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A Chat with Amy Christine Parker and GATED Giveaway
I had a "convo" with my critique partner and friend and all around good person, Amy, now that her debut GATED is about to hit shelves. This is so exciting and I wanted to have a kind of discussion with Amy about how our CP relationship came to fruition as she wrote GATED.
You may recognize Amy's name from my post last year thanking my YA critique partners (CPs). But more than likely you recognize Amy Christine Parker's name because her suspense YA debut GATED is due out from Penguin Random House next week and has been getting great reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. Yay, Amy! Amy and I met on WriteOnCon via a kind of "match up" where you read someone's synopsis on a forum, requested to see more, and then you switched work. If you liked each others writing and found the feedback was helpful BOOM you had yourself a connection. Amy was one of the first people I connected with and I am so, so very thankful for that.
JENN: So, what stuck out to me about Gated was the first line (Shoot to kill, okay) What?!? I was all over it as soon as I read it. And then I kept reading it and you sorted out concerns that we had discussed and perhaps you discussed with Krystalyn and Stefanie as well but what I admired (what I additionally admired) was that you were able to zero in on this stuff and get it done so fast!
AMY: I remember when we met thinking that I loved the way you critiqued. You were just the queen of finding all my inconsistencies. I was beyond excited that I was able to snatch you up! And thanks for thinking that I’m compartmentalizing so well!
JENN: You compartmentalize your time not just as a writer but as a reviewer as well. As a full-time mom and writer and doing everything you do from participating in activities with your kids/their school and reading others work and trying to find time for yourself and your husband it can be so much. That balance is crucial.
AMY: Truth be told I think I spend most days juggling everything like mad and hoping I don’t drop too many balls. Balance isn’t really achieved so much as I make my writing a priority no matter what. I wanted to be a writer--specifically a published writer--so badly that I literally let go of every unnecessary chore/obligation/frivolous time wasting thing that I could. My house is rarely entirely clean. My kids eat takeout just about as often as they get a home cooked meal. The laundry piles up. The balance thing is an ongoing goal I hope to one day come close to achieving. But even if I never do, I’m happy because I’m doing something that I love every single day and my family is happy because I’m much better at being a mom and wife now that I’ve allowed myself to go after my dreams.
JENN: I also realized when reading Gated how specific and unique the story was. This was a story that wasn't being told and could actually happen which upped the creep factor exponentially and it's telling as well that Penguin Random House has so much faith in the story itself but also your writing. Perhaps as writers we kind of zero in on what scares us because there's an internal thrill to it that we can control. When I was a kid my mom had A LOT of Stephen King books. So I read that. And I got into R.L. Stine from there and read some Anne Rice as a teen. I was growing out of BSC and Sweet Valley High/University to reading The Stand. So my mom's taste definitely influenced my own for awhile as I was growing up and lead to me writing this horror story I wrote in high school called "Terror at Bowne." I even did a sequel.
AMY: Stephen King was huge for me growing up, especially his short stories. I was a fairly shy kid and spent tons of time hiding out in the library at school. Uncle Stevie’s books were the ones I pulled off the shelves to keep me company. The short stories were perfect because I could devour them in one library session. To this day, his short stories are what have stuck with me most out of all that I read as a kid and probably had the biggest influence on what I choose to write now. Although...there were also these creepy story records I used to listen to with my cousins when I was really little (yes, I am that old, I had vinyl records AND 8 track tapes). I forget almost everything about the stories on those records, but I will never forget the sounds and the tone of the people’s voices as they told the stories. It made my hair stand on end and afterwards I would have the worst time sleeping. After every “up all night” session I had I’d swear off listening to them, but then I could never actually make myself do that and before long I’d be listening to them all over again. Scary stories have always, always been my favorites which is funny I guess, because my mom is much more of a sci fi/fantasy reader who likes things to stay light. When I tell her my latest ideas, she’s always a little freaked out! She’s wondered out loud more than once where my fascination comes from. I think for me it isn’t so much a thrill I can control, but more of a way of explaining evil and how it works to my readers and maybe most often, to myself. I think on some level maybe I’m looking to understand it so I can see it coming in people or situations and avoid it...but really, on the surface I think it’s mainly that I find scaring and being scared to be a lot of fun!
THE GIVEAWAY
Amy is being super generous by offering up a GATED prize pack with her debut's release! See the pictures of the items below. Ohhh. Ahhh.
@WriteOnCon's Mid-Winter PitchFest 2013
WriteOnCon's mid-winter PitchFest starts in one week. Sign up, post pitches, cross fingers since at least a dozen agents will be on the hunt for new YA and/or MG titles to potentially represent.
The time is nearing for WriteOnCon's mid-winter PitchFest for 2013! This is a great opportunity for emerging writers to pitch their completed YA/MG manuscripts with agents on the hunt!
A couple of weeks ago the forums opened so that writers could post their pitches on the YA or MG writers' forum to get feedback from other writers on their pitches. I put mine up for my YA sci-fi piece and got incredibly helpful feedback. The people on the board are helpful and generous and have some great pitches themselves. I learned a lot about the process of getting to-the-point in my pitch and am confident the synopsis for my book is much stronger thanks to the input from others.
So sign up for alerts from WriteOnCon to find out more about the upcoming PitchFest and other PitchFest/Conferences they have throughout the year. As I may have mentioned in my post thanking my YA critique partners I met these wonderful ladies through WriteOnCon and have been all the richer for it. So, just sign up. There's nothing to lose only stuff to gain.
Happy writing!
(Giving) Thanks to my YA Critique Partners!
Taking a moment to give thanks to my critique partners who have helped me along the way in my revision of my YA novel.
'Tis the time of year to give thanks for what you have. And many times that translates to who you have in your life. Of course I'm thankful to ALL my friends, family, and fellow foodies for their support through a rough year and rough times ahead. For all the warm fuzzies, well wishes, shoulders to vent and cry on, and baked goods galore. Y'alls are the best. But I did want to take a moment and thank those who have been especially helpful for a writing project I've been tackling. Being NaNoWriMo month and me focusing on a complete revision of my young adult (YA) novel I wanted to take a moment and give HUGE, MAGNANIMOUS thanks to my critique partners for this young adult project, tentatively titled The Facility. Your reading and re-reading (and re-reading) as well as your advice, well wishes, and kindness has been helpful beyond expression. :-)
While I have a growing list of great people and fellow writers to thank for my growth as a writer from the time I started in junior high to now I'm singling out the ladies who have aided me in getting more confidence as I pursue the YA project that had been in my mind since I started undergrad and just never thought I had the chutzpah to pursue. Well, nine years later here it goes.
I met my CPs on WriteOnCon when there was a launch for a kind of blind dating of potential CPs. You posted your project to the forum and looked at what others posted and you inquired with each other and submitted work. If you liked each other's style then you connected and from then on things went very well for me!
What I admire most about Amy is not only her writing style but her organization and ability to get stuff done. Amy's debut The Silo is coming out next year with Random House and it's a whopper lemme tell you. When I read the first few pages I was thinking to myself "This is so good. I want to read more! Crap, I hope she likes my work!"
Amy hones into her characters and their deepest fears. (If you've read her stuff on Fiction Femme Fatale you'll know what I mean.) Her contemporary work is original and something I'm confident readers will grasp on and relate to. It hits you from the first page and you relate to everyone in some way, the good and the bad.
Amy has been great with helping me think on the bigger picture and connecting the dots on things I may not have seen in my work. We're all pretty critical when we read a book and think "Well why didn't the writer think of that?" Amy is that reader who aids you as writer to zone in on that so the story doesn't go off-kilter at any point and you can enjoy the piece. In my latest revision her advice has been astoundingly helpful and also hit points that I had been questioning myself.
Jenny is a magnificent world builder and has a deep love for the young adult and the fantastical. She's been incredibly helpful in terms of moving things along and also digging deeper into what should urk the reader. Which is totally what I was going for! Jenny has helped me tighten action scenes and push deeper in terms of the larger piece so that it moves faster and doesn't drag.
Jenny is also an idea person. She has amazing premises and thoughts on how to move things along. Every NaNoWriMo I'm amazed and in awe of how much material she produces and how deep she goes into the worlds she creates. The first novel I read of hers reminded me of Harry Potter. When I read it and reread it, I wanted to get lost in it again, but I had to give her critiques asap! Knowing her love for Potter I saw the influence but also her own twist and originality in creating a cool group of people and a multitude of layers for a series that I'm certain will be embraced by readers.
Nicole is a phenom when it comes to pacing. Every time I read her work I'm amazed at how much happens in so few pages. Her prose is fast-paced but you get so much in the details of what she adds in. From her work I learn precision. I keep reviewing her stuff in the hopes that it'll seep into my brain by osmosis. She hits the darkside of things in her writing while always maintaining to insert a bit of hope.
Nicole has been great in letting me know what works even if I'm concerned it doesn't while also noting tweaks and changes in details, characters, and scenes. And because of her knowledge of the genre she pinpoints aspects of these characters lives I should consider for later on.
Nicole is also a baking nut like myself. Baking bonds so many people.
I'd also like to give thanks to Carrie Bastyr who read preliminary bits of this work. Her advice has also helped as I revise the series.
These ladies have helped me immensely in the revision stages. Having CPs who are avid readers and detailed critiquers will advance your work by leaps and bounds, I promise you.
So, as I plug away on the 3rd draft and look over the insightful comments from my CPs, I just wanted to extend a very big, interwebz, pre-Thanksgiving THANKS for all your help and support. Your advice, your persistence, your wonderful writing first and foremost, has inspired and helped me grow. And I'm super glad we connected via WriteOnCon. :-)