Young Writers Society

Blue's Crews
6 hours ago

lliyah, Mageheart, tatteredbones, Omni, Snoink, Que

BYE Edna has 10,000 GoodReads adds!! That list from the other day definitely helped, by the way - there were almost 1,000 adds just on the day after it appeared in the GoodReads newsletter.

My stretch goal for GoodReads adds by the end of 2022 was 750. I CRY.

Blue's Crews
Mar 20, 2023

Mageheart, yosh, EternalRain, Spearmint, Horisun, Que, tatteredbones, WaffleCat

Announcement time! On , I'm having a virtual book launch for Remarkable Retirement! Join me and Cute Mutants author SJ Whitby as we discuss my debut, play book launch bingo sorry, Edna, and do some giveaways.

Registration is free through Eventbrite. The launch will be on Zoom, and the date in this post has been automatically adjusted to your time zone!

Blue's Crews
Mar 17, 2023

looseleaf, Mageheart, Omni, Que, lliyah, Spearmint, Snoink, tatteredbones, WaffleCat

BYE I AM POSTING FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. Edna is on GoodReads's list of The Biggest New Fantasy & Sci-Fi Books for Spring, and I am OVERWHELMED

When I say I didn't expect Edna to ever end up on such a list, I mean it. There were the two years of "this isn't marketable" rejections from agents. And while I love working with Hansen House, small presses - despite the great work so many of them do - are often passed over when it comes to "most anticipated" and similar lists.

(Just ask all the 2023 Debuts who are in the small-pub channel in Slack! Being passed over for lists and events is a common woe.)

So to see Edna on a list of BIGGEST releases - to see her called one of spring's BIGGEST fantasy books - is mind-blowing, and so overwhelming that my physical reaction to seeing this list was to...have a panic attack, because apparently my body interpreted heretofore unknown levels of excitement as panic?? It was very odd, but WHATEVER, STILL EXCITED.

The link in the write-up currently goes to the wrong book, but a friend commented on the post with the correct link! And regardless, Edna is still mentioned in the write-up and included (with the correct link) in the list.

Blue's Crews
Mar 12, 2023

Mageheart, Snoink, tatteredbones, yosh, Spearmint

highlights from saturday's q&a

Omni
Mar 11, 2023

Mageheart, BluesClues

Just preordered Remarkable Retirement <3 it's on google! it autocompleted for me at remarkable re--

Preordered kindle version and paperback because I don't know which way I'll want to read it >.> but it'll be a wonderful birthday present

Blue's Crews
Mar 11, 2023

Mageheart, Horisun, Snoink, yosh, Que, Spearmint

Had my first real author event today! My uni hosted a session of Power of the Pen, a statewide writing program/contest for seventh-graders, and they asked me to speak to the participants for 45 minutes before the awards ceremony.

It was slightly awkward at the start - I kept waiting for someone to introduce me or tell me I should get started or something, but no one did. So my friend/the tech guy was like, "I'd just start," and I got going.

My topic was "Write What You Know: Putting YOU in Your Writing" and explored the meaning of that popular writing adage, "write what you know." It was a presentation with a slight participation element: I gave the kids a rundown of my past and current stories, then asked them (a) whether I'm an 83-year-old/a dragon-rider/cursed with immortality, (b) whether I "write what I know," and (c) what they know about me from my stories.

They were SO ENGAGED and so funny! When I asked if I were 83, cursed, used to dragons, etc., some of them yelled "maybe" or "yes." Answers were VERY mixed when I asked when I write what I know, which is GREAT - just what I wanted to get them thinking. And they hit every point I'd tried to make when I asked what they'd learned about me from my writing.

(In case you're wondering, my conclusion is that "write what you know" doesn't mean you can only write about your own real, lived experiences, but that you should put your authentic self into your stories: your interests, your emotions and reactions, your struggles, your joys, and your identity.)

Then we had a Q&A, and they had such great questions! I also loved that their questions were a mix of craft, general writing, and publishing. Like, someone asked about how to write complex worlds without boring the readers and someone else asked whether I use traditional fantasy creatures in my books or make up new creatures. But someone else asked how to find motivation to write and another asked what inspires me to keep writing after all these years. And the last question, which I thought was perfect to end on, was what to do if a publisher rejects you.

Anyway, it was a great event for me, and I hope it was great for the kids, too!

Blue's Crews
Mar 10, 2023

Spearmint, Mageheart, tatteredbones, Que

Now book launch things are happening :eyes:

Blue's Crews
Mar 8, 2023

Horisun, Que, tatteredbones, lliyah, Mageheart

Things are happening!! Print copies are starting to populate at major retailers, meaning preordering is now available through more stores - including Book Depository, which has free shipping to anywhere in the world! I'm so excited about what this could mean for preorders, especially from my international peeps who would've had to pay an arm and a leg for shipping through the publisher.

Click the picture to be taken to my Linktree for a full set of buy links! There's also a link to the GoodReads giveaway (U.S. and Canada only*) and the audiobook Kickstarter.

Blue's Crews
Mar 6, 2023

Que, tatteredbones, Snoink, Mageheart

Here's a really fun Picrew that the Twitter writing community has been using the last couple days - and here's the cast of Remarkable Retirement in its style!

Spoiler! :

Blue's Crews
Feb 28, 2023

Mageheart, Snoink, yosh, Que, Omni, Horisun, tatteredbones, Spearmint

BYE I AM DECEASED. Sangu Mandanna, author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, which became an instant fave and new comfort book when I read it over Christmas, tagged me in an Instagram post: one of the books she's looking forward to in 2023 is Remarkable Retirement!!!

I have been screaming internally about this ALL DAY and got nothing done at work for approximately 20 minutes after seeing the tag. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is my ideal book as a reader and the kind of book I'm leaning more toward writing since Edna. In fact, it's one of my comp titles for Buried Things!

Needless to say, this is one of the most exciting things that's happened to me since signing my contract omg.

Blue's Crews
Feb 26, 2023

Horisun, Snoink, tatteredbones, Que, Mageheart

Proofs arrived while I was gone over the weekend!! These aren't the final copies - headers & a blurb will go on the book yet - but we're getting close.

(As in, this is my last chance to catch typos close lolol.)

Edna was just as excited to see the proofs as I was (and eager to start reading).

Blue's Crews
Feb 15, 2023

Mageheart, lliyah, Que

There's a GoodReads giveaway for Remarkable Retirement, now through mid-March! US and Canada only, as it's for print copies (and a l a s shipping is expensive).