Cover Reveal! The Summer of Crossing Lines

Friends, today I'm so happy to reveal the cover for my next contemporary YA novel, The Summer of Crossing Lines.

Here's the blurb:

When her protective older brother disappears, sixteen-year-old Melody loses control of her orderly life. Her stuttering flares up, her parents are shrouded in a grief-induced fog, and she clings to the last shreds of her confidence.

The only lead to her brother's disappearance is a 30-second call from his cell phone to Rex, the leader of a crime ring. Frustrated by a slow investigation with too many obstacles, and desperate to mend her broken family, Melody crosses the line from wallflower to amateur spy. She infiltrates Rex's group and is partnered with Drew, a handsome pickpocket whose kindness doesn't fit her perception of a criminal. He doesn't need to steal her heart--she hands it to him. 

With each law Melody breaks, details of her brother's secret life emerge until she's on the cusp of finding him. But at what point does truth justify the crime?

The Summer of Crossing Lines is coming soon! You can add it to your Goodreads list here. If you're willing to help me spread the word when the time comes, just holler! Guest posts, interviews, tap dancing while juggling pineapples...you name it. I'll appreciate any help I can get :D

Are you looking for a new summer read? Have you enjoyed your summer reading so far? Wanna share some good news? I'd love to hear it!

Writing lessons learned from SEA

I recently finished SEA, by Heidi R. Kling. Here's a blurb from the inside cover:

Despite recurring nightmares about her mother's death and her own fear of flying, fifteen-year-old Sienna accepts her father's birthday gift to fly to Indonesia with his team of disaster relief workers to help victims of a recent tsunami, never suspecting that this experience will change her life forever.


Here are the writing lessons I learned from this book:

• Hint at history: Sienna (aka "Sea") hints at a romantic history with her bff's hunky older brother, Spider (love that name). It was just a hint, but I was curious and wanted to know what went sour between them, and why Sea now keeps her distance from the likable surfer dude.
• Establish crippling fear early: Sienna's mom disappeared in a plane crash over the Indian Ocean, and now Sienna is terrified of flying and the sea. When her father buys her a plane ticket to visit Indonesia, we already know this is an epic fear of Sienna's.
• Use real tragedy as a plot point: This story takes place during the aftermath of the horrific tsunami of 2004. While reading the story, I remembered the news images, and how entire towns had been wiped out. It added authenticity to the story.
• Early empathy: In the opening pages, we learn about Sienna's mom's death. The main character doesn't feel sorry for herself, but she definitely has lingering scars. The reader empathizes with her, and wishes things were better for her.
• Create shared experiences between characters: Sienna helps in an Indonesian orphanage, where kids who have lost both parents in the tsunami now live. Although she still has her father, Sienna relates to the orphans, and their extreme sense of loss.
• Show character through sacrifice: Toward the end of the story, Sienna is faced with a decision--keep the truth to herself and hurt someone she loves, or share information and break her own heart. It's a tough choice, and Sienna's character is revealed when she makes her final decision.
• Consider a story within a story: Spider and Sienna remember a story they were told as children--a story about how their town, El Angel Miguel, got its name. It begins with a sea captain in the 1800s whose "great and only love died very young. He was so heartbroken that he vowed to never step foot on land again. He'd sail the seas forever and never return to the homeland that stole his true love." For a moment I was taken out of the larger story, and enjoyed this little sidebar.

Sarah Ockler, author of Twenty Boy Summer, wrote this: "Sea is a richly woven story as turbulent and beautiful as the sea itself...A touching and romantic debut." 

I agree!

Have you read Sea? And what are your opinions of the writing lessons? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Don't quit--your future readers NEED you!

We all get discouraged. Our first drafts are birdcage-worthy, and rejections pile up. Successes rain down from the sky, and sometimes we feel like we're standing in the only dry spot. It's times like these that cause many writers to quit.

My advice? DON'T QUIT!

In my opinion, the biggest fault with quitting is that you'd be giving up on yourself. We've all heard the quote "the only difference between the published writer and the unpublished writer is perseverance."

You know who else loses if you quit? Your future readers. If they're giving up precious time and money to buy books, don't they deserve the best? Aren't they worth the scrutiny and hard work?

Imagine this:

Picture Book Authors--Your reader grabs your book from the shelf and then settles into her mom's lap. She memorizes your words, and turns the worn pages herself. She learns about friendship, family, and acceptance in a joyful way because you didn't give up.

Middle Grade Authors--Your reader struggles through an awkward time. Her body and her life are changing faster than she can register. She's still wearing braces, and she's taller than the guy she's crushing on. Her hair and clothes aren't like the other girls', and she wants nothing more than to fit in. She clings to your character like a good friend, because you didn't give up.

Young Adult Authors--Your reader stands on the creaky bridge between childhood and adulthood. She's hanging on for dear life, because drama is all around her. Family troubles plague her. At school, she feels like she's "in" one day and "out" the next, and she knows that one wrong move can ruin her reputation. She can be bullied on Facebook, and each text she sends could be forwarded to a wide audience. She'll read your book and know that she's not alone, because you didn't give up.

Adult Authors--Your reader is stressed out and needs escape. Work is crazy. Traffic on the freeway tightens the screws on her neck. Bills to pay, kids to shuttle, house to clean. When she steals a moment away, she'll sink in a bubble bath and wet the pages of your book, lost in thought. She'll drag your book to soccer practice, or listen to it on tape while commuting. Late at night, your book will rest in her lap while she waits for her teen to come home, because you didn't give up.

When times are tough, don't be discouraged, be inspired. And think of your readers. They don't want you to quit. They need you.

Do you ever get discouraged? If so, how do you handle it? And do you imagine your readers, and what they'll think of your book? If you're published, do you imagine who's reading your book, and where they're toting it around to?

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Dude! Details from a skate park!

Last week I took our three sons to the skate park. It was a gorgeous So Cal day, and while the boys did their thing on the ramps and half-pipes, I sat with my trusty spiral notebook and jotted down setting details. If you write for middle graders or young adults, these scene details may come in handy. Here are some of my observations:

The Setting

• Standard skate park environment--cement bowl, half-pipe, and ramps of various pitches. Metal staircase poles. A brown wooden bridge with blue and green flags flying at the corners.
• Chunks of cement chipped out of the bowl's edges.
• Palm trees planted near the bridge, fronds swaying in the gentle breeze.
• 20' x 20' shades placed intermittently along the surrounding sidewalk.
• Traffic noise from the nearby road--trucks and small cars.

The Toys

• Wooden skateboards, BMX-style bikes, and in-line skates.
• Most kids wore helmets. Adults did not. Some kids wore their helmets unbuckled, the straps hanging free.

The People

• Mostly kids, from around six years old to older teens.
• Two adults on skateboards--one with a shaved head, wearing denim shorts and a white T; the other had thinning longer hair, and he wore an unbuttoned shirt, corduroy pants, and mirrored sunglasses.
• Most kids rode with one eye on their own path, and another eye on what the other kids were doing (tricks, etc.)
• Some kids sat over the edge of the bowl, legs dangling, baseball caps on backwards, iPod buds in their ears.
• Two teen girls were there, but not on a "ride." They ran up and down the half-pipe.
• One older teen had a tattooed "ring" on his ring finger, about 1/2 inch thick.
• Plenty of F-bombs dropped by some teens--young and old.
• Standard uniform was skinny jeans and graphic T's.
• Cringe-worthy crashes (including my sons).
• Sounds of crashes differed, based on the toy. Scooters--silent glide and then metal scraping. BMX bikes--squealing tires, then rubber thumping, and then metal scraping. Skateboards--a whoosh, then wood scraping, and then a thunk as it flipped.

Have you ever visited a skate park? If so, did these scene details sound familiar? And do you ever jot down scene details when you're out and about?

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