Calling All Librarians and Book Lovers!

Have you checked out the Elevensies Book Feast yet? It's a major giveaway hosted by a bunch of authors from the Elevensies (including moi!). We'll be giving away huge prize packs throughout the year (spring, summer and fall)! Currently, the spring prize package is up for grabs... it includes these fabulous books:


Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer — "Glee" goes to the opera in this novel about best friends, bitter enemies and one life-changing competition.

The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder — Sometimes popularity comes with a price...especially when the Lipstick Laws are involved.

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard — There's not much beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but Grace thinks she's found it in an unlikely friendship with wild girl Mandarin Ramey — that is, until Mandarin betrays her.

Illegal by Bettina Restrepo — Nora, a Mexican immigrant, crosses the border illegally to find her father in Houston, Texas.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys — A fifteen-year-old girl fights for her life amidst Stalin's genocide.

Haven by Kristi Cook — A paranormal tale set at a boarding school where everyone has psychic abilities.

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers — Frannie possesses a skill so unique that the king of Hell himself has taken notice, and he's sent Luc to claim her soul.

Warped by Maurissa Guibord — A romantic fantasy about a girl, a unicorn tapestry and the threads of fate that bind them together.

XVI by Julia Karr — In the future, innocence expires at sixteen.

Vesper by Jeff Sampson — A geeky teen girl must figure out who’s committing a rash of murders in her small town...and what’s causing her to turn into a monster.

Memento Nora by Angie Smibert — A teenage girl struggles to hold on to her memories—and her identity—in a world that finds it far more lucrative for everyone to forget—and keep on shopping.

Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis — In Kat Stephenson's Regency England, magic is the greatest scandal of all - but Kat's not going to let that stop her when there are highwaymen to battle and true loves to catch for her older sisters!

Dogsled Dreams by Terry Lynn Johnson — Rebecca dreams of becoming a famous sled dog racer.

The Trouble with Half a Moon by Danette Vigilante — Thirteen year old Dellie learns about faith and healing from Miss Shirley, a mysterious new neighbor, and Corey, a five year old boy in need of love and rescuing.

The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless by Allan Woodrow — Tales of the nefarious and all-around evil doings of ten-year-old Zachary.

So... what are you waiting for?!? Enter today!

Librarians, click HERE for your entry details.

Readers, click HERE for your entry details.

A Day in My Writing Life

Some of you may know that on every Thursday, a 2011 debut author from The Elevensies shares a blog post about a day in her (or his) writing life. Well, today is my day to share...so, I thought I'd post it here on my blog too. If you'd like to see my post over at the 11sies (which is pretty much the same thing as here), check it out HERE.


This is where the writing happens...
In all honesty, my day to day writing life varies like flavors of jelly beans. Some days I'm lucky to get a bunch of delicious tasting jelly beans. Other days, I'm stuck with the ones that taste like black licorice -- yuck. Since my writing life isn't always predictable (and is sometimes downright snooze-worthy), I thought I'd do something a little different with this post by taking the things that happen most frequently and creating a recipe from them. So, here it goes... hopefully it doesn't taste terrible.



(click picture to enlarge)

Amy's Recipe for A Day in The Writing Life

Ingredients:
1 computer
1 semi-comfortable chair
1 authorly behind
*Note* Chocolate consumption for extra authorly behind cushioning is recommended.
3 email accounts plus passwords
2 liters of waiting at room temperature
4 tablespoons of patience, separated
5 social networking site cubes (Blogger, Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, Myspace)
1 stick of melted internet stalking...er, I mean browsing
1 wise editor
1 medium rare manuscript
1 peeled work in progress (WIP)
Long to-do list
1 cup of good news (optional)
*Note* Any publishing/writerly progress is considered good news.

Cooking Directions:
Attach 1 authorly behind securely to semi-comfortable chair. Turn on computer to bake. Crack open email accounts with various passwords, read & respond. Pour 2 liters of waiting in a large pot, adding 1 tablespoon of patience at a time as needed; stir and let simmer. In a small bowl of procrastination, dissolve social networking site cubes into the melted stick of internet browsing, mix until well blended. In a separate bowl of quit stalling and get with the program, fully squeeze 1 wise editor for a flavorful marinade. Pour all but 1 tablespoon of wise editor marinade over medium rare manuscript in an 8.5 X 11 nonstick baking dish. Bake until well done. Meanwhile, slice off dead ends and bruises from peeled WIP, and drizzle left over editor marinade on top. Continue to shape and mold WIP until satisfied. All the while, cross off to-do list when appropriate to provide a slight sense of accomplishment. Finally, blend all ingredients together in a large casserole dish. Cook on high for 8-10 hours until crisp. Serve warm.

**For an extra sweet day in the writing life, sprinkle 1 cup of optional good news over the writing casserole before serving.**






My recent sweet good news was getting my first pass pages -- woohoo!


Finally, I shouldn't forget to add that my day in a writing life wouldn't be complete without my four furry, verbally challenged sous-chefs by my side:
















Clearly I've watched one too many episodes of Top Chef. Thanks for checking out a day in my writing life. Now I'm hungry.


*Disclaimer* No real editors were squeezed during the making of this day in the writing life.






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On a side note, if you'd like to win a fabulous SIGNED copy of Kristin Walker's A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL, don't forget to enter for a chance to win HERE. The winner will be announced on July 30th!

2011 Debut Author Groups

For those who have found this blog through my page on The Elevensies site... or by the 2k11 plug on The Class of 2k10 website, you're going to be a skip, leap and sideways somersault beyond this post.

However, for those of you who are debut authors or fellow book lovers who've stumbled on my blog out of the blue, or if you're making an entrance via the link on my new "coming soon" page at www.amyholder.com... or if you're that creepy cyber-stalker guy in the tight plaid shirt and adult underoos, this post is for you! Er - on second thought, creepy cyber-stalker guy, you can just go ahead and ignore this post... and all the others.

Moving on...

I'm proud to be a member of two fantastic debut author groups called the Class of 2k11 and The Elevensies. Both groups are filled with awesome MG and YA authors debuting in (drum roll)... you guessed it... 2011! While the Class of 2k11 doesn't have a public website yet, you can check out the fab group of 2k10'ers debuting this year at: www.classof2k10.com . If you happen to be a young adult or middle grade author debuting in 2011 and you'd like to join the Class of 2k11 club, I'd love to hear from you, so send me an email.

While you're breathing in all the debut author awesomeness, please check out The Elevensies and all the fun and inspiring Tennerviews going on right now at: http://community.livejournal.com/2011debuts/

Enjoy!

*Best Wishes and Lipstick Kisses*