Saturday Everything (Apr. 21, 2012)

Let's try this out. I like having specific topics to post on specific days, so today I'm doing a round up of book/writing-related things. If it goes well, this may become a weekly Saturday thing.

Links for Readers:
Middle grade and YA author Lisa Schroeder has a wonderful blog post about sequels that I wholeheartedly agree with. What I took away from it: in a book planned as a stand-alone title, often the characters end up in the place they're supposed to -- or at least on the brink of that place -- and introducing a second book could mess that up.

HelloGiggles has a nice article about one of my favorite middle grade novels - Sharon Creech's Bloomability (more about this book in tomorrow's post).

Also, to celebrate the release of her debut YA novel, Pretty Amy, Lisa Burstein is having a huge giveaway and three readers will win a prom dress. So click over there.


Links for Writers:
This Figment article by Siobhan Vivian is of special importance to me since I just recently finished a first draft with five (five!) main characters. Here, Vivian talks about writing The List, a book that has eight different main characters, and how she handled the plethora of voices, outlooks, and identities. For anyone struggling with multiple POV I think this is a  must-read. It shows that this sort of book can be done, and also gives some helpful tips for keeping everything organized.

Links for People Who Are Super Interested in Books/Publishing:
Maureen Johnson, in her inimitable style, wrote a thing about the current ebooks situation -- the lawsuit against Apple and quite a few publishers because they allegedly did some sketchy stuff with the pricing of ebooks. A very interesting post even if, like me, you still don't totally get it.