Debra-- Go Buy The Book. Please.

I didn't see anyway to disguise my promotional blog so I'm just putting it out there. Today is the release date of WITCH HIGH, a young adult anthology from DAW (Penguin).

Me. Writing Young Adult Fantasy. Who knew?

I loved it. My story COYOTE RUN is about the last girl in the Junior class without a familiar. In my version of the high school, finding your familiar is a rite of passage and a sign of status in the world of witches. If you don't have one, you're talked about, pitied and generally a failure. You can't do the more powerful spells without a familiar. In the South we'd say, "Bless her heart. There isn't a familiar that wants her."

On the day we meet my young water witch she's just finding out she is officially the last of her class without a familiar. Worse, if your familiar hasn't bonded with you by the time you're seventeen, it's not going to happen. In two weeks she'll be turning seventeen.

And so her misery and the schemes to find a familiar begin. Little does she know she's about to have a much bigger familiar problem that will make NOT having a familiar seem like a piece of cake. Toss in a mysterious young man from Ireland, the emotional scars she carries from her mother's suicide when she was younger, a new stepmother, one of the darkest familiars of the craft, and you have COYOTE RUN.

I found an early review on the Internet:

"...imagine having to handle those awkward years and magical powers at the same time.
This is the central challenge to the characters in the 14 stories that make up this truly delicious anthology. There is not a dud in the bunch, each deftly written with a keen ear and eye for the angst-ridden lives of the typical teenager in today’s culture." Pulp Fiction Reviews

So, buy the book already! If you don't read YA, give it whirl. buy those early Halloween and Christmas gifts.

One of the reasons this story was so much fun for me is that I was offered an opportunity to write this story by the editor. We were in casual conversation. I mentioned the anthology sounded like a good one. She immediately said she had room and asked if I'd like to write a story. Like every well-trained writer, I said, "Yes" immediately. And later wondered what had come over me. I had one month to learn everything I could about YA fantasy and meet the deadline. I spent a fortune on YA books and found a new genre to love in the process. Found a new genre to publish through BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books.

Have any of you guys gotten unexpected opportunities? Times when you weren't seeking an opportunity but it found you anyway, and made you realize everything happens for a reason?

Debra - Witch Way to the Monday Morning Review ?

Those of you who know me will find this fairly amusing.

I've agreed to do a young adult story for an anthology about a high school of witches.

Yep. Young adult. High School. Witches.

I read a ton of fantasy, horror, paranormal. I've read it all my life, but now that I'm doing this story I feel the need to "research." To plough though a ton of young adult books, especially when I learned there is a lot of cross-over adult readership in many of the young adult titles. That was my clue that I really needed to get current.

Guess what? A couple have really changed my perception of what is being published in young adult. It's amazing. But first I had to research young adult authors. I did the standard internet searches, chatted with nieces, talked with a couple of folks who wrote young adult, listened to a couple of workshops on writing for teens. Then I trudged to the bookstore, rounded up the YA section employee and said, "Dude, here's my stack. Add anything to it that I absolutely have to read."

I love this employee. She (get hip will ya? We call girls dudes too.) is now my favorite person. Not only have her books been the winners on my list, but she went back and rounded up some advance reading copies.

She liked TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer so much that on her vacation (after finishing TWILIGHT) she went to a bookstore and bought the sequel in hardback without an employee discount. This is a big book and gives new meaning to the concept of "safe sex" when your new boyfriend is a vampire, and to "dead run" when a nasty band of vampires targets our human heroine.

She recommended ANGUS, THONGS AND FULL-FRONTAL SNOGGING by English author Louise Rennison. Hilarious book, not what I was expecting. I gave it to my 25 year old son and said "Read this scene." He laughed and wasn't in a hurry to hand it back. I've now given it to my bestfriend to read just because I think she'll find it amusing too.

Holly Black has a very edgy and somewhat profanity-laced series about contemporary fairies. I liked the book but her subject matter and frankness took a bit of getting used to.

And a final recommendation is a book you may have already seen and read--PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld. General fiction, a NY Times Best 10 Books of the Year book about a Midwestern girl who heads to an Eastern prep school. This is a beautifully written book with a nod to being a "commercial" piece of fiction. The story is accessible and interesting. I find myself caring about the characters. This isn't young adult but the subject matter is clearly about the experiences in the age group I'll be writing. And anyone who's had any acquaintance with boarding/prep schools will recognize the authenticity in these pages.

And finally, in doing reseach I came across several sites that offer quaint quizzes for helping you find out what element you are (air, water, earth, etc.)

http://www.streea-davis.com/element.htm (They said for ties, multiple description windows would open with descriptions. Apparently I was all elements. Someone report back if they get like 5 windows open. Maybe everyone is schitzophrenic.)

http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatelementareyouquiz/

http://www.quizilla.com/users/azuremariposa/quizzes/What%20Element%20Are%20You?

And to find out what occult power best suits you...

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_occult_power_best_suits_you

(I'd be careful around me because I'm clairvoyant apparently. And my I seem to be at 50% power in all aspects of the supernatural. Who knew I had such power?

And if you want to know your magical personality...

http://www.llewellyn.com/free/mpq.php

So, who out there is reading "out of their element?" Finding good books in places you weren't looking? Or simply gathering knowledge you didn't know you were interested in until you stumbled on the subject?