Ramblings of a Drifting Mind

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Vlog

I know. I know. It's me. On screen. Talking.

I thought I'd drop in and actually SAY hi to you all this time, as well as talk about reviews a little and bring up SCBWI NY Winter Conference. But recording myself isn't something I do a whole lot. So I apologize for the blurring, the lighting, and the text message I get about halfway through the video. Enjoy, and please don't make fun of me too much. (If you don't want to watch, you aren't missing much...Just me.)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Review: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

Age Group: Young Adult

Published: November 30, 2010 by Dutton Juvenile
Format: Hardcover, 366 pgs.
Source: Gift

Description:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Review: Z

Z by Michael Thomas Ford

Age Group: Young Adult
Published: September 7, 2010 by HarperTeen
Format: Hardcover, 288 pgs.
Source: Purchased

Description:

The First Rule of Torching: Cleanse with fire.

Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around—at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.

The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.

But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The real zombie war is now more than fifteen years in the past, and the battle to defeat the deadly epidemic that devastated his family—and millions of others—is the stuff of history lessons.

The Third Rule of Torching: You can't bring them back.

Charlie is the top-ranked player in the game. Since all the players are shrouded in anonymity, Josh never expects Charlie to be a girl—and he never expects the offer she makes him: to join the underground gaming league that takes the virtual-reality game off the screen and into the streets. Josh is thrilled. But the more involved he gets, the more he realizes that not everything is what it seems. Real blood is spilling, members of the team are disappearing, and the zombies in the game are acting strange. And then there's the matter of a mysterious drug called Z. . . .

Review: The Replacement

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Age Group: Young Adult
Published: September 21, 2010 by Razorbill
Format: Hardcover, 343 pgs.
Source: Purchased

Description:

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

Blog Fest Mashup

There are a couple blog fests going around today that I wanted to get in on, so I think I'll participate in both. The first in Katrina Lantz's New Year's Revision Blog Party. Katrina had the idea for everyone to share their revision plans, since revision can be a bit of a drag sometimes. So for 2011, here's what I've got planned:

I want to have the 2nd draft of The Sandman's Apprentice finished before February. I'm already 20k into it and I'm hoping the final draft will be closer to 45k, which looks very doable.

I'll look back over draft two and fix all the things I know need to be fixed.

By the third week of February, I want to have my own revisions finished so I can send TSA off to others to read and crit. I really only have one or two people I can send it to, so I may be posting come February for CPs.

Hopefully, in March I can work on any- and everything I get feedback on and be completely finished before April.

So there you have it, that's my very loose schedule for revisions, and with any lucky I'll actually be finished a lot earlier than that. But I won't hold my breath. The story is the easiest thing for me to fix, so the technical aspects are what will be the most time consuming. Here's to a productive 2011!

What are your revision plans?

And now, for the other blog fest from Vicki Rocho: Eye Candy.

So, because I love each and everyone of you, I'm going to try to get some eye candy that everyone can appreciate.

For the guys, the always lovely Kate Beckinsale.