RECLAIMED Won Silver!

RECLAIMED won Silver in the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Young Adult Category!



Also honored to learn that Reclaimed has been named a finalist for the 2013 Foreword Book of the Year. See the full list of young adult fiction finalists here.

The Sound of Silence

Banning books is a hot topic in the literary world, and I spend my life surrounded by people committed to stop it from happening. Readers need to see themselves in fiction, and there is plenty of room on the bookshelf for a variety of world views. I read banned books and I encourage my students to read them as well.

So I am surprised that lately, I’ve seen those who speak openly against banning books cheering for others who are doing just that. We must remember that in championing books, in celebrating our freedom to read, we are going to be faced with protecting those very ideas that we disagree with. That is the nature of free speech. There are many voices, and not all of them are speaking our language. But if we truly believe that censorship is wrong, we fight it.

This doesn’t mean we don’t criticize those books and ideals. That is the best part about freedom of expression – it allows us to engage in meaningful conversations about those things that matter. We should be critical of ideas we don’t agree with. But only in allowing them to be expressed can we fight that issue head on.

 

I recently saw on Twitter several people agreeing with a child who demanded a sexist children’s book be removed from the bookstore. While I am also sick of seeing both boys and girls being told what they can and cannot enjoy, by celebrating this behavior, we are teaching that banning books is the answer and will solve the problem. Neither are true.

In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Beatty tells Montag that people stopped reading of their own accord long before books became illegal, mostly because authors were so afraid of offending somebody (and no matter what you write, it will offend somebody), that the books didn’t actually say anything.

I want books to speak – to me, to my students, to people who are similar to me as well as to those who differ. And in order to make sure that those books stay on the shelves, that my students are able to find these books, then that means I must fight for the freedom of all books.

We all know taking those issues out of bookstores and libraries doesn’t mean those issues disappear from reality. When those books are no longer present, it means they are also no longer part of a necessary critical conversation. We’re not just silencing opposing voices – we’re stopping conversations. And that kind of silence isn’t just deafening. It’s dangerous.

RECLAIMED is six months old!

I can’t believe it’s already been six months since Reclaimed released! It’s been an incredible six months, full of awesome events, lovely reviews, and even lovelier support from readers and fellow authors. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and recommending Reclaimed. Thank you for the emails, the flails, and for your all-around awesomeness. To celebrate, I’m giving away an annotated copy of Reclaimed. The giveaway opens at midnight tonight and ends at midnight on April 14th. I will choose the winner on April 15th, the six-month annivesary of my release. Use the rafflecopter below, and thanks for spreading the word!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On Fear

I’ve always been fearful. Even as a child, I was nervous and high-strung. It frustrated my mother. She wanted me to enjoy things, experience life. More than once, when I refused to do something out of fear, she would pull me close and promise that she would never let me do anything that would hurt me. But in addition to my fear, I am stubborn, so I always stood firm and refused to do whatever it was that scared me.

I am phobic about heights. Seriously. I can’t even ride glass elevators. I’m not ashamed of this, nor do I care to overcome this fear. I like my feet firmly on the ground.

But I spent a very long time being afraid of failure. When I was younger, I refused to do anything that I didn’t already feel I was good at. I would not step outside my comfort zone, because more than anything, I feared looking stupid, or inept, or, God forbid, average.

I missed out on a lot of opportunities because of this fear. I quit the track team because I never won a race. I didn’t allow myself to write often because I knew I wasn’t any good. Now the two things that bring me such joy are running and writing. I missed years of doing these activities because I wasn’t perfect at them, and I demanded perfection from myself.

And then I grew up. It was really running that taught me I didn’t have to be perfect to enjoy something. I fell in love with running, with the discipline and the achievement that came from competing in marathons. I’ve never won a race, but I’ve beaten myself time and time again. I learned that it isn’t about competing against others, but against yourself, and becoming the best self you can be.

Running gave me the courage to write. At first I was terrified of rejection, but that got easier. Then I was terrified of being published, because there is nothing more soul-baring than sharing your words with strangers.

But I did it anyway.

I’m still afraid. The project I’m working on right now terrifies me because the characters are very different than I am and I want to do them justice. I want to get the history and culture correct, I want to represent truthfully and fairly. I want so many things with this project; wanting is a scary thing.

This week is full of things that terrify me. Today I have something exciting and terrifying happening. I hardly slept last night. Tomorrow I fly out to attend the NOVA Teen Book Festival, and while I’m thrilled and excited to be a part, I’m also nervous. I hate flying. It makes me sick and, more than anything, I can’t stand being dependent on others. Flying requires me to do nothing and hope my flights are on time and that they don’t lose my luggage. The lack of control causes me so much anxiety. But it will also be my first time on panels, and though I make my living off of standing in front of teens and talking books, adults intimidate me a little.

There’s a great quote in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “Cowards die many times before their deaths;/The valiant never taste of death but once.”

Being afraid is normal. But if we let fear dictate our lives, we’ll never truly live.

I still fear failure. But I'm not going to let it stop me.

Upcoming Events

There are so many exciting things going on right now! Besides being super busy with revisions, I have a few events coming up. Let me know if I'll see you there!

March 8, 2014: NOVA Teen Book Festival

I'm so excited about this event! I get to see my amazing editor Danielle Ellison, as well as meet up with other authors and fellow readers.

From 11:00-11:45 AM I'll be participating in a panal with Lamar Giles and Ellen Oh entitled "Who Are You." It deals with identify and destiny. After the event ends, we will be signing books at the Arlington Central Library. Check out the schedule to see the incredible line-up. Don't miss it!


April 5, 2014, 2:00 PM: Signing at Baton Rouge Citiplace Barnes and Noble


June 2-6, 2014: LSU Young Adult Literature Conference and Seminar

Books Are My Valentine

The husband gave me beautiful
roses today. He's my Valentine too,
but he'll have to share me with books.

I love books. I love the smell of their pages and their weight in my hands. Fictional characters make me swoon. Adventure and intrigue and magic make my heart pound. Heaven is a bookstore and an eternity to read its content.

Books are my Valentine.

They comfort me when I am sad and cheer me up after a hard day. They take me on extravagant trips. They've never abandoned me.

Books have given me a lifetime of happiness and never asked for anything in return. I'm grateful.

In honor of Valentine's day, here are just a few books I've fallen in love with recently.

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
I read this in one sitting. Be prepared.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
King creates such great characters. I was totally immersed in this story and read it in just a couple of days.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
This was a re-read. I read this back when it came out, and then re-read over my snow days. This is such a beautiful story. I'll read it many more times I'm sure.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
I love any book set in a bookstore.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
I also read this one straight through. I loved it so much and can't believe it took me this long to get to it!

Today a student asked me what my favorite love story was. While I truly can't choose a favorite anything when it comes to books, I do love Elizabeth and Darcy of Pride and Prejudice.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I Love My Body

Me, seconds before crossing the finish line
of my seventh marathon. See that crazy
look in my eye?

I’ve sat on this post a while, knowing that many people would judge me for it. But many people judge me anyway, so what the hell.

I love my body.
 

This is not something most people say out loud. We’re supposed to hate our bodies, right? Or at least tolerate them? We’re not supposed to tell others that we like the way we look. This makes us vain, egotistical, prideful.

I didn’t always appreciate my body. I was very skinny when I was younger, all knees and elbows, and my extremely long legs looked like toothpicks. Or chicken legs. At least, that’s what everyone told me. It came as quite a shock. I’d always liked the way I looked. But when I was twelve years old, I went to high school. (Our high school was 7^th-12^th grades.) Once I got there, I found out I was gross to look at because I was thin and bony. The older boys teased me to tears. I’m not sure I slept through the night during junior high. I would wake up in horrible pain as both my calves seized up with muscle cramps, due to the 200-300 calf raises I did almost every day. Maybe if my calf muscles were bigger, they would leave me alone.

But these legs have endured a lot. I tore my muscle where the hamstring attaches to the glute. At the time I thought it was just a pull, so I didn’t go to the doctor. Now I know it was a significant injury, one that still causes me daily pain. Because of that tear, six months later I tore my ACL. Then I tore it again two years later and had to have reconstruction surgery.

After all that, my body still works hard. It’s propelled me through thousands of miles, seven marathons, and countless half-marathons, 5ks, and 10ks.

It kept me running through the heartache when my husband and I learned we probably wouldn’t have children.

It taught me to keep going even when things hurt, which made me not only a better writer, but a better person.

I overheard a student say the other day that she didn’t love anything about herself. This broke my heart. I couldn’t be sure whether or not she didn’t love things about herself because she truly didn’t see her own worth, or because society had taught her at least to pretend she didn't see her own worth. Either way, it’s unacceptable.

I am a flawed, fallible human being. I make mistakes daily. But despite those things, I am also loyal, and compassionate, and hopefully, kind.

My body creaks. I’m starting to get a few creases around my eyes. My calves are still skinny. I do not have a daughter, so I will never be able to teach her to love herself, to appreciate her body, no matter what shape it may take.

But I will say the words, so that when my students and other young girls in my neighborhood see my legs pounding the asphalt, they won’t note their size, but rather their strength.

I love my body. It is strong.