Monthly Archives: January 2014

Monthly Check-In: January

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by in Personal

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I like goals. I like lists. I like crossing goals off of lists. And I like being accountable, because for me, it actually works. I even acquired an accountabilibuddy for myself this year! (It’s Lindsay Smith. Her paranormal historical YA, SEKRET, comes out in April. It’s really freaking good. You should buy it.) But I figured that in addition to our e-mail status check-ins that encompass our weekly goals, I’d do a monthly check-in on the 2014 goals I posted here. And I’d love to see how everyone else is doing on theirs in the comments!

So! Here’s my progress for January:

  1. Read 5 MGs – Ummmm not yet
  2. Read 20 Non-Contemp YAs – Two down! THE FOURTH WISH by Lindsay Ribar comes out in July and is a fan-freakin-tastic followup to her debut, THE ART OF WISHING, which you may recall was one of my fave reads of 2013. I also just read GRACELING, and enjoyed that a lot too!
  3. Read 10 Adult Books – I started WRITTEN ON THE BODY by Jeannette Winterson a little under a week ago, so, maybe that’ll be my first one?
  4. Read 115 Other Books – Thirteen down! Here‘s what I’ve read so far in 2014.
  5. Finish My Follow-Up to BEHIND THE SCENES – Still a work-in-progress, but A) you may have noticed on either my blog or website that it now has an official title, UNDER THE LIGHTS, and B) I’m making some actual progress. Yay!
  6. Finish drafting LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT – Not yet, but this is good, since I’m not allowed to touch it until I finish UtL, and I’ve only cheated the tiniest bit 🙂
  7. Finish drafting my chick lit ms – Ditto!
  8. Write at least three posts pimping QUILTBAG (QUeer/QUestioning Intersex Lesbian Transgender Bisexual Asexual Gay) titles – One down, thanks to Barnes & Noble and SparkLife! Check out 8 Great LGBTQ Characters in Young Adult Lit! Looking forward to doing another one on great 2014 LGBTQ titles mid-year, once some of my upcoming faves are published!
  9. Blog more about New Adult, specifically expanding upon the things I talk about here – Haven’t blogged about the category specifics in the way I want to, but I did get to write a primer for B&N: A Beginner’s Guide to New Adult
  10. Interview another one of my all-time favorite YA writers – Haven’t even attempted this yet, but hey, it’s still early!

How are your 2014 goals coming along?

Under the Radar YA

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Books, YA Lit

≈ 10 Comments

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Every now and again, I buy a bunch of YA books because I see them on sale, and then I promptly ignore them. Not because they look bad or I hear anything bad, but because I’m easily distracted and other things are shiny and life happens.

Recently, I’ve started digging into those books, because really, I’ve bought an absurd number considering how many I already own, and I stumbled upon one I really, really enjoyed. And I couldn’t understand how I hadn’t heard any raving about this book, not even because it’s the greatest masterpiece on the planet but just because when you have a unique main character and an extremely shippable romance, that’s the kind of thing you usually hear about, you know?

But I hadn’t. At all. I don’t even remember what made me buy it in the first place.

And it made me really sad about all the great YA out there that’s slipping under the radar, that nobody’s talking about even though they really enjoyed it. Hence the hashtag #undertheradarYA.

It was pretty awesome to watch it blow up, but because I fear it might’ve gotten so overwhelming that perhaps it might fail to serve its purpose, I figured I’d pick out a few of the titles I saw getting the most attention, to at least provide a starting point for people hoping to use it to increase their TBRs and get some new, awesome books. Please note that these aren’t necessarily my recommendations, nor have I read them all; they’re just recommendations I saw floating around/being agreed with a lot. Also, I’m not affiliated even a little with the discount site I link to a bunch. I just buy from them regularly and it allows me to buy five billion times as many books as I otherwise would. Feel free to buy whatever from wherever, obviously.

Also, if a book has almost 10,000 adds on Goodreads, or more, it’s not on here. No matter how much I love it. That kinda defeats the purpose.

First, the book that started it: WELCOME, CALLER, THIS IS CHLOE by Shelley Coriell

IF I LIE by Corrine Jackson (I’d venture to say this was the #1 most-frequently named, which is awesome for me because I’d already ordered it last week.)

TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson (This book has been rec’d insanely hard. Also awesome for me, since I bought it last week.)

LOVESTRUCK SUMMER by Melissa C. Walker

Several calls for “everything by” Jessica Martinez, Courtney Summers, Amy Reed, and E. Lockhart (You can buy all of Courtney Summers’ books at a deep discount here and almost everything by E. Lockhart on the same site.)

DARK STAR by Bethany Frenette

LEFTOVERS by Laura Wiess (All of her books are available on above-mentioned discount site.)

SILVER PHOENIX by Cindy Pon

ADIOS NIRVANA by Conrad Wesselhoeft

FLORA SEGUNDA by Ysabeau S. Wilce

TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini

THIN SPACE by Jody Casella

RECLAIMED by Sarah Guillory

MONSTROUS BEAUTY by Elizabeth Fama

MY LIFE AFTER NOW by Jessica Verdi

HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT by Natalie Standiford

DEAD ENDS and BUTTER by Erin Jade Lange

Fun Things Happening Everywhere! (Except Here)

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Blogs, Personal

≈ 3 Comments

So, I recognize that Dahlia has not been very Daily here, but in fairness, there’s just so much fun Dahlia-ness happening elsewhere! But this is my blog, and really should be a one-stop Dahlia shop, so, to recap:

  • New post up today on the Barnes & Noble Blog: 7 Great YA Books that Take Place on the Move
  • New post up earlier this week on the Barnes & Noble Blog: A Beginner’s Guide to New Adult
  • The esteemed (obviously a euphemism) Leah Raeder let me serve as a judge for a contest involving reading a scene from her debut, UNTEACHABLE, out loud. The results were epic, and you can read our live-chatting and hear all the entries here. (Warning: It is all filthy. Just, awful. We’re terrible people.)
  • Jayne at Fiction_The New Reality hosted me as part of a monthlong event called New Year, New Books, and you can see me talking about my 2014 TBR here.
  • I got to pick Cover of the Week at Cover Snark! So, that was fun and you should check it out.
  • I’m a bouncer in Cupid’s upcoming Blind Speed Dating Contest! Come meet me and the others in the Bouncer Spotlight.
  • Oh, and I was in DC this past weekend and got to spend time with my fabulous editor, Patricia, and I can now announce my next two books for Spencer Hill! Not much info available yet, but what I can share is on my site!
  • As are the two signing appearances I have planned for 2014!

Is that it? God, I hope that’s it. I have to write books and stuff.

Top Ten 2014 Debuts I’m Excited For

14 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Books, MG Lit, YA Lit

≈ 18 Comments

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behind-the-scenes-adler-coverOkay, so, this is sort of a tricky The Broke and The Bookish category for me, being that I am a 2014 debut, but I’m also a reader, and a blogger, and book buyer, and I decided to factor in all sorts of Reasons, and here are the 10 I ended up with!

BEHIND THE SCENES, by me (June 24). Sorry, but no matter how much I love you, I’m still the most excited for mine. The rest of these are out of order, but rest assured, in my brain, I am totally number one.

OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord (April 15). I was dying for this book from the second I knew of its existence. Then I got to read it in October 2013, and I loved it, and now, I can’t wait for everyone else to read and love this glorious story of friendship and romance and travel as well.

HOOK’S REVENGE by Heidi Schulz (September 16). Speaking of friends, Heidi’s pretty much one of the greatest. Not only that, but I know this MG is one I’m gonna be buying for every kid I know in the target age range, and I’m so, so excited for that part. What kid could possibly resist a story from the perspective of Captain Hook’s daughter??

POINTE by Brandy Colbert (April 10). Darkness and dancing and that cover – oh my! I’ve been drooling over her book since forever and need it on my shelf ASAP. The fact that it has blurbs from two of my absolute top favorite authors – Courtney Summers and Nina LaCour – doesn’t hurt!

SEKRET by Lindsay Smith (April 1). This is another one I was privileged to get to read in 2013, so I’m more excited to have it be publicly available to my fellow Russophile public than anything else. This book had my heart pounding, and it’s gonna be followed by a sequel in 2015, and…I mean…RUSSIA. Like, how can you not die for that immediately??

BETWEEN by Megan Whitmer (July 29). I read this manuscript a billion revisions ago, and I don’t use “LOL” lightly, but for real, a zillion times while reading this one. I can only imagine how good the final version is.

TRUST ME, I’M LYING by Mary Elizabeth Summer (October). That cover. That description. A freaking con-artist MC. Like, I’m sorry, but this book sounds awesome, and most probably is, and I need it, and that’s just how it is.

OF SCARS AND STARDUST by Andrea Hannah (Fall). This is another one I read at an early stage, and it’s been flying under the radar, probably in large part because the author was doing the whole “having a baby” thing as the whole deal went down. But make no mistake – this book is gorgeous, and chilling, and twisted, and one I cannot freaking wait for everyone to get their hands on. Particularly if you’re a fan of Nova Ren Suma’s work, this is going to be one of your favorite 2014 debuts – mark my words.

RITES OF PASSAGE by Joy Hensley (September 9).  So, until recently, I had no idea what this book was about. Then someone on Twitter mentioned wanting a military school YA, and I thought YES, and someone else piped up that this was one, and I ran to Goodreads, and OH MY GOD LONG STORY LONG I NEED THIS BOOK. I freaking love military fiction; Nelson DeMille was my crack, once upon a time, and obviously LORDS OF DISCIPLINE by Pat Conroy and ugh, just, I need this.

ALL FOUR STARS by Tara Dairman (July 10). This is literally the only MG I read last year, and not only was it adorable, but it contained one of my very favorite themes – FOOD. Being super new to MG, I was prepared for it to “write down” to younger kids in the foodie regard, but it did not, at all, and this is another one I am super psyched to buy for the MG-reading kids in my life!

Top Ten Goals/Resolutions of 2014

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Personal

≈ 17 Comments

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Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Oh, and Happy New Year, too! Hope everyone’s having a fab 2014 so far. As I write (and pre-schedule) this, the year’s actually only nine hours old or so, but I’ve been getting revisions done, so here’s hoping that heralds a productive year!

Reading Goals

1. Read 5 MG books. I completely failed at this goal last year, but this year, I’m pretty confident I can do it, given how many of my fellow OneFourKidLit debuts are releasing some great-sounding ones. To that end, here’s the list from which I hope to hit at least five:

2. Read 20 Non-Contemp YAs. This is actually something I got way better at this past year, and now that I’m doing a lot more blogging (and blogging a lot more publicly), I definitely feel a responsibility to read more widely outside my genre. Plus, again – debut class of amazingness. And, as it happens, I bought a ton of these books in 2013 and just haven’t gotten a chance to read them yet. So, here are the 20 I think I’m surest to read in 2014:

3. Read 10 Adult books not for work. This was probably my biggest failing of 2013, and thinking about it honestly makes me cringe. The worst part is that I bought a whole bunch of them, and then…didn’t touch any. The only 2013 release for Adults I read was THE INTERESTINGS, and I loved it, so, here’s hoping to do some catch-up in 2014. The planned 10:

4. Read the other 115 books necessary to complete my Goodreads challenge. Yes, this likely means a whole lot of Contemporary YA and NA, and I cannot freaking wait.

Writing Goals

5. Finish my follow-up to BEHIND THE SCENES. The good news is, thanks to my contract, I have no choice but to complete this one! The other good news is that I won NaNo with this, so at least 50,000 words of it exist. The bad news is…they’re not good words. But they will be! Hopefully. Eventually.

6. Finish drafting LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. Yes, there’s also everything that comes after drafting the Contemporary NA Romance I started last year, but I like to take things one step at a time. Given that I’m entering 2014 with 72K down on this one, actually failing to achieve this goal would be about the most pathetic thing I could imagine.

7. Finish drafting my chick lit ms. No joke, I have been writing this book for years, but 2014 is going to be the year I finally freaking finish it. I don’t even have any plans for it; I just want it done. Just to put things in perspective, the main character is 28. I was younger than her when I started, and now I’m turning 30 later this month. So, yeah, it’s time.

Blogging Goals

8. Write at least three posts pimping QUILTBAG (QUeer/QUestioning Intersex Lesbian Transgender Bisexual Asexual Gay) titles. I already have one in the works for B&N, and I’m definitely looking forward to doing more, especially given how many great QUILTBAG books are coming out in the next two years!

9. Blog more about New Adult, specifically expanding upon the things I talk about here.

10. Interview another one of my all-time favorite YA writers. One of my favorite achievements of 2013 was actually mustering up the guts to ask my favorite YA author, Courtney Summers, if I could interview her. Even if she’d said no, I’d have tried! Yay! (She did not say no. It’s a great interview, and you should read it. Voila.)

And therein lies my real goal of 2014: do more scary things that are only made truly difficult by you getting in your own way.

So, what are your goals for 2014?

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