Earlier this week, I had the good fortune to meet a group of fellow writers in San Francisco . I was really looking forward to meeting Shannon Messenger. Spend a few minutes on her blog, and you'll see why.

In person, Shannon is just as enthusiastic and supportive of the writing community, and her friends. If that weren't enough, you have to love her for Shannon Shame, an extra-special talent she has for embarrassing herself in the name of great books.

Shannon is also one of the founders of WriteOnCon, an annual online writing conference that is all kinds of amazing.

So go check her out & have a great weekend!

From goodreads:

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

What I thought:

Cynthia Hand really drew me in with this story. There's some solid writing and Clara, the protagonist, is easy to like, as are all the supporting characters. UNEARTHLY kept me interested from the start, but it really hits its stride when Tucker comes into the picture. (There is absolutely nothing wrong with cute cowboys who take you fly-fishing and swinging off rope swings in the summertime. Nothing at all.) It ended up being one of those I-need-to-know-what-happens books that kept me up past my bedtime. I've already contacted my editor, asking her to pull some strings to get me the follow-up when it's ready. Cross your fingers for me ; )

Check out what the rest of the Bookanista's are chatting up this week:

Elana Johnson is tickled pink for The Liar Society

LiLa Roecker is blown away by A Touch Mortal

Shannon Messenger can’t lie about her love for The Liar Society

Shelli Johannes-Wells burns for AngelFire

Scott Tracey is more than a touch impressed with A Touch Mortal

Myra McEntire is A Touch Mortal this week

Beth Revis tells the truth about The Liar Society

Christine Fonseca is leveled by Leverage

Carolina Valdez Miller has tons to say about One

Jessi Kirby soars for Across the Universe

Jenn Hayley adores The Liar Society

Shana Silver can’t imagine you not reading Imaginary Girls

Katie Anderson wants to be Like Mandarin

Matt Blackstone loves The Hate List

Stasia Ward Kehoe falls head over heals for Fall for Anything

Sarah Frances Hardy sings her praises for Mockingbird

Veronica Rossi thinks Unearthly is otherworldly

Michelle Hodkin champions A Dog's Way Home

Click here to join The Bookanista Book Club at The Reading Room where you can check out all the books we're buzzing about!

* A final thought to this post. Yesterday, YA author LK Madigan passed away. The community of YA writers can feel very small sometimes, and while the YA Muses didn't know Lisa personally, our hearts go out to all those who are in mourning right now, and in particular to her family.

 Last Spring I was asked to rewrite a significant portion of my manuscript.  Not revise, rewrite. The back half was full of so many twists and turns that the core of the book was getting lost in a mass of characters, subplots and confusion.  I knew that the plot would have to be reworked, the climax reimagined, but I didn't want to go to all that work and turn in my revision, only to find out that the new storyline wasn't working.

Enter the synopsis.

I'm not talking about a two paragraph synopsis for a query, but a detailed synopsis that hits every major plot point from A to Z and even a few minor ones.  Editors sometimes ask for detailed synopsis of sequels or with proposals for new books.  My agent suggested I do one so I could figure out the story before I started to write, and make sure we were on the same page.

There was just one problem.  I had no idea how to write a synopsis.  As many followers already know, I am analytical in my approach to writing.  So I came up with a system to summarize my story.  This system won't work for everyone, but I think it provides a good framework for getting something on paper that you can start to finesse.  Sometimes breaking a story down to its base elements will help you find the thread that strings it all together.

So without further ado: the synopsis checklist:
 
1.  You must have a beginning, middle and end to your story.  If your manuscript is already complete, congratulations, you've completed step one.  If you're planning out a book for a proposal or major overhaul, then you have a lot of work to do here.  At a minimum you need an outline with your major scenes (inciting incidents, reversals, false victories, climax, resolution) as well as some of  the connecting scenes and subplots. 

2.  Make a chart with two columns and as many rows as you need.  Each row is a chapter in your book.  In the first column identify the chapter number.  In the second column write 1-3 sentences describing the major plot points in the chapter.

3.  Now read through the second column from beginning to end. If you don't have a complete, revised manuscript, this is a great time to see if your planned outline is working or if you need to make changes. Does your plot trajectory flow?  Do you have rising action with some stumbling blocks along the way?  Are you missing key characters or themes for long stretches?  Are there chapters or scenes that don't advance the plot?  Revise the outline and chapter plan accordingly.

4.  Now take all of the sentences in column 2 and cut and paste them in chronological order into a word document. Break paragraphs at natural points.  This is the beginning draft of your synopsis.  Yes, it is wooden and rough.  Remember this is a rough draft. 

5.  Revise the paragraphs to make the words flow. Add some showing (there will be a lot of telling in your outline, and in your synopsis too, but you'll want to smooth it out some).  Cut out summaries of minor plot developments or scene descriptions that aren't critical to advancing the main theme.  Make sure all of your major plot points scenes (the inciting incident, reversals, etc.) are included.

6.  Read the draft synopsis aloud.  This is a great way to catch awkward phrases, missing connectors and disappearing characters.  Make sure all your major characters are included in the synopsis.  Don't let it get bogged down with minor characters or subplots unless you have enough pages to do so.

7.  Revise again.  This is where your individual artistry and voice will come through.

The strength of this process is giving you a framework to start from, so you're not staring at the blank page wondering how you'll ever condense your 300 page manuscript into a few pages.  Use the chart to break down your book into subparts and scenes that are easy to summarize. Then put it all together and revise.

That's it.

Now go forth and write a great synopsis!

I'm close to finishing up my first novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY.

(I never thought I'd say that.)

(But it's true.)

So now I'm standing at square one again. Ready to begin another novel.

Book Two.

And I've been avoiding it. Mostly because I needed a break. But also because the first draft is such a scary thing. Sure, there are beautiful, surprising moments. During the first draft, you become enchanted. Every song is about YOUR book or YOUR characters. Everywhere you look, you see ideas. Staring at the wall is only more fun when you are falling in love... actually, first drafts are a lot like falling in love.

But your heart also aches as you write it. There can be serious doubts.

Where is this going?

What am I doing?

Can't I do better than this?

Well, of course you can. It's a first draft. A launching pad. A foundation.

I must have revised my last manuscript a dozen times, and each pass improved it.

So the hard part for me now is taking that first plunge into the dreaded blank document. Even thought I know it will be a blast. And also somewhat torturous.

So here's to jumping in. One thing I know for sure - it's going to be a thrill ride.

Now, onto some really fun stuff. I was told by my publisher that they are closing in on a cover for UNDER THE NEVER SKY. I'm so excited to see what the design team at HarperCollins has come up with. They create amazing covers.

I'm thrilled to share one of them with you today. It's for the YA Muses friend Gretchen McNeil, whose horror thriller, POSSESS, is slated to hit shelves August of this year.

Congratulations on a gorgeous cover, Gretchen! Can't wait to read POSSESS!

I'm currently in the midst of rough drafting. It's the part of the writing process that is at the same time exhilarating, yet completely overwhelming. The idea of creating something where nothing existed before keeps me frozen with hands perched over a keyboard... waiting ... to create a scene or characters that no one but my own mind has ever seen. Yet hopefully, when someone does read what I have created on that blank page, the reader is able to see it, too. Perhaps the reader will create an image in her own mind that is even clearer, more connected to her own reality, than what I imagined in the first place.

Thinking about all that can be daunting, and the pressure to get it right certainly doesn't help the creative juices flow freely. So rough draft writing requires quite a bit of mind games on my part to support the process. One of my favorite ways to convert the blank page into a novel is through journaling. There is something a little bit comforting about giving yourself permission to fill up an empty page with ANYTHING you want to write about a scene or a character. It doesn't have to be the "real" story, although I have discovered it often turns out to find a place somewhere. I start by thinking of a scene or a specific character and I just write. I try to keep typing even when I don't know what's next. Sometimes I even write, "I don't know what the next line is supposed to be" just to keep me going.

Today's journal was going to be about the weather. Or at least that's what it started out to be about. I wanted a scene where the weather had a part in the action, so that's where I began. I grew up on the gulf coast of Texas and had rarely seen snow before moving here to Colorado, so the below zero temperatures this winter have turned my thoughts to warmer, sunnier times. Below is a snippet of a journal entry about weather that, as so often happens, turned into something else entirely. Maybe something of this will become part of a bigger story someday, or maybe not, but it was a wonderful memory for a Colorado February.

Summer sounded like the ball park. I loved the sound of a softball whacking into a glove with a loud pop. The louder the pop the better. I was the catcher in the fast pitch league. My father, the coach, had taught me long ago not to flinch when the ball hurtled through the air so fast you could hardly see it slap into the glove with a resounding pop.

"Get in front of it," he would yell, "Don't let it get past you."

I remember the sound of the crowd and the announcer calling out that someone had just earned a free snowcone if they would just return that foul ball to the concession stand.

And I remember the sound of my Dad's voice, I could pick it out of all the others, yelling, "They're going to steal second."

My dad was a real coach. Not the part time, summer special kind of coach with a regular job at the bank. No, my dad was a real coach. He coached football in the fall and basketball in the spring at Lake Jackson Junior High school and ever since I could remember boys had been showing up at our front door with a tentative reverent knock to see if my father could come out to play.

Summer also sounded like the ocean. When the heat became more that we could bare, and the bottoms of our brown bare feet had blisters on them from dancing across scalding sidewalks, the family would pile into the old car and head for the beach. After only a few blocks, we would burst out of the green tangle that was Lake Jackson and onto the salt grass plains of the Gulf Coast. Passing the huge smoke belching Dow Chemical plant on the right, we would take the overpass out to Surfside. As we got closer and closer to the intercoastal, I could feel the pull. The salt air swept in the open windows and something inside me moved higher. It's hard to explain how I felt, still feel, about the ocean. I always understood why people said they were "called" away to the ocean. It was like that for me. I would crane my neck from the backseat of the old Ford, for the first glimpse of blue from the top of the intercoastal bridge and then, when I saw it stretched out below, I would breathe again, deep gasps of salt air, never realizing I had been holding my breath until just that moment. It was like coming home.

But it was the sound I missed most - that glorious, roarious sound of the sea. First out of the car, I would run to the water's edge and stand arms outstretched like the seagulls above me and drown in the wonderful roar of the water. I couldn't hear anything else. I didn't want to hear anything else. Sometimes I could almost hear the sound of a mother calling to her child, or a man to his dog, but it was so close to the sound of the seagulls that it didn't matter. You didn't have to answer anyone. They all knew you couldn't hear them calling to you.

The ocean drowned it all out.