This week, rather than spotlight a novel, I’m going to point you toward a few of my favorite books on writing craft.

To improve your writing, the main thing you need to do is WRITE. Often. Daily if you can. Critique groups—or some other form of critical feedback—are also instrumental if you’re writing for publication. But the following volumes have been incredibly helpful to me.

CHARACTERS & VIEWPOINT by Orson Scott Card

I picked this up because Card’s ENDER’S GAME ranks high on my list of favorite speculative fiction works. I expected a lot. Reading Card, you get the feeling you are in the hands of someone who knows character. This book blew me away. I’ve recommended it over and over again. It’s a quick read, organized in neat chapters on different aspects of character construction. I reread it at least once a year. Buy it if you are a fiction writer. You’ll thank me later.

SAVE THE CAT! by Blake Snyder

This is primarily for screenwriters. A great book for understanding different kinds of stories and what makes them work. Also a fast read, and entertaining. This will teach you the importance of thinking high concept/big picture.

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL by Donald Maass

I’m a big fan of Maass. I’ve attended two of his workshops. His ideas are terrific for just what he says – high stakes, high concept fiction. If that’s the kind of book you want to write, then pick this up.

BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott

If the books I’ve mentioned about are about craft, this one is about perseverance and passion. It’s the very best of writerly wisdom.

Check out YA reviews from the Bookanistas this week!

Christine Fonseca Fangirls Cassie Clare

Myra McEntire Hides Carrie Ryan in the Fort

Shannon Messenger Accessorizes with White Cat/Red Glove

Jamie Harrington Praises Posession

Shelli Johannes-Wells Admires Shimmer

Carolina Valdez Miller Wants You To Find Clarity

Megan Miranda Discovers Where She Went

Jessi Kirby Hopefully Doesn't Loath(e) The Liar Society

Shana Silver Seeks Clarity

Rosemary Clement-Moore is Overwhelmed by Wither

Corrine Jackson J'Adores Anna and the French Kiss

Stasia Ward Kehoe Cries Over One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Sarah Frances Hardy Marvels Over Matched

LiLa Roecker Brags About Bookanistas Giving Back

And finally, check out this great contest for Elana Johnson’s debut POSSESSION.

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. 

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect. 

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been catching up on some 2010 debuts this week.  The best part is, as with THE BODY FINDER, the sequel to HEX HALL, DEMONGLASS is already out (and loaded on my Kindle).

In HEX HALL, Sophie, a witch whose spells go terribly wrong, finds herself at a boarding school for paranormals who need self discipline and control.  Once there, she has to survive a werewolf attack, deal with a group of dark witches who take mean girls to a new level, room with a vampire who  may or may not be a killer, and survive a crush on a hot warlock who already has a girlfriend.  And that's just the first few chapters.

Rachel Hawkins infuses this book with humor, wit and snappy dialogue.  It's a quick read, with twists and turns along the way.  The story feels complete, but there are plenty of questions left open that will make you want to rush out to buy the sequel and keep reading.  My favorite scene was a kick-ass kissing scene that also involves a major plot twist.  Can you say swoon?  This book is a fun read and I highly recommend it.

Kathryn Pease is not on the A-List at her high school.  In fact, the A-List has it in for her.  But Kathryn has one thing that keeps her going:  music.

Unfortunately, it’s the one thing that keeps her on the radar of the school’s Queen B, Brooke Dempsey.  Because, unbeknownst to the rest of the school, music is the thing that keeps Brooke going, too.

Sound like an episode of Glee?  Perhaps.  But really, RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer is so much more. 

Wealer tells the story from alternating points of view:  Kathryn’s and Brooke’s.  And it’s not pop music these girls are singing.  It’s opera.  And choral pieces.  Bach.  Mozart.  Puccini. 

I love the music in this book, and I love the rivalry.  But what truly made this book stand out for me was being able to get into the minds of both of these girls.  We have all seen the movies and read the books about the underdog who challenges and breaks free of the mean girls.  But how many books make them truly best friends?  And how many get into the mind of the mean girl herself – proving that maybe she isn’t really that mean.  Maybe, like the rest of us, she just sees things from her own perspective.

Wealer also has an awesome website, where she shares the music featured in RIVAL and even some deleted scenes and alternate endings.



Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

Have you discovered Kimberly Deterding yet?  THE BODY FINDER is a taut psychological thriller and a quick read.  But the part of the story that stood out to me the most was the romance.  This is not the instant love of so many YA novels, but a masterful crafting of a budding romance between a boy and girl who have been best friends throughout childhood.  It sounds sweet, and it is, but Deterding also pulls off the chemistry between the leads in a masterful way.  This book is HOT.  I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend you pick it up.  The sequel, DESIRES OF THE DEAD, just came out, so you'll have instant gratification when you turn the last page and want more of Violet and Jay's story.