2014, I'm gonna let you finish, but first...

Funny how years can be so similar and yet so very different. Individually, my days mostly look the same. I get up, I go for a run, I teach school all day, I come home and write, I collapse into bed. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

2013 was a year of firsts. In last year’s post, I mentioned possibly getting to go to England after dreaming about it my whole life. In 2014, I did just that. My husband and I spent a week in London and it really was even better than I had hoped.

But the rest of the year was just doing what I always do, and there was some real comfort in that. In February I ran my 7^th marathon. I finished in 3:53, which wasn’t my fastest time, but it wasn’t my slowest either. Over the course of 2014, I’ve run over 1000 miles. I don’t regret a single one of them.

I drafted two and a half books in 2014, and revised one. My agent and I polished that one until it shines, and I’m super excited about it.

I read just over 50 books this year.

I won two awards and became a finalist in a third. I spoke alongside Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Kimberly Willis Holt, and met tons of other awesome writers. I participated in both Nova Teen in March, the inaugural LSU Young Adult Lit Conference in June, and the Louisiana Book Festival in November.

So much of who I am –runner, teacher, writer—is behind-the-scenes work: slogging through the miles, putting in the time, getting down the words, working when no one is looking, hoping to reap that benefit later.

2014 was about doing the work and hoping to get paid for it later.

What’s in store for 2015? I haven’t a clue. I will continue to do the work, but as is the case in publishing (and so much of life), what happens next is out of my hands. All I can continue to do is write the best books I can and pray that in the process, my craft improves.

I don’t make resolutions. I run and write almost everyday, and for that, I am grateful. I get to teach, to hopefully turn non-readers into readers, and to learn a little myself along the way. But I do choose a focus, and this year, my focus is to be present. I’m a goal-oriented person, so it’s easy to keep my eyes on what I am working toward and forget to enjoy the current moment I am in. It’s easy to get caught up in the past instead of living in the present. It’s easy to pick up my phone and check Twitter when I instead need to be listening to what the person right in front of me is trying to say.

So this year, I vow to do a better job at being present. What about you?

SHP's Third Annual Holiday Cheer Giveaway!

Sometimes it's just as fun to receive as it is to give. You've been good all year (at least that's the story, and we're sticking to it), and you deserve bookish gifts, so you're lucky that it's once again time for the Spencer Hill Holiday Giveaway! The giveaway runs from Dec. 5th to Dec. 19th, 2014, so hurry up and enter!

GRAND PRIZE STOCKING:

Spencer Hill Family-$30 Amazon Gift Card, Candy, and Neat Things

Darby Karchut - THE STAG LORD (signed copy)

Errick Nunnally- BLOOD FOR THE SUN (copy)

Elizabeth Langston- WHISPER FALLS (signed copy)

Heather McCollum-SIREN’S SONG (signed copy) and Swag

J.K. Rock -CAMP BOYFRIEND (signed copy) and Swag

J.L. Spelbring-PERFECTION (signed copy) and Swag and FLAWED (signed copy) and Swag

Suzanne Rigdon-INTO THE NIGHT (signed copy)

Kelly Hashway- THE MONSTER WITHIN (signed copy) and CURSE OF DEATH Swag

DK Mok-THE OTHER TREE Magnet and HUNT FOR VALAMON Swag

Jennifer Murgia-FOREST OF WHISPERS Swag

Laura Diamond- ZODIAC COLLECTOR, LORE, and TSAVO PRIDE Swag

Wendy Brotherlin-FREAKS OF NATURE Swag and $20 Staples Gift Card

Brenda St John Brown-SWIMMING TO TOKYO (e-book)

Rich Storrs- Synopsis Critique and Query Letter Critique

Sarah Guillory-RECLAIMED Swag

Jennifer Carson-HAPENNY MAGICK (signed copy) and Swag

Michelle L. Johnson-DIVINITY (signed copy)

Dahlia Adler-BEHIND THE SCENES Swag and UNDER THE LIGHTS Magnet

Megan Whitmer-BETWEEN (e-book)

Tracy Bilen-WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND (copy) and WATCH YOUR BACK Swag

Cheryl Ann Smith-LEADING HER WITNESS Swag and Author Tote Bag

Kelley Lynn-ROAD TO SOMEWHERE (ebook)

Colette Ballard-RUNNING ON EMPTY(signed copy)and Swag, and TEMPORARY HIGH Swag

Trisha Wooldridge-McAUTHOR CHRONICLES Set: THE KELPIE and THE EARL’S CHILDE and Swag

Lisa Amowitz-VISION (signed copy) and Swag

Brianna Shrum-1st Three Chapter Critique 

SECOND PRIZE STOCKING:

Spencer Hill Family-$10 Amazon Gift Card, Candy, and Neat Stuff

DK Mok-THE OTHER TREE Swag and Magnet

Errick Nunnally-BLOOD FOR THE SUN Shot Glass

Jennifer Murgia-FOREST OF WHISPERS Swag and Query Critique

Heather McCollum-SIREN’S SONG Swag and Musical Notes Fingernail Tattoos

J.L. Spelbring-PERFECTION (signed copy) and Swag and FLAWED (signed copy)and Swag

JK Rock-CAMP BOYFRIEND  (signed copy)and Swag

Suzanne Rigdon-INTO THE NIGHT (signed copy) and Swag, and 1 Chapter Critique

Laura Diamond- ZODIAC COLLECTOR, LORE, and TSAVO PRIDE Swag

Wendy Brotherlin-FREAKS OF NATURE Notepad and $15 Starbucks Gift Card

Sarah Guillory-RECLAIMED Swag

Angelica Jackson-CROW’S REST Swag

Jennifer Carson-HAPENNY MAGICK Swag and First Chapter Critique

Michelle L. Johnson- DIVINITY  (signed copy)

Dahlia Adler-BEHIND THE SCENES (signed copy) and Swag

Megan Whitmer-BETWEEN (ebook)

Tracy Bilen-WATCH YOUR BACK Swag, and a Query and 10 Page Critique

Cheryl Ann Smith-$10 Amazon Gift Card, LEADING HER WITNESS Swag and Author Tote

Kelley Lynn-ONE WISH AWAY (ebook)

Colette Ballard-RUNNING ON EMPTY(signed copy)and Swag, and TEMPORARY HIGH Swag

Kristy Shen-Query Critique

Trisha Wooldridge-DOORWAYS TO EXTRA TIME (copy) and Swag

Lisa Amowitz- VISION (signed copy) and Swag

THIRD PRIZE STOCKING:

Spencer Hill Family- $5 Amazon Gift Card, Candy, and Neat Stuff

DK Mok-THE OTHER TREE Swag and HUNT FOR VALAMON Swag

Elizabeth Langston-I WISH (signed copy)

Jennifer Murgia-FOREST OF WHISPERS Swag

Heather McCollum-SIREN’S SONG Swag and $10 Amazon Gift Card

J.L. Spelbring – PERFECTION Swag and FLAWED(signed copy) and Swag

JK Rock-CAMP BOYFRIEND (signed copy)and Swag

Suzanne Rigdon-1 Chapter Critique

Laura Diamond-ZODIAC COLLECTOR (ebook) and ZODIAC COLLECTOR, LORE, and TSAVO PRIDE Swag

Wendy Brotherlin-FREAKS OF NATURE Swag

Brenda St John Brown-SWIMMING TO TOKYO (ebook)

Angelica Jackson-CROW’S REST Swag

Jennifer Carson-HAPENNY MAGICK Swag

Michelle L. Johnson-DIVINITY(signed copy)

Dahlia Adler-BEHIND THE SCENES Swag

Megan Whitmer-BETWEEN (ebook)

Tracy Bilen-WATCH YOUR BACK Swag

Cheryl Ann Smith-LEADING HER WITNESS Swag and Author Tote

Kelley Lynn- Query Critique and One Chapter Critique

Colette Ballard-RUNNING ON EMPTY(signed copy) and Swag, and TEMPORARY HIGH Swag

Trisha Wooldridge-SILENT STARSONG(copy) and Swag

Lisa Amowitz- VISION Swag

Brianna Shrum-Query and 1st Five Page Critique 

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Writing Isn't Magical

Reading is magical. It transports you to new places and introduces you to new friends. It even allows you to become entirely different people. And books are fluid. No two people have ever read the same book, and so often, the book is different at different times in the same person’s life. There is nothing more magical than that.

But writing is much less magical. It is routine. It’s work, plain and simple. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t lovely. I love writing or I wouldn’t spend so much time doing it. But for a long time I believed that if writing required so much work from me, it meant I wasn’t good at it. For some reason, I believed that true writers wrote effortlessly.

Now I know just how absurd that is. If a book is good, then the creation appears effortless. That’s the true magic of writing, and the reason writers are magicians in a way. They perform an amazing illusion – taking something that required work and making it look easy.

Writing is much like alchemy in that writers take base metal and hopefully manage to turn it into gold. But it requires hard work, not magic.

There is nothing better than finishing a marathon. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world, but when I cross the finish line, it’s not magical. I don’t look around, surprised that I have reached my destination. I remember exactly how I got there. It’s the end product of early mornings, long runs, and sore muscles. When I finish writing a book, it’s not magic either. It’s the culmination of time put in, the bending, shaping, and reworking of the base material.

Don’t ever think for one moment that working hard on something means you’re doing it wrong. It means you’re doing it.

Write on.

I Read Banned Books

It's important for writers, educators, and book lovers to make our voices heard not just during Banned Books Week, but anytime books are threatened; we're not just protecting books for ourselves, but for generations to come. There is so much danger in this world, and we shouldn't teach our children that books, that ideas and cultures and beliefs different than our own, are part of that.

I credit books for molding me into who I am today - not just a teacher and a writer, but someone in love with ideas, someone hungry for rich worlds not found outside my window, a person curious about ideas not normally championed by the masses. Who would I be if someone else had closed the curtains on the worlds I grew up with and silenced the voices that whispered to me when I felt alone?

I looked at the list of the top 100 books banned during the 90s. I was in school then and wondered what books I might have missed if book banning had been allowed to impact me. On the list were books that always are: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and A Wrinkle in Time. But there were two books on the list that had a profound impact on me when I first read them. One was Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. I read this book at a time when I wasn't sure it was okay to be me, when I was embarrassed about normal biological changes that were outside of my control. I read this at a time when the world said I should be ashamed. The book made me cringe, made me laugh, but above all, the book showed me that I was not alone in what I was feeling. I needed that more than anything.

Another was On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer. I was shocked to find this on the list because I felt that this book belonged just to me. I think I was in sixth grade when my grandmother gave me this book. It was the first signed book I ever owned, and the first time I realized that authors were real people, not larger-than-life immortals who lived on some distant mountain. The book is about a boy who watches his friend drown, and it was the first book I remember making me cry. I've read this book again and again, and I sobbed each and every time.

We need to prevent our children from embracing hatred and ignorance. We must teach them to ask questions, to listen to diverse voices, and to work for a better world. We can do this in part by allowing them to read that which speaks to them.

Let's not snatch books out of the hands of our children. Who knows what they'll pick up to replace them.

Running on Empty

I am currently in between revisions and feeling a bit antsy without something to work on. I must do more research before I start revisions on my most current draft, so I’ve been reading and thinking and pacing and wallowing for the last week or so. And then on a whim, I picked up an old copy of The Southern Review and read a few poems.

And the words flowed. I grabbed the closest notebook I could find and started writing. Within ten minutes, I felt better than I have in weeks. I remembered why I love writing so much. My pen couldn’t fly across the paper fast enough. The words weren’t beautiful (yet), but they were quick and easy and focused. In ten minutes I had added depth to a character that had, at times, felt flat in my draft.

And I realized that during the last six months, I had completely emptied myself out during revisions and hadn’t devoted enough time to filling back up.

As a runner, I know better. During long runs I take in extra calories in order to replenish what is lost. If I don't, I crash and burn. I would never run eighteen miles or more without fueling properly before, during, and after.

The same should be true for my writing. Writing empties us. As we write, we pour ourselves onto the page, wringing out like a dishrag. After doing that for months, I was dry.

In order to create, to empty out our souls, and to do it continuously over a long period of time, we must fuel properly. Read. Don’t just read in your genre, either. Read outside your comfort zone. Read poetry and absorb its music. Listen to its cadence so that your prose will have rhythm and beauty. Get drunk on someone else’s words.

And observe. Sit in the silence and enjoy a sunset. Take a walk and notice that which you bustled past only the day before. Breathe the world in so you can exhale it onto the page at just the right moment.

Listen. Watch. Absorb. You can’t run on empty forever.

Review of Jessica Spotswood's The Cahill Witch Chronicles

I don’t normally review books. I read the heck out of them, but it’s rare for me to do much other than fangirl over them on Twitter and bully random strangers into reading them. But I had to make an exception for the Cahill Witch Chronicles by Jessica Spotswood. As a reader, I hope more publishers buy books like this; as a writer, I hope to create my own.

The Cahill Witch Chronicles (Born Wicked, Star Cursed, and Sisters’ Fate) tell the story of the Cahill sisters, Kate, Maura, and Tess. They live in an alternate New England where witchcraft is illegal and the Brotherhood oversee the moral lives of citizens. The sisters are, of course, witches. Their mother, also a witch, heard a prophecy prior to her death that said one of the sisters would be a great oracle and that one of the sisters would kill another one. The story deals with the three sisters trying to live in a world where their very existence is forbidden while also trying not to kill each other.

The portrayal of strong women is what makes these books so wonderful. All three books are populated with amazing women who are independent in their own way. These girls are smart, brave, tough, cunning, and funny. Some love fashion and others don’t. Some are sweet and quiet while others are brazen. And yet no set of characteristics is treated as the “right one.” There is no “not like other girls” trope. The characters are flawed and fallible and still wonderfully strong and varied. There are amazing friendships between these women too. They support one another. They realize they are wrong about each other without requiring the other person to change. They relish their independence and allow others to do the same.

I know this is less a review and more of a fangirl flail, and I’m okay with that. Each book is satisfying on its own, but the story arc over the course of the trilogy is a thing of beauty. The writing is solid and the world-building is incredibly well-done. There is romance, of course, (and really swoony kisses), but the stories are so much more than that. The characters are so much more than that. Spotswood has crafted wonderful stories about strong, supportive women who take pride in who they are. They also have supportive love interests who share that pride. I adore Finn so very much, and I love that Cate and Finn can fall for each other while still allowing the other person to remain autonomous.

You need to read these books. If I were you, I’d just block a few days off on the calendar because I’m pretty sure you won’t get much done once you start. I didn’t.

RECLAIMED named to 2016 Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice Award!

Hello all! A lovely friend pointed out that I haven't announced the good news on my blog. Last week I find out that Reclaimed was named to the 2016 Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice Award. There are nine other books on the list, and let me tell you, I am in impressive and intimidating company. :) You should totally check the list out and work your way through it. I've read about half, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest soon.

Now I know many of you are already wondering - 2016? Isn't it still 2014? (Sometimes I think it's still 2004.) :) The way this program works is that they release the list now in order to promote the books during 2015. We want our teens here in Louisiana to get a chance to read all of these books. Then they will vote for their favorite at the beginning of 2016, and the winner will be announced in February 2016. It's an amazing program through the Louisiana State Library system. My own students and high school book club (which I sponsor) read the lists every year. (We're currently working our way through the 2015 list.)

I'm super excited and honored to have been named to the list among authors I admire.