MARCH MADNESS IS HERE! #WIPMADNESS

If you’ve been looking for a challenge to get your writing in gear, you’ve come to the right place! Through the month of March we will be cheering each other on to meet challenging goals with our writing.

Also, this year we've decided to open up the challenge to Readers, Bloggers, and Illustrators. Basically, anyone who wants to challenge themselves regarding books and win prizes for it!

Today is goal-setting day! 

(But if you don't make it here on the first day, not to worry. Feel free to add your writing goals here any time during the month of March).

March Madness officially begins tomorrow, and this is how it will work.

1. Set a goal here (anything writing, reading, blogging, or otherwise book related). It can be as small and simple of a goal as turning off your Internet while you write during the month of March. Or it can be as large as writing or revising an entire book.

2. Check in daily through the month of March at our designated check-in points. Let us know how you're doing with your goal. Share your victories and struggles. Encourage others. The key is support and camaraderie.

3. We give you prizes just for stopping by and letting us know how you're doing, and for encouraging others!

Sounds easy and fun, right?! The following will be the check-in points for the month of March. We plan to have check-in posts up and running by 9AM PST (noon EST) each day.

Mondays – LS Taylor will host at  http://lstaylor.blogspot.com
Tuesdays – Shari Green will host at http://www.sharigreen.com
Wednesdays – Angelina Hansen will host at  http://yascribe.blogspot.com
Thursdays – Mary Ann Scott will host at http://thebrokentree.blogspot.com

Fridays – Denise Jaden will host at  http://denisejaden.blogspot.com 
Saturdays – Kim Baccelia will host at  http://kimbacceliasweblogfantasy.blogspot.com

Sundays – Kelsey Macke will host at http://www.kelseyiswriting.blogspot.com

The prizes! We have some truly awesome prizes up for grabs this year! We will start by giving away a prize to one person who comments below with their goals within the next 24 hours!

Here are the prizes that are up for grabs (these are in no particular order and have been donated by my generous co-hosts for this event!):

$25 toward craft book of choice (Courtesy of Deb Marshall - International) 

First Five Pages Critique (Courtesy of Angelina Hansen - International)

First Five Pages OR Query Critique (Courtesy of Denise Jaden International)

10-Page critique (Courtesy of Jaye Robin Brown - International)

Query Critique (Courtesy of Kelsey Macke - International)

First Chapter Critique (Courtesy of Kelsey Macke - International)

First Chapter Critique (Courtesy of L.S. Taylor - International)

Bookish Jewelry (Courtesy of Mary Ann Scott - US mailing only)

Writer's Emergency Kit (A surprise pack of writerly goodness! - Courtesy of Shari Green - International)


 IF I TELL by Janet Gurtler (Courtesy of Angelina Hansen - US mailing only)

DARKBEAST by Morgan Keyes (Courtesy of L.S. Taylor - US/Canada mailing only)

Books courtesy of Kim Baccelia (US mailing only):

TEAM HUMAN by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
NECROMANCING THE STONE by Lish McBride
TIME BETWEEN US by Tamara Ireland Stone
FATHOMLESS by Jackson Pearce
 SHADOWS ON THE MOON by Zoe Marriott
CITY OF LOST SOULS by Cassandra Clare
THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
 SPARK/STORM by Brigid Kammerer
INSIGNIA by S.J. Kincaid
OUTPOST by Ann Agguire

Books courtesy of Denise Jaden (US mailing only):

HOW I LOST YOU (SIGNED ARC!) by Janet Gurtler
SEVER (ARC) by Lauren DeStefano
RUSH (ARC) by Eve Silver
YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO (ARC) by Bonnie Shimko
IN TOO DEEP (ARC) by Coert Voorhees
BROTHER, BROTHER (ARC) by Clay Carmichael
RIPTIDE (ARC) by Lindsey Scheibe
ALSO KNOWN AS... (ARC) by Robin Benway
LOVE IN THE TIME OF GLOBAL WARMING (ARC) by Francesca Lia Block
FOREVERMORE (ARC) by Cindy Miles

Isn’t that quite the ARSENAL of prizes?! Wow, thank you all!!

AND…thank also to Kelsey Macke, we have a fabulous badge for this year’s event. It’s on the sidebar and also below, so go ahead and post it somewhere proudly and link it back to this post.

I'm going to be perfectly honest about what happened with me during last March Madness. I re-wrote (from scratch) my WIP novel, FINDING HOPE. Yes, the entire thing. It was planned to be a companion novel to LOSING FAITH, but by about the third week in, I hated it--couldn't stand the plot or the characters or anything about it. I took a few deep breaths, talked to a few really wonderfully motivating writer-friends (thanks, #wipmadness!) and decided to push through. I forced myself to write the book until it at least had an ending. Then I told myself I could put it away and never look at the stupid thing again.


I'm telling you this so that if you get stuck, or if you find yourself waking up one day and despising this goal project you started...you're not alone. Definitely not.

There is a happy ending to this story, however! It took me eleven months, but I decided to go back and read FINDING HOPE last month, just to see how horrible it was. It turned out...I loved it! It needed lots of work still, of course, but I could see with such clear eyes how to fix it and move forward and actually make this book into something someone may one day want to read!

As for this year's goal, just out of pure craziness, I'm starting another companion novel, which will tell a secondary character's story from FINDING HOPE. I don't have much of an outline for it, but I plan to push through and finish a first draft by the end of March.

How about you? What are your goals for this March? Have you done this challenge with us before, and if so, how has it worked out for you? I'd love to hear!

Don't forget to leave your goal(s) in the comments below, and head on over to Kim Baccelia's Blog  tomorrow for your first check-in! Remember, the more you check-in and encourage others, the better chance you have of winning some great prizes! And if you set your goal within the next twenty-four hours below, you have a good chance at winning one right away!

ONWARD, Fearless Writers!

March Madness Writing, Reading, and Blogging Challenge! #WIPMadness

It’s almost March and time for an Almost-Nano Challenge! If you have a writing project you’re ready to start, or a work in progress you’re ready to finish, come and join the fun. Accountability is our main aim and the more support we have, the easier it will be to sail on through the month of March, bouncing along on each others successes!

And, like last year, we're opening up March Madness to readers who want to challenge themselves to read more, bloggers who want to challenge themselves to blog more, and illustrators who want to challenge themselves to illustrate more! Basically, anything to do with books!

And did I mention there will be PRIZES? Prizes will not be awarded based on how much you write, read, draw, or blog, but simply on how involved you are in the Big Accountability Plan. There will be check-in points every day through the month of March. Each time you check in and record your progress, your name will be entered into a draw for some great prizes, including some high demand books and even critiques! And not only that, but the more you encourage others along the way (in the comments), the more times your name will go into the hat!

Spread the word, and check out http://denisejaden.blogspot.com Friday, March 1st, to put your goals officially in writing and find out the locations of the check-in points. If you’re ready to get serious, don’t do it alone…Get serious with us!

Now is the time to be setting your Ambitious Goals for the month of March! (Trust me, you will be able to accomplish much more than normal with the added camaraderie and support, so don't be afraid to set the bar a little higher.) If you haven't already, start meeting up with us on Twitter under the hashtag #WIPMadness .

 As writers, we can tend to think that other writers have an easier time than us. We see people breaking ridiculously high word-count goals, or selling books they seem to have just started writing. But I want to share a little secret: It's hard for all of us. It really is. And I'm going to tell you a little more about my personal experience with that on March 1st.

Please spread the word about this Challenge. There will be lots to win throughout the month and the more support we have, the better all of our goals will go this month! Let me just show you a little peek at some of the books I'll be letting you choose from (don't worry if you can't see. I'll have them listed on the 1st), but believe me there will be many more prizes yet to come!

So check back in here March 1st. If you're such a proud participant that you want to let everyone know, grab the March Madness badge from the sidebar (Thanks to Kelsey Macke for that!) and put it somewhere prominent.

Everyone is welcome and the more the merrier! Let's march into March like the mad group of writers we are!!!

Random Acts of Kindness Winner!

Congratulations to Brittany Utley --the winner from my recent Random Acts of Kindness blog hop! Brittany will have lots of new books to enjoy! If you're a writer, reader, blogger, or illustrator, make sure to check back this Friday, as I'll be launching into MARCH MADNESS, which will include a whole slew of great prizes throughout the month of March. Congrats again, Brittany!

Random Acts of Kindness Blog Hop!

When I saw the title of this blog hop, I knew I had to be a part of it. I love random acts of kindness, or any acts of kindness, really. They renew my faith in humanity.

My first thought, as I considered this hop, is what I could do as a kindness to others. I thought of writers first, because that's what I do, and I wondered, "What is the one thing I would want as a writer?" More people to buy my books, of course. But, don't worry, I don't expect you all to go out and buy books as part of this hop!

My next thought was about reviews. Many people probably don't know the value of reviews. The more reviews a book has, the more visible it will be and the more it will come up on searches online. I try to leave short reviews on Amazon or B&N or GoodReads for books I really love, and I will be doing a little extra of that sort of thing this week, but then I had an idea: What if I had all of YOU help me spread this kindness to authors?

So to enter this contest, you can give me up to three links of places you've left reviews (they can all be on Amazon for different books, or you can leave one for the same book in three different places--it's up to you!) ALL REVIEWS MUST BE NEW ONES, POSTED DURING THE DURATION OF THIS CONTEST. Even if you've written stockpiles of reviews, I'll bet you can find three books that you haven't taken time to write a quick review for yet. You'll get an entry for each.

As my act of kindness to you (besides the prizes below), I'll give you one free entry just for stopping by.

You may wonder why you should bother with all this reviewing. Well, if I haven't sold you on the ACTS OF KINDNESS reason, let me sell you on this: I'll be offering this box of books to one lucky winner:

In case you can't make them out from the picture, here is what is included in the box:

A sneak preview of SOME QUIET PLACE by Kelsey Sutton

An ARC of THE SUMMER PRINCE by Alaya Dawn Johnson

An ARC of AVENGER by Heather Burch

An ARC of YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO by Bonnie Shimko

An ARC of PERMANENT RECORD by Leslie Stella

An ARC of THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey

An ARC of THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR by Karen Finneyfrock

A finished copy of SHADOW GIRL by Patricia Morrison

A SIGNED ARC of BRUISED by Sarah Skilton

An ARC of SKETCHY by Olivia Samms

An ARC of SHADOW LANDS by Kate Brian

An ARC of THE WHOLE STUPID WAY WE ARE by N. Griffin

An ARC of PIECES by Chris Lynch

A finished copy of ARTICLE 5 by Kristen Simmons

And...I"m throwing in a signed copy of LOSING FAITH, my debut novel.

You have to admit, that's quite a haul! Due to mailing costs, I can only mail out to a U.S. address (crossing my fingers that one day Canada will have media mail). Your reviews do not have to be full of flowery words and descriptions, or even long. Just say a little something nice about the books you love, and you will be entered! (And, no, they do not have to be my books, but I will give you extra cyber hugs and thank you's if they are). This hop will run from as soon as it is live until February 24th.

Spreading the word about this contest will not earn you extra entries, but it is still a nice thing to do. :-)

I commission you...go forth and show some kindness to your favorite authors...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Five!

1. There are so many things I'm excited about right now. First, I'm putting together a contest and giving away an entire BOX of ARCs from ALA. It will be up later this weekend, in honor of Random Acts of Kindness day, and so you will have to perform some specific acts of kindness to enter. Stay tuned!

2. The audiobook for LOSING FAITH is in production! I didn't want to say anything until it was confirmed, but it is, and so now I can blab it from the rooftops! There will be an audiobook for LOSING FAITH (and hopefully NEVER ENOUGH - more on that coming). The best thing about this is the narrator, and I can't tell you who it is yet, but let's just say I'm super-excited about it. I've always wanted to have at least one of my books in audio, as I am a huge lover of audiobooks, so I'm thrilled that this is finally happening.

3. My awesome mother is taking me on a cruise! I'm terribly excited about this, as I haven't had a relaxing vacation in a long long while. Plus, I am so very ready for a piece of the sun. I've been dieting and working out strenuously to try to fit into some of my summer clothes before I go, so I'm a little bit grumpy these days, but still, terribly terribly excited!

4. Have you read CATCHING JORDAN by Miranda Kineally? If not, I highly recommend this book and I'm not even finished reading it. It's living in my gym bag right now and it is honestly my number one motivation for getting to the gym these days. Read it. You'll love it.

 

5. March Madness! It's just around the corner and it's going to be AWESOME this year. If you don't know what it's about, you can check my blog for last March's posts - basically a lot of cameraderie and prizes for sticking to our writing goals throughout March. I encourage you to start thinking about your goals for March now. They should be ambitious goals, more ambitious than you make for the rest of the year (except perhaps if you participate in NaNo). They can be anything, though, and we will hold you accountable. There are some really amazing prizes to be won as well--critiques and books and ARCs. You'll want to be here, trust me. And if you're up for it, display the little badge below on your blog or wherever. Tell people you are a proud participant in March Madness and help us spread the word.

Thanks for helping spread the word, and don't forget to check back here on Sunday or Monday for my HUGE contest! Happy weekend, everyone!

#Free For #Writers

Hey, Writer Friends!

I have a 3-day promotion going on for my book WRITING WITH A HEAVY HEART: USING GRIEF AND LOSS TO STRETCH YOUR FICTION.

It's absolutely and totally FREE! I'm doing this to help spread the word about this book, and my writing, and to garner reviews. For those of you who are not aware, the more reviews a book has, the more visible it will be in searches.

So if you're interested, please download your free copy here. I would offer you my undying gratitude and multiple cyber-hugs if you would post a review once you've read it, or if you spread the word about this promotion.

Here is a little more about the book...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-With-Heavy-Heart-ebook/dp/B009DRLA32

In her first non-fiction book, Denise Jaden explores the stages and outlets of grief and how to implement them into your fiction to create more interesting characters and a more engaging plot. Some topics of this book include: grieving before the loss, spiritual matters, and how grief affects different ages, personality types, and genders. Find out how to implement heavy emotional scenes authentically, without crossing over into melodrama. Learn which authors have done this well, and how they did it.
Denise Jaden's first two YA novels are infused with grieving and loss, and she'll explain some of the revision process of getting to the depth of her stories.

Here is some of what others are saying about Writing With a Heavy Heart...

  "Jaden's Writing With A Heavy Heart is a must-have for any writer's craft shelf. The combination of clear guidance and practical exercises allow writers to take their manuscripts to a deeper level."
- Eileen Cook Author of Unraveling Isobel and The Almost Truth

“Writing With A Heavy Heart absolutely nails the grieving process. I love the exercises included, because, to me, they make the whole thing a tangible help in applying it to a work in progress.”
- Janet Gurtler, author of If I Tell and Who I Kissed

"Writing With A Heavy Heart has a lot of really good insights on grief and suggestions on how to incorporate them to fiction."
- Lee Strauss, author of The Perception Series

"Jaden's Writing with a Heavy Heart helped me add layers to my characters who experience loss. The tools provided in this piece make it practical in my writing projects."
- Cindy Callaghan, author of Just Add Magic and Purses, Palaces and Photographic Proof

YA Blog Hop Winner!

Congratulations to Holly Letson, who was the winner of my recent YA Blog Hop, and will get to enjoy her TEN new books!

If you're not the winner, not to worry. I have a free book for you too! You'll have to check back here on Friday to see what it is.

Congratulations again to Holly, and thanks to all who entered the YA Blog Hop!