Tip Tuesday Returns with Tera Lynn Childs

Hi, all! I'm baaack. Some pictures of my trip are posted over at Teen Fiction Cafe, if you're interested. Meanwhile, I'm honored to welcome this week's tipper, Tera Lynn Childs.

Tera is the author of unbelievably fun mythology-based YA fiction, including OH. MY. GODS., GODDESS BOOTCAMP, and FORGIVE MY FINS. You can check out her CITY CHICKS e-books, and be sure to watch for FINS ARE FOREVER in June, and SWEET VENOM, coming your way in October.

Tera had a nomadic childhood, moving around more than my poor kids (don't ask), and has kept up her nomadic ways, jumping from Columbia to University of Colorado and back to Columbia to earn her bachelors in Theater and masters in Historic Preservation. (Hey, I think if you tried really hard, you could come up with some way those majors are related.) She settled in Houston for a while, but has taken up the nomad's life again. Who knows where she'll land next? You can follow Tera's writing and wandering on her website, on facebook, by following her on twitter, and by checking out her youtube channel.

Tera says:

When you get stuck and can't move forward, trying stepping away from the words for a bit and attempt something visual. Draw a moment from your story. Paint the view from your protagonist's bedroom. Or, my favorite, create a collage of magazine pictures that represent your characters. They don't have to be brilliant works of art, but the act of making your brain think about story in a different way might be just the thing your need to get back on track.

(Tera was kind enough to provide an example - this is the collage she made for SWEET VENOM.)

This week's link roundup:

Never too late to learn to read (Scholastic) Inspirational.

The Value of Saying Yes (AdventuresinChildren'sPublishing) Writers' best affirmative response

Finishing the Unfinished Novel (figment) Bonus - tips within the article.

The cure for Melodrama (Seeking the Write Life) Use the Mundane to your advantage.

Outlining: Strategize (Janie Bill) What are the core elements of your plot?

Inspiration: Maureen McGowan (Cynsations) On resources, hanging in there and writing

What are your Words Worth? (Rhiannon Paille) Don't sell yourself short.

EPIC: Trends in PB, MG and (mostly) YA (Mandy Hubbard) This wisdom of 37 meetings.

Cheryl Klein's Plot Checklists (Ingrid's Notes) Links within the link

Hiding the Football (Genreality) When revealing info to readers is better than not.

Do Stories need a Theme? (Jamie Gold) Helps stories resonate with meaning.

Reversals (Nathan Bransford) One of the most important writing concepts to master

12 Ways to learn to Write (Rants and Ramblings)

8 Ways to keep tension in those sagging middles (Laura Pauling)

8 Kinds of Tension (and why you should mix them up) (Chatterbox Chitchat)

7 Essentials for the 1st Page (W.I.P. It)

5 Ways to Avoid Infodump in your Beginnings (Magical Words) c/o Lucienne Diver

4 Ways to Create Endings that Resonate (Julie Musil)

3 Ways to Avoid Creating Unlikable Characters (Jody Hedlund)

3 Ways to keep your dialog Natural

3 Reasons Action is important (& 3 Reasons why it's not) (Victoria Mixon)


Now go. Write!

Freebie Friday with Tera Lynn Childs!

Happy Friday!

Another great book event last night. I'm giving a recap over at Teen Fiction Cafe if you're interested. Meanwhile, I'm stoked to bring you this week's Freebie Friday guest, YA author and all around goddess, Tera Lynn Childs. Tera Lynn is the author of OH.MY. GODS. and the recently-released sequel, GODDESS BOOT CAMP.

Here's the official GODDESS BOOT CAMP blurb:

Phoebe recently discovered she’s a descendent of Nike (the goddess, not the shoe), and now she's finding out that supernatural powers come with a crazy learning curve. Her new stepfather, headmaster of the Academy for descendants of Greek gods, has enrolled her in Dynamotheos Development Camp—aka Goddess Boot Camp—with a bunch of ten-year-olds for the summer. Embarrassing as that is, hopefully it’ll help her get control of her powers in time to pass the test of the gods, continue training hard enough to qualify for the Pythian Games (the only sporting event bigger than the Olympics), and enjoy her godly boyfriend, Griffin, all while avoiding getting smoted for accidental misuse of powers!

Booklist calls GODDESS BOOT CAMP "lighthearted, magic-packed fun" and Kirkus Reviews says the "light and clever story line" makes for a great beach read. Perfect for summer, right? Right! You can read an excerpt here.

And now on to the Standard Interview Questions:

What inspired you to write Goddess Boot Camp?

My editor saying, "We want you to write a sequel!" Just kidding. (Mostly.) Where the premise for the book started, actually, was with the opening line. After Phoebe learns she's a descendant of Nike in Oh. My. Gods. I suddenly pictured her thinking, I. Am. A. Goddess. And then there would be a bit BUT--the whole not being able to control her powers thing--because nothing is ever that simple for Phoebe. That's where the book began.

What excites you?
Learning. I am such an education junkie it's ridiculous. If I'm not watching a specific show on TV (like Psych, Leverage, or Burn Notice) then I'm usually on the Science Channel, the History Channel, or the Discovery Channel. It's an addiction, I'm telling you. I love that moment when you realize you just learned something you never knew you never knew (how very Pocahontas of me, I know). Like how when a liquid is bombarded with sound it creates bubbles that emit light when they burst. (Seriously. It's called sonoluminescence.) That's moment is magic. And it's all research for some unknown future book.

What turns you off?

Complacency. I never want to be happy with what I've got or what I'm doing. I'm always looking for the next thing, the thing that will be bigger and better and more successful or exciting or just more. This applies to my writing, too. No matter how well I think I did on the previous book, I can always do better and work harder on the next one. Melissa Marr once said, "If it's not hard then what's the point." I totally agree. If it's easy, then you're just letting yourself down.

Have you ever gone away to summer camp? What's your favorite (or worst) camp memory?
Never to a fun summer camp, like the girls in Parent Trap (oh, how I dreamed, though). I went to several summers of basketball camp and pretty much all of it is a worst memory. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but I was exhausting and hard and some of the girls were not very nice.

Who is your favorite Goddess and why?
I'm not allowed to choose, because they take it very personally when you pick favorites (see: Troy, War of). Who knows what kind of trouble those ladies would unleash if I let it slip that I prefer smart and powerful Athena. Ooops! Watch out.

If you found out today that you were a descendant of the Gods, what magical power would you wish to have?
There are twelve primary powers that the gods have passed on to their descendants, and the best by far is autoportation. This is the ability to zap yourself literally anywhere in the world. Of course, if you haven't been to that particular spot before you run the risk of finding yourself in the middle of a mountain or something equally dangerous. Autoport at your own risk.

If you could invite anyone you wanted - living or dead - to hang out with you at a weekend retreat, who would you invite and why?

Jane Austen, because she could not only tell me what the Regency world was really like, but also name her inspiration for Mr. Darcy. (Come on, there had to be someone who inspired that character!) Besides, I think she would be delightfully fun and could probably prepare tea like nobody's business.

What's one thing most people don't know about you?

Sometimes I have nightmares about spiders. (I have no idea what causes them because in real life I'm not nearly this terrified of them.) In the nightmare, I'm lying in my bed in my room when a spider suddenly drops down from the ceiling right above me. I jolt up, instantly wide awake and completely convinced that the spider is actually there. I'm used to them now, so I figure out pretty quickly that it was a dream, but the first time it happened (in college) I leaped out of bed, flipped on the light, and spent twenty minutes searching for the spider. Freaked my roommate out.

What's your favorite quote?

I love this one from Mark Twain: The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

Milk Chocolate or Dark?

None. I'm not really a chocolate fan. (Linda's note: gasp!) I'll eat it if there are other things involved (like caramel or marshmallow), but usually I pass on the chocolate. (Again, gasp!!) I do like white chocolate, though, but some people don't consider that chocolate. Just like some people don't consider my hazelnut latte to be coffee. I beg to differ.

To be entered to win a signed copy of GODDESS BOOT CAMP, leave a reply below answering one (or both!) of these questions:
1. What is your favorite/worst summer camp experience?
2. Who is your favorite Greek goddess and why?

This contest will remain open until Wednesday, July 1 or when I get back home, whichever comes latest!

Freebie Friday - Disconnected Edition

Happy Friday from Utah.

Today I had planned to bring you Tera Lynn Childs and a giveaway of GODDESS BOOTCAMP, but I had a little bit of a technical difficulty getting the interview questions... our Nebraska hotel's internet was knocked out by the tornado.

And get this - my kids and I drove right under the tornado before we knew what it was. We had just passed through Aurora, NE when drove under an umbrella-shaped mass of clouds that must have been a couple miles wide. We were watching the lightning and thinking how cool it all was when small cones starting to form and stretch downward and then dissipate. And then we noticed the rotation in the 'umbrella' and we thought, no way. Could it be a tornado? We were moving west and the storm was moving east so we drove out from under it in just a few minutes, but that was enough to get us really pumped. Just a few miles down the road, as we were trying to find a good rock station on the radio, we heard the tornado warnings. They were telling people in Aurora to seek shelter immediately, that a large tornado had touched down and was heading right toward them. And then we knew for sure what we had just passed under. Coolest. Thing. Ever.*

ANYWAY, Tera Lynn and the GODDESS BOOTCAMP giveaway has been rescheduled for next week's Freebie Friday, so don't miss it!

Meanwhile, we have no wireless this week and I am stealing time on my aunt's computer, so we'll make this week's freebie simple. Up for grabs is a $10 Barnes & Noble e-giftcard (to celebrate my B&N event next week with Aprilynne Pike and Syndey Salter!) To be entered to win, leave a message below telling me about your own coolest weather-related experience. The contest will remain open until Tuesday.

*Just so you know, there was some damage from the tornado that hit Aurora, but no one was hurt - at least that's what I understand from the online news I've read. Otherwise, we wouldn't think it was so cool.

Winner! Late... sorry.

Wow. I am so sorry! I just realized that I never posted the winner of last week's Freebie Friday. I was a little distracted... I can't say a whole lot, but we had some news this week that really shook the family. If you all can spare some good vibes and healing thoughts for my brother Reed, I would appreciate it!

Meanwhile, the winner of the Juicy Couture bag is:

Megan

Please send me your mailing instructions to gerb (@) lindageber (.)com and I'll get that sent off to you.

Everyone else, tune in this Friday for another freebie with Tera Lynn Childs!

Tera Lynn Childs comes to the party!

Yay! Tera Lynn Childs is here to party with us! Tera Lyn is the author of OH. MY. GODS. and the upcoming GODDESS BOOT CAMP. This week she's celebrating the release of the paperback edition of OH. MY. GODS. (I love the PB cover!)

When I was in junior high, torn jeans were all the rage. Everyone from Jon Bon Jovi to the most popular girl in school had jeans if various stages of shred—from one big slash below the back pocket to dozens of holes up and down the legs. Everyone wore holey jeans ... except for me. Maybe it was my mom's background as a costumer, but she just could not fathom the appeal of ripping a hole into a pair of perfectly good jeans.

One day, I got home from school while my parents were still at work, and I discovered that the knee of my favorite jeans had a tiny little hole worn through. This was the opportunity I'd been waiting for! I called my mom at work, told her about the tear, and asked her if I could go ahead and cut across the whole knee from that little hole. Minutes later, I'd snipped the knee and started pulling at the edges to give it that frayed, authentically-worn-through look.

When my mom got home she flipped! Apparently, in my excitement I'd neglected to listen to her answer to my question—which had been, quite obviously, “No.” Score one for selective hearing. I got in a little trouble, but every time I played with the frayed edges of that hole when I got bored in class (aka frequently) I knew my accidental rebellion had been worth it. To this day, those were my favorite (and most memorable) pair of jeans.

So let's have a little hot-or-not poll. Are torn jeans awesome ... or appalling?

To be entered to win a copy of the new paperback OH. MY. GODS., leave a reply answering Tera Lynn's question.