Sunday, January 29, 2012

Incarnate Theater Treasure Hunt

As I am a HUGE fan of Jodi Meadow's INCARNATE, I am so happy to be participating in the:


Welcome to the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt!

This week, 48 bloggers are celebrating the release of INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows by participating in a treasure hunt with clues, activities, and lots of prizes including signed books (!) and handknit fingerless mitts (you want both of these). You've reached a CLUE blog, which means somewhere on this page is a clue to finding the hidden page and grand prize entry form on Jodi's website. Follow 26 clues to get there!

For more information on the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt, check out Jodi's post. And look at my picture!!

Hee! I LOVE this one! Can you tell what's going on here? :)
And I am so excited to show you the trailer for Incarnate!



My clue for the password is: Second word: t

Now head on to the other bloggers participating in the Treasure Hunt:

Esther's Ever After
365 Days of Reading
Literary Exploration

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What kind of a post is this, anyway?

This is what I think about when considering my blog these days.

Oooh, I wish I could talk about secret stuff that happened!

No. Can't talk about that yet. Drat. Well, that's past anyway. I REALLY want to talk about secret stuff that's going on now.

*sigh* No. Oh, I know. I can talk about what I'm working on! It's super secret and all that.

*stares at blog*
*doesn't blog*

Yeah. Let's see. Erm...I'm going to Hawaii next week with my family! Yes, I can say that! And...um, we've got winter again here, so it's really cold...hence the Hawaii...

Man. I'm just going to show you pictures of fuzzy kittens.


 And this little guy.


And...I don't know how he got in here, but let's go with it.

Monday, January 09, 2012

Why I Love Twitter

There's a lot of mockery out there about Twitter. Talk show hosts have sarcastic bits about tweets, making us Twitter-users sound ridiculous. People who don't really understand it relate celebrity tweets with scorn (or, equally bad, with awe). My husband thinks it's a complete waste of time.

Okay, yes, it can absolutely suck up time and energy that you should probably devote to something else, if you let it get out of hand. But as a working writer, as long as I tweet with a sense of balance, it is SO not a waste.

Here's what I get from being an active, thoughtful participant on Twitter:

  • A crazy-wonderful sense of community. I have different groups for friends, YA writers, agents, and editors. I can post about writer struggles and talk to people who UNDERSTAND, real-time. While I love the people in my real life, they just don't get most of those struggles. Or joys, for that matter. On Twitter, you can post that you finished a rough draft and friends will celebrate with you!
  • A bonanza of information as a reader. Daily I see new books I want to read, or reviews of books, and find new (or seasoned) authors I want to support. Half that stuff I'd never know about without poring through a hundred blogs. I don't really have the kind of time you need for blogs. But with Twitter I can dip in and out, and find out what I need.
  • Connections. I am VERY anti-schmooze, and I would never (ever ever ever) connect with someone for what they can do for me. But my friends on Twitter have helped me tremendously in this whole publishing process, in ways I couldn't have even imagined. And usually without my asking. (Twitter peeps, you are amazing!)
  • Crowd-sourcing for information. Whether you need to know which show to go to in NYC or which office supply store has the best service, or you want to hear some new bands, you can Ask. And you will Receive Answers.
  •  Effecting change. Yes, we don't win them all. But when a strong Twitter community (like the YA lit crowd) sees something Wrong, sometimes we can do something about it.
  • FUN and DISTRACTION. Tiara days. Sparkle exchanges. Pun wars. Silly hashtags. It's like joking around with your favorite people whenever you want.
Wait. It kind of IS joking around with your favorite people whenever you want. And as long as you don't do it all day long, that can be pretty awesome.

So there, doubters. Did I convince anyone, or were you all convinced already? If you want to check it out, I'm at @susan_adrian. See you there. #TwitterRocks