Tag Archives: Writing

Tides by Betsy Cornwell: A Fresh Take on an Underwater Fairytale

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TidesI’ve been looking forward to reading Tides, by new author Betsy Cornwell for a long time. If you read my interview with Betsy, from earlier this week, you will know that we both attended Smith College at the same time. I even had (at least) one class with her. When I heard she was publishing a book I felt super excited, which was kind of funny because we by no means knew each other well but I remembered her as being intimidatingly smart. I wasn’t sure if being able to make hyper-intelligent comments on a Tennyson poem would translate into writing a great young adult book. But after only a few chapters I discovered that in this case it absolutely did.  Continue reading →

Blog Changes & Guest Posts

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helpHi Friends! You may have noticed that Alison L hasn’t been writing on the blog as much as usual. Just to clear things up, I wanted to let you know that she has decided to take a break from the blog. But do not despair! I will keep the Book Reviews, Marry Date or Dumps, and other posts coming.

To keep up the steady stream of content, if you or anyone you know might be interested in writing a guest post in the next three weeks please let me know either by emailing hardcoversandheroines(at)gmail(dot)com, through the contact form or in the comments section below and we’ll see if I think you are a good fit. I think I will be traveling for most of July (!), so it would be great to get some posts queued up in the next month.

I’m really open to hearing any ideas related to reading, writing, publishing, growing up, etc. but would also love it if anyone wanted to take on one of our regular posts like Wordless Wednesday, a YA book review, or Marry Date or Dump. I’d be happy to return the favor and write guest posts for other bloggers when I’m back in the US in August.

Anyways, thanks for reading and hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Links for a Lazy Sunday

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Basic RGBHappy Sunday everyone. Who else remembered to say Rabbit Rabbit yesterday morning? I never remember, but I did yesterday so I guess that means good luck for me. I still can’t believe it is already June. I’m having the best weekend ever with my sister here to visit. This hasn’t left a ton of free time for poking around on the internet, so a lot of these links are old but still fun!

  • Becky Cole on BookRiot created a brillant pro/con comparison chart evaluating potential husbands from young adult fiction. Continue reading →

Links for a Lazy Sunday

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the_great_gatsbyHappy Sunday! I am trying to remember if Sunday is Funday or if that is Monday? Why can’t you just have fun both days? Let’s do it. I don’t know about you, but I think there is a lot to be happy/excited about this week. Actually, there is one big thing that I’ve been exciting about for a very long time: Gatsby. The Baz Luhrmann interpretation comes out this weekend. Here are a few links to get you as excited as I am:  Continue reading →

4 Great Writing Books for the Young or Young at Heart

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pocket museWhen I was in high school my aunt gave me The Pocket Muse. I believe Alison L also used this one in a high school creative writing class, but I might be making that up.  This book is full of wacky pictures, writing prompt, and exercises. For me this book has been like a laxative for writer’s block. Seriously, it will get everything flowing again. Did I take that joke too far? Sometimes, I think writers can get really stuck on trying to draw from personal experience or write “serious” fiction. A lot of writing starts with a simple question – what if? Like what if a reasonable person cried over spilled milk? Or what if there was a silence that wouldn’t go away? (Both examples from the book). Continue reading →

What Makes a Book Worth a Five Star Review?

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images-9I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about authors who can’t handle bad reviews, writers who pay people to give them good reviews, authors feeling like their fans owe them good reviews, and Amazon deleting biased reviews. While all of these stories are interesting, I started thinking about regular peoples’ reviews. When there is no controversy, how to people choose how rate the books they read? What makes a book worth a five star review?  Continue reading →

What to Call the Parents in a Young Adult/Children’s Book?

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Almost everyone who knows me well, or has just had a really long conversation with me, knows that I have been a little obsessed with names for a very long time. My early stories (written on Storybook Weaver) consisted mostly of me writing something like: One day girl’s name met boy’s name and they got married and had ten children named list of names, often all starting with the same letter Duggar family style. And they would continue in that vein until I got bored and I would end with something catchy like and they lived happily ever after or the end.  

hello_my_name_is_sticker_by_trexweb1

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The Diviners: A Spooky Scary Tale of the 1920s

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7728889The week, Alison Lee and I read The Diviners, by Libba Bray. To me this book defies description, so I am going to give you links the ones on Amazon and Goodreads. I think the fact that they are so different says a lot. I will tell you that it involves teenagers in the 1920’s with supernatural powers, and features one girl Evie O’Neill who is sent away from her Midwest hometown to stay with her uncle in New York City. The book includes Ouija Boards, speakeasies, and Ziegfeld Follies.  Continue reading →

Marry Date or Dump: Boys from John Green Novels

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6690860951_e88efc3f57_zOne of the best things I’ve gained from blogging is a huge appreciation of John Green.  Actually, it goes way beyond an appreciation considering the amount of time I spend watching him and his brother on Youtube. He seems to have his finger in so many pies right now. And not normal everyday pies… like extra delicious, new flavors, super popular pies. The nerd fighters are everywhere these days.

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Adulthood Take 2: New Life Adventures

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tumblr_mh0ralgrKM1qzr04eo1_500Last year when I started blogging, I was also beginning another adventure of sorts. In one of my first posts, I wrote about not being as settled or “adult” as I expected to be during the first week of a new job in fundraising. And I ended the post saying that I would keep everyone updated on my progress, or my digression.

Well 15 months later, an update is probably overdue. About a month ago, I resigned and gave notice at my job. Last Friday was my last day of work. I don’t want to get into the many problems/gripes that lead to this decision, but I will say that I never felt comfortable in the position (i.e. never moved out).  What comes next is (hopefully) more interesting than anything that has happened in the last year.

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