Diversity in YA Summer Reading Challenge!

The ladies over at Diversity in YA have issued a challenge. This summer, they would like to see readers reading books with LGBT characters or characters of color. Readers who do this and write an essay by September 1 will be entered in a contest to win a whole bunch of books!

I love books with diverse characters.

I am always interested in a way to win a whole bunch of books.

This is a perfect challenge for me! So...of course I'll be reading this summer. Some of the books I may read:

• Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
• tithe by Holly Black
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Sheperd

I'm sure there are others, but that's a start. You can find information about the challenge at Diversity in YA's website.

There is a great list of LGBTQ YA Novels with Characters of Color if you're interested in hitting both aspects of the challenge in one book. I haven't read any of the books on the list, but I've enjoyed other books by Alex Sanchez (The God Box and Boyfriends with Girlfriends made the list), whose LGBTQ hispanic characters are fantastic! I adore everything I've read by David Levithan, whose Love is the Higher Law made the list. I'm also excited to get my hands on some books by Steve Kluger (My Most Excellent Year) and Malinda Lo (Huntress). Happy reading!

Figment Fable Writing Contest

I came across a contest the other day. It's on a writing website called Figment. The contest calls for a 1200 word fable (story with a moral) that takes place the night before a major (think: apocalyptic) battle. THE battle, if you will. The one that determines the course of history for the groups involved.

The cool part comes with the judging, though. Once entries are posted, people have the opportunity to heart (sort of like "liking" something on Facebook) them for a certain period of time. Paulo Coehlo, the author of The Alchemist, will be judging the most popular entries. The winner will receive $1,000. I read a few of the early entries, and they were full of typos. I'm just sayin'.

Now, if you know me very well, I might have confided in you that I am secretly writing a novel. OK, not so secretly anymore. And if you are one of about 10 people, you might even have access to the document where I do my writing.

For all the rest of you, I'm writing a novel. It begins just before THE battle. The opening scene is about 1200 words.

So...I might spend the next week editing and then submit it to the contest!

I also have another idea wriggling around that could also work. So we shall see.