Jeri Smith-Ready

Tidbit Tuesday #1

Happy Tuesday, folks! I'm starting a new thing (and now that I've called it a "thing" I'll probably never do it again), Tidbit Tuesday (unless y'all prefer "Tuesday Tidbits" or something less cutesy like "Tuesday Trash," or more cutesy like "Tell-It-To-Ya Tuesday," or a Monday night feature called "'Til Tuesday"--hey, I like that one). I'll mention new book/music releases I'm excited about, plus news items I don't have time to elaborate on at the moment.

--First, the books! Two fellow Class of 2K10 members have their very first books out today and tomorrow (and another on Thursday, which I'll mention then). Today marks the release of Kitty Keswick's Freaksville. You can read more about it at her launch post, including a short interview with her brilliant editor at Leap Books.

Bonnie Doerr's debut, Island Sting, comes out tomorrow. I'm particularly excited about this because it features an environmental theme. I tried twice unsuccessfully to get a "green" novel published, so I'm cheering for this one to do well so we see more of them in the future. Also, she's a big fan of one of my favorite authors, Carl Hiaasen, so I know the book has to rock. There's a great interview with Bonnie over at Aurora's Reviews.

--Speaking of Class of 2K10, the Page Turners blog did a mini-interview with all of us, asking about our first lines, how and whether they changed from first draft to final.

--The last book I wanted to mention is actually a repackaging/re-release of three YA vampire novels, but it's very important for one reason. At the back of the second and final Christopher Pike Last Vampire compendium (Thirst #2) is...the first chapter of Shade!

Thirst #2 comes out today, but my copy arrived last Friday. Seeing Aura's words in bound printed form gave me the chills, and it wasn't just because I'd left the door open in my excitement to open the box. I'll probably wait until February to put the first chapter up on the website, so if you want to read Shade's first chapter, go check it out--the Pike books are excellent, too! Thirst #1 hit the New York Times bestseller list. If you haven't heard of The Last Vampire series, you're in for a real treat.



--I've started a new work plan for the new year. Yes, another Grand Masta plan that will make me more productive and happy! Here it is, simply put:

Instead of writing 2,000 words every day, including weekends, while trying to keep up with Stuff (blogging, e-mail, interviews, etc.), I'm going to start writing 3,000 words every weekday and take weekends off to catch up on Stuff and catch my breath.

This will allow me to have a more single-minded (some would say simple-minded) focus. Weekdays = writing; weekends (and some weekday evenings) = other. My brain likey!

So far so good after two days, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I'm off to play one of the two new Wii games we got for Christmas. After all, stress reduction is one of my goals for the New Year, and not making that goal will totally stress me out!

Yes, I'm certifiably insane.

Labels: class of 2K10, interview, SHADE series, writing life

• posted by Jeri @ 8:55 PM
• 13 comments