagon?

Well? DO YOU?

The correct answer is "NO." Get your butt to BN or Borders. Stop reading this... go. SCOOT!!

Don't make me climb out of this monitor!

Nico Medina at Fictionistas Today!

D o NOT miss Rhonda Stapleton's fantasitc interview with YA author Nico Medina, who brought us the brilliantly titled Fat Hoochie Prom Queen at The Fictionistas' Blog today! Drop by, leave a comment, and you'll be entered to win a free copy of Nico's new release.

Favorites from Your YA Keeper Pile

Every now and then the topic of favorite books is bound to come up with a book-nerd/writer like me. Recently the topic of keepers and throwers was broached, and I ended up on a bit of a topic safari with a friend. What Young Adult books do you keep around for younger visitors and your own mindless meandering pleasure? I love reading YA fiction, am currently writing it, and think more people should discover it. Around my home I have a solid list of absolute forever-keepers that never seem to miss with young readers and very often convert skeptical adults.

Here's my list of favorites:

Harry Potter -- The Series by JK Rowling
Lemony Snicket-- The Series by Daniel Handler / aka Lemony Snicket
Animorphs-- The Series by KA Applegate
The Harper Hall Series by Anne McCaffrey
The Valdemar and Bardic Voices Series by Mercedes Lackey
The Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
The Five Little Peppers Series by Margaret Sidney
Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Black Stallion Series by Walter Farley
Most of Robin McKinley
Fly by Night by KM Peyton
Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O'Dell
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Lad, A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune

So what are your favorite young adult titles? I bet many of you will list titles I forgot to include-- so share!