A Couple of Recommendations
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I also finished “Lipstick Apology,” which I loved, mainly because it reminded me of the type of writing I do—contemporary romance, but with a unique hook. Nice reason to love it, huh? But really, I would suggest this debut author as well.
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Thoughts on Form Letters
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Last week I received a request for my full manuscript from an agent. The difference from all the others I’ve ever received, however, was that it was very personal. The agent took the time to be very specific in what she liked about my book. In the past, not only have I gotten form rejections, but I’ve gotten form “request for more” emails. Even if this agent doesn’t end up taking me on, her email made my day (and my week, and month, maybe year!).
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Since I teach hundreds of online students at any given time, I know the value of a form email. I understand from an agent’s perspective—who is getting hundreds of submissions a day—why a form response is necessary. And I would definitely rather receive a form response than no response at all.
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But I do notice a huge difference from my students when I use a personal response. They are grateful, and it seems to make a difference in their attitude. It’s during those times that I realize how valuable a personal response can be.
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Of course I get that this isn’t always realistic. For those of us whose jobs include dealing with mass quantities of individuals, giving personal responses to everyone would be a joke—we’d never get anything done.
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But I do think that once in a while we should consider that we are not robots nor are the individuals on the other side of the computer robots, and personal responses can make a world of difference in their lives. While it’s not always possible, we should strive to make it happen when our gut tells us we should.

Just some thoughts for you today
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Have a great week!

When Swift hosted Saturday Night Live last week, she was funny! Here is the video “Monologue” from that:

And her performance on SNL:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZU0KjdkBaM]

One more week until “New Moon”! Do you have your tickets yet? I do! (Yes, I’m way too excited about it).

I’ve been reading faster and more often these days, so I have two book reviews this week:

“Evermore” by Alyson Noel

St. Martin’s, 2009

Thoughts

I’m not usually a paranormal fan, but this reminded me somewhat of “Twilight.” It has a contemporary feel and a great love story with a lot of mystery that keeps you turning the pages. If you enjoy paranormal YA romance, I would recommend this author. This book is part of the “Immortals” series, and the second book (the sequence to “Evermore”) was released a couple of months ago.

“Lost It” By Kristen Tracy

Info

Simon Pulse, 2007

Thoughts

This contemporary YA is about a girl who loses her virginity, and the way she deals with it, along with her struggling family situation. The author has a great voice and style that keep you moving through the story. I liked the ending and how the character was changed even though we don’t quite know what will end up happening in her life.

Keep reading and have a great week!

Is Taylor Swift dating Taylor Lautner? I don’t know, but that would be pretty sweet (we’ll all feel some sort of satisfaction that Edward wasn’t the only one to snag a good girl). Taylor Swift just put out a killer video called “Fifteen.” Go for your dreams girls and forget those boys (unless they’re buying you Starbucks, of course, then give them a few minutes of your time).

Miley Raps—Or at Least Tries

I love Miley Cyrus. I’m not even a teen (no, I won’t tell you how old I am, but I recently exited my 20s), and yet I love her movies and music. When she quit Twitter with more than 1 million followers, I was disappointed. There were rumors she quit because her boyfriend told her to. Then she clarified in, um, a rap video (yes, a rap video) that she quit because she wants her privacy. If she wants her privacy she shouldn’t be putting out rap videos! Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSOTQPUQoU]

Thank you to Jenny B. Jones who told me about the Jimmy Falon spoof, which I was sorry I missed but glad I could find it online.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmtB0fx6mQ]

News for Writers

So the buzz/arguments/blogs this week in the CBA publishing world surrounded the fact that the biggest CBA publisher there is, Thomas Nelson, has added a self-publishing imprint. It’s controversial because, well, somewhere along the lines we got this idea that self-published books were garbage. It’s also controversial because the imprint name they are using was used at one time for some well-known authors. A few years ago they switched those authors under the Thomas Nelson imprint, but still, not some happy authors out there.

Personally—other than the imprint name problem—I think it’s a great idea. It’s a way to make money, and the face of publishing is changing dramatically. It should be an option for those who want it, and Thomas Nelson will offer a nice product for those authors (mostly non-fiction writers, although I am still waiting for the day when some fiction author self-publishes a teen novel and makes a ton of money because (1) teens live online, and (2) teens don’t care what a book’s imprint is).

Anyway, you can read a balanced response to the move on agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog.

In Other News

• A few weeks ago I posted a blog about teens in the news, failing to post any positive stories. Then I read this great article about a new book coming out (“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”) telling the story of a teen in Africa who changed his community. Very touching and heart-warming story that you can read here.
• If you are a teen author, you should join two awesome groups that I’ve recently joined. One is the YA RWA (YARWA) chapter. They have a fun loop, and since they are new they have a lot of other things planned for the future. The second is TeenLitAuthors, a Yahoo group that discusses everything YA. They often have guest agents and authors on the loop to answer questions.

Have a great weekend!
Sandi

Muslim girl converts to Christianity; runs away from home. You may have heard of the teenage girl who converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity and was scared of her parents “killing” her, so she ran away from home. A custody battle is in the courts trying to determine if she is indeed in any danger.

Teen sets self on fire after watching YouTube video. I wouldn’t blame YouTube for this one. And maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but teens (and adults) often doing dumb things. It’s part of growing up. Lesson learned.

12-year-old Yemeni girl married to 24-year-old; dies after childbirth. It’s really sad this type of stuff is still going on in our world. Quit calling it in the name of culture and call it for what it really is: rape and pathetic.

High school football player wrestles gun from girl on bus. A senior football player is a hero after taking away a gun from a girl on a bus who was angry. Not that I condone her behavior, of course, but she apparently was mad because of other people who had been making fun of her. Just another example of the problem of bullying in our high schools. In this article, they say she never went to a teacher about the bullying and when someone threw a piece of paper at her she just smiled. Please. Not all these kids ask for help when they need it, so we can’t expect they will.

Muslim teen sues A&F for discrimination. I suppose I would be mad if I were told I couldn’t wear a cross necklace to a job, but I would think businesses have the right to make you dress in uniform, so I can understand their side of it too.

Will online college kill traditional college? Since I teach online college, I found this article to be compelling.

VFW Essay Contest. My friend Mechelle sent me this great link. In light of Patriot’s Day (September 11), The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) offers an essay contest for students in 6, 7, or 8^th grade called Patriot’s Pen. Contestants are to write a 300-400 word essay. The topic this year is: “When is the Right Time to Honor Our Military Heroes?” Essays are submitted to local VFW posts. The winners are given a savings bond. If you are a student in one of these grades (or know of one), this is a great way write, voice your thoughts, and possibly win some money.

I prefer contemporary teen fiction and television to paranormal and fantasy (I know, don’t hate me), which is probably one reason I liked “Twilight” so much. “Vampire Diaries” claims to be “darker” and more “edgier” than “Twilight,” but at this point I’m not seeing how that is (the bad vampires bite and kill people, the high school scene is much the same, etc…).

I like the characters, especially the tension between the two brothers (good vampire vs. bad vampire). I also like the high school drama as it’s portrayed (the main character deals with her parent’s death and her brother has drug problems).

There are still a lot of unknowns (who is “Katherine,” and why is Stefan obsessed with Elena? It’s a little creepy that he keeps showing up, catching her off guard, and that his parents are gone too and that he lives with his uncle—Elena’s parents are gone and she lives with her aunt). This tension is good; it keeps us glued to the TV. I have to hand it to the CW…they know how to reach their audience.

 It’s worth tuning into, at least to give it a shot (or bite, ha ha ).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8m7Sk81PIk]

I like Beyonce’s song and video too (“Single Ladies” (Put a Ring on It)”), but that was just plain rude and wrong. The poor girl was giving her acceptance speech. She was, however, somewhat vindicated—West was booed by the audience and told to leave the building. Later, when Beyonce won video of the year, she invited Swift up to finish giving her speech (plus, a couple of singers tweeted some choice words about West). He did, though, apologize on his blog today.

The VMAs are known for their controversy (think last year and Brand’s rude comment about the Jonas Brothers purity rings), and their crazy antics (this year Lady Gaga speared herself in fake blood as a testimony of the Paparazzi and what they did to Princess Diana). So, if nothing else, it’s some strange, yet interesting entertainment.

Photo credit: AP | Singer Kanye West takes the microphone from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts the "Best Female Video" award during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

I have to say the “New Moon” clip was awesome. The movie looks better than the first one and I can’t wait.

And, one of the best parts, there will be a preview of “New Moon.” Yippee!