Wit, Words, and Joie de Vivre

I was talking to everflame yesterday about stretching oneself in writing. I like to attempt something new with every book, and yet sometimes I still hesitate to take on the challenge.

For instance, it occurred to me probably last year that working Alfred's point of view into Olivia and Alfred might be what the story was missing. But I'd never done a story before with two points of view. I hesitated. Now I'm doing it and I wonder why. It hasn't been hard at all. In most ways, it's made things much easier, and given the story more depth. Especially considering this is a story where a girl travels to another world, and it's nigh impossible to make that transition interesting when the reader has seen it all a million times in other fantasy stories.

I switched some of those scenes to Alfred's point of view, so I can avoid so much WOWIE ZOWIE IT'S A FANTASY WORLD stuff.

I did open myself up to a new challenge. Since Alfred is blind, well, half the book now lacks visual descriptions. Sometimes this makes me want to tear my hair out. I've done a lot of research and written many stories for my own amusement about Alfred in the past, so I feel comfortable in his head. That doesn't mean I have a clue how to get it on the page so other people will understand it. There is a general lack of nonvisual descriptive language, for starters. Then there is audience assumption. If you're talking to someone and they nod, you know that because you are looking at them. But in memoirs by blind people, many occurrences that sighted people would know by sight are nevertheless mentioned, without an explanation of how the blind person knew. I can assume they had a sound cue or felt a change or made a logical assumption, but how much do I need to explain how Alfred knows what he knows? That has been hard. But, worth doing. It hasn't been done very often before. (Well, and I can see why, but I'm making the attempt, goshdarnit.)

Some challenges I would like to tackle in the future:
-- a character I like dying. Very hard for me to do, a major impact when pulled off.
-- historical fantasy that takes place, at least in part, on this planet (maybe I'll wait til I can move to Maryland and set it in Baltimore...)
-- a war or major political intrigue with the MC in the thick of it

What's the most challenging thing you've tackled in your writing?

Man, I want to blog more but it's hard to get everything done with this repetitive stress thing. I am getting better, just slowly, probably not helped by the fact that I spend too much time frittering around (translation: googling myself). I think there is something about my chair configuration that is still aggravating the problem, but I can't figure out what it is. And oh my God, I'm not buying another, even pricier, chair right now.

Still, I miss everyone tremendously... I miss commenting on LiveJournal posts and chatting. I still do it sometimes, but less often. On the other hand, I have to admit I'm glad of it in some ways. It's breaking my habit of working too hard. I realized the other day that I wasn't sure I'm even ready to get entirely better, because I'm afraid I haven't learned my lesson yet...

In happy news, I received hardcovers of Magic Under Glass! I was surprised to see them so soon!



If that picture shows up, which I'm not sure it will, I am dressed for an 80s party. That's why I look kind of silly.

I want to write a LiveJournal post but I'm often not sure what to say these days. But, I thought, it's NaNoWriMo month and a lot of people are writing and talking writing advice, so maybe I will try my hand at some process topics. I'm not sure that I have anything brilliant to say, but maybe as I blab, something brilliant will just slip out.

So, first topic. Writer's block.This is something a lot of people ask writers about. Now that I have some basis of authority, I suppose, I am starting to get that question.

A lot of people talk about writer's block is if it is a disease that can be cured. Like they want to know if they should take Advil, or apple cider vinegar, or put ice on it, or what. What is it?

Well, in my opinion, writers block is not a disease, it's a symptom of a manuscript being under the weather. When I have writers block, it is a probably for one of the following reasons:

-- I have an important scene to write that is boring. Such as, a scene where the protagonist has a fight with her parents. I don't want to write that. I want to write hot boy angst. I will probably never enjoy this scene as much as hot boy angst, but I might think about why I'm finding it so particularly troublesome. It's probably because I haven't considered the emotions of the scene deeply enough, and the scene might be coming off as stereotypical. Or perhaps I haven't given enough thought to the character of the parent. Or whatever character is involved in the boring scene. I may need to stop and think about that character as an individual for a little while.

-- I have a boring transitional scene to write. Like getting a character from point A to point B. Maybe I can skip it entirely, but I might think about, can I cut this down to just a few sentences? Do I need this much detail here?

-- The whole manuscript has gone off in the wrong direction. This is the most frustrating reason, but it is also the most important to address. If I keep going, I will only get more frustrated. This is the time I might take a few days off and let my subconscious handle it. The most difficult part is trusting that my subconscious will, indeed, do that work for me. Of course, my conscious is also thinking of it, but usually the solution comes in a magical way, often in that zone between asleep and awake. In the meantime, I might work on another project, or I might keep poking at that manuscript, but only a couple hundred words a day. That action just keeps the book in the forefront of my mind.

The most important step to take against writer's block, whatever the reason, is to not give up on the story. When I was a teenager, I only wrote when I was "inspired". That meant whatever I got stuck, I just put it aside. Often forever. Sometimes my subconscious would work out a solution, but usually took a long time because I wasn't actually recognizing the story's problems and trying to work on them. If it happened, it was my creative brain doing the work despite itself. If you go in with the mindset that you will at least think about your story every day, if not every waking second that your brain is idle, and you keep trying to write something, even if it's just a couple lousy paragraphs a day, you will break through the trouble spots.

Last year I decided to do the mermaid book for NaNo. I don't know how much I got done that month, but I finished the mermaid book in September. Of this year. So that was not really a success.

Frankly, there is not much reason for me to do NaNo because I don't fast draft like that. It might be a good exercise if I needed something to motivate me off my bum and finish a book, but obviously I don't have that problem! Not anymore. (Five years ago it was another matter.)

However, I do have 30,000 words of Olivia and Alfred done of a projected 75,000. It's a rewrite, and it isn't 50, but I think it's pretty close. And I enjoy the camraderie. I'm not sure if I can finish in November or not, because it depends how my repetitive stress is doing, but it seems within the bounds of being doable.

So, it's kind of cheating, but I'm fabulousfrock at the NaNo site. Or I will be, once I remember my password.

I said last week I would talk about different salads, but I decided that instead I would just mention the salads I'm eating on this journal periodically. Yes, try to control your enthusiasm. Salads.

Today I made a simple carrot salad which tasted way better than I expected. I was going to let it marinate in the refrigerator a little while and then get some parsley later to add, but then it was so good I just ate it all as soon as I made it.

-- two large sweet juicing carrots or four regular carrots, shredded
-- extra-virgin olive oil
-- the juice of one lemon
-- salt and freshly cracked pepper
-- and then spices. You don't need a lot of any of these. Maybe as much as the salt or pepper, to taste. I put in cumin, turmeric, fenugreek, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.

Fenugreek can be pretty hard to find so if you don't have that one, don't worry about it.

In other news, I've been pondering the subject of book reviews. I used to review books on Goodreads and give them three, four, or five stars. But I've since heard some authors say that they are offended by reviews that are less than five stars, or that you need to explain why you aren't giving a book 5 stars. Also, I realize that if someone gives me their book to read and I don't love it, and I don't want to give it a good review, well... if I give three and four-star reviews, but I don't review them at all, they'll know I thought it was really bad. If I *only* give five star reviews, then if I read your book and I didn't review it, I may have thought it was a pretty great book, just not one of my absolute favorites.

The hard part of this, of course, is that you have to keep quiet about every book that you don't totally absolutely love. And I know some people would like to have 3 and 4-star reviews, because at least it's publicity, and people have a variety of thickness of skin. I personally am not at all offended about a four-star review, and would only be a little bummed by a three-star review if it was from a friend. So I hate to not give those anymore. But I think that's probably the best way to do it.

Note: this is all theoretical anyway, because I hardly can keep up with my e-mail since I developed repetitive stress injuries, much less being able to review every book I love on Goodreads. But, it's still something I ponder.

Today, I've been going through old LJ entries, pondering how far I've come, and for those who are interested, or who are still struggling and like to read those long-slog stories, I'm doing a "Best of..." writing journey retrospective! (Entries excerpted and edited for brevity...this is still huge.)

I sometimes forget just how many times I rewrote Magic Under Glass, how DRASTICALLY the story changed, how many times I almost gave up on it, but I stuck with it, and...well, you know what happened.

6/24/05:
(This was for my first novel, Selkie Rock)
I have my first batch of query letters ready to go. Eep! I'm actually doing it, kids. They're all addressed and sealed and ready.

6/27/05: Okay, I sent six queries off 4 days ago. And today I already got a request for the first 50 pages of my manuscript. Okay, that means the second that sucker landed in the agents mailbox, they wanted to see more. Not counting my chickens before they hatch, but this is a good sign.

( A good sign that will pan out...um...three years later... )

The Magic Under Glass ARC goes to:

Sara @ The Hiding Spot!!

The second-place prize goes to:

Dani @ YA All the Way!!

Once again, people I know have the worst luck in my contests. Congratulations to the winners, and I will contact you by email now!

I mentioned a little while ago that I got a starred review in Booklist, but the issue didn't come out until this past Thursday, and today I went to the library and I finally got to SEE it in the magazine, and pet it, and make a photocopy for my scrapbook...

“Nimira is a “trouser girl,” a performer from Tassim looking to make way her way in a wealthier locale. But things have not been going well, so when a handsome young sorcerer, Hollin Parry, offers her a job, she’s interested. Parry owns a life-size automaton that plays the piano and would like Nimira to sing in accompaniment. Yet once Nimira moves into Parry’s home, she finds that things are not what they seem. Warned that the automaton is haunted, Nimira is shocked to find that under his metal exterior, he’s actually a captive fairy prince named Erris. Soon Nimira is caught in a triangle between a persistent Parry and the tortured Erris, whom she longs to help. Dolamore successfully juggles several elements that might have stymied even a more experienced writer: intriguing plot elements, sophisticated characterizations, and a subtle boost of girl power; it’s the women of the tale who have ingenuity, courage, and the power to turn events. Few fantasies end in one volume these days. Alas, this one could have had a perfect finale, but if not that, at least readers will have more of this strong heroine to look forward to."

SO SURREAL to see my name and my cover and the names of my characters in a REAL MAGAZINE at the library... Yes, I'm having a real debut author moment over here...

Also, there is an interview with me up at The Spectacle blog!: http://thespectacleblog.wordpress.com.

And don't forget, you can win MAGIC UNDER GLASS in a contest, running through 10/22, details in the post below.

I still have an extra ARC! I wanted to do a really cool contest for it. Well, maybe not that cool, but at least slightly cool. However, I am being sensible and not overexerting my repetitive stress, which is getting better... just slowly. which isn't surprising considering how much time I spend on the computer even when I am "taking a break"... yeeeeah.

So this month is simple. Just a little scavenger hunt to promote my website, www.jaclyndolamore.com. You just need to go there and find the answer to the question:

What was I for Halloween at age 14 (or thereabouts)?

Then email the answer to fabulousfrock at mac dot com. I have disabled comments because otherwise you would post the answer there and not go to my website and that would not be much of a scavenger hunt!

You get a point for entering, and +1 another point for each place you mentioned the contest, but you must tell me in an e-mail! Or I won't know about it. Contest closes midnight EST on 10/22! International entries welcome!

There will be two prizes awarded.

ONE Magic Under Glass American ARC.
ONE "your choice" prize:
--UK cover flat with a sketch by me of the Magic Under Glass characters on the back
--Critique of 10 double-spaced pages by me
--Choice of a book from my already-read pile:
The Queen's Soprano-Carol Dines
Head Case-Sarah Aronson (ex-lib)
Larklight-Philip Reeve
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City-Kirsten Miller
My Most Excellent Year-Steve Kluger
Vampire Academy #1-Richelle Mead
Skinned-Robin Wasserman
The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins (ARC)

This might be my last ARC contest so good luck!!

A couple of months ago, I stayed with my parents for a few days to visit. My mom has been increasingly moving toward a raw diet. At the time I visited, my parents were both eating almost totally raw food, and I wondered if I would go crazy in three days.

I was pleasantly surprised. My mom is an awesomely creative cook and the raw tostadas were so delicious I didn't miss cooked tostadas at all. I never felt stuffed, but I also felt satisfied and my digestive system was loving it. I was kind of shocked, because I wasn't tremendously interested in raw food before that. It sounded so extreme, and I'm all about eating local, which could be really hard to do while also eating raw. Not that it's easy to be local around here no matter what diet you're on...

When I got home from my three days of raw food, I decided I was going to have fruit for breakfast and salad for lunch every day. Dinner, of course, is still whatever -- usually some meat and vegetables. And when I eat out, sometimes I eat some serious junk food. But I have to say, I've quickly gotten used to eating salads for lunch because I feel so much healthier. Full-time writers know how hard it is not to just junk out and put on weight when your job is sitting in front of a computer at home in your pajamas. I've started doing my grocery shopping by just filling a basket with half fruit and half vegetables. I thought making all that salad would be time-consuming, but it quickly becomes such a routine and hardly dirties any dishes! It's not as boring as I thought either... I've been making lots of different ones.

But I've also noticed that it's really hard to get good salad at restaurants unless you're in a really hip spot like New York City or Asheville. And that conventional cooking magazines don't give many salad recipes either, especially not actual raw salad that isn't made with blanched or roasted vegetables or lots of cheese and bacon (although I do sometimes put those on my salad -- they are delicious and I'm not trying to be hard-core here). I bet most people don't even know how to make a bunch of different delicious salads! I think I only know because a lot of them are stolen from my mom's creative salad ideas...

A year ago I made a post on how to make a delicious entrée salad: http://fabulousfrock.livejournal.com/307500.html. Later this week I'm going to make a post with some of my usual favorite salad combinations.

I know not everyone will be this nice (and that is FINE obviously), but THANK YOU TBQ for a review that made me blush... She won the illustrated copy so I'm glad she liked it!

http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com/

Before I had the pleasure of working with an editor, I used to wonder what editors would say. What wisdom would they import? I was always fascinated by the rare post from a published author getting into the nitty-gritty of what they learned from their editor, in the hopes I could soak it up.

Now I have worked with an editor. And while I have a little free time, I've dug up Alfred and Olivia, my pet project, once again. I thought I would just add Alfred's point of view, which is a fairly major change, but I think it's working well.

But the thing I really noticed, is how many scenes don't need to be there. How many bits can be combined with other bits. Despite adding several scenes from Alfred's point of view that are entirely new, I've cut more than I've added so far.

The weird thing is, I know it's all clear to me now because I can imagine my editor's notes on the page, pointing out the unnecessary. But I have no idea why I didn't spot this before. It's not like I didn't try previously to write a tight book with no extraneous scenes. I had read gobs of books and articles with that same advice. In theory, I already knew most everything I learned from editing, but seeing it applied by a professional and knowing she will probably read whatever I'm working on eventually, I have this new magical ability to trim. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn, but it's amazing how much is now clear.

So basically, I can see why posts from published authors about editorial nitty-gritty ARE fairly rare...

I officially agreed to my first author panel! Yay! I will be on the "First Books" panel at the 2010 Miami SCBWI conference! (With my LiveJournal friend daniellejoseph. Hey Danielle!)

Anybody going? Anybody need a roommate? Anybody traveling from Orlando and want an overexcited debut author in their backseat with gas money?

I roped Dade into agreeing to go if all else fails, but I am open to options! Either way, if you're there be sure and say hi. And get a book signed!

When I was a kid, I started getting crazy excited round about October 1st. Because Halloween was coming. And oh my God Halloween costumes and candy and trick-or-treating... and then Thanksgiving!!... which was not as exciting as the other two, but still fun and it means the holidays are really cranking, and then Christmas. The whole month of December was full of fun little things like baking and advent calendars and decorating the Christmas tree, but what I was really crazy for was, of course, Christmas day.

We weren't much for snooping for presents, but one year my mom put some of the presents under the tree in the middle of December instead of Christmas Eve. The sight of those tantalizing packages turned me crazy, like a cat whose owner has opened a can of salmon for their own lunch.

Waiting for Christmas was like some form of torture, almost physically painful.

But then I turned 13 or 14 and it was Christmas Eve and I realized... with a slight pang of horror... that my stomach was not in knots of glee. That I could actually sleep. I still enjoyed the holidays... but I just wasn't excited like I used to be. The anticipation was part of the fun, even though it turned me into a crazy person.

The reason I bring up this story is, my book comes out December 22 and, I'm sort of remembering how this time of year used to feel, but for a different reason, and, SELF, REMEMBER, THE ANTICIPATION *IS* PART OF THE FUN.

A frequently discussed and debated matter among writers is critique partners. Where do you find a good one? What makes for a good one? How many do you need?

I think that when you first start writing for publication you definitely need some critique partners. I had been writing and reading extensively all my life, and I think I had a pretty good sense of word flow and story when I started writing for publication, but despite that, my writing was too wordy, I had too many scenes without conflict, my protagonists tended to be too passive... there are a slew of rules that beginners really really want to be aware of, because if you break them, you'd better have a reason.

It can be hard to find critique partners initially. I started at www.critiquecircle,com, which uses a point system to assure that people can't take without giving. The level of skill there was not so high as I would find later, but I definitely did learn from critiques I received there.

from there, I started to make more friends online and I started just putting out a call for critique partners when I had a finished manuscript. To keep my karma flowing, I also offered to read for friends when they put out a call, unless I was totally immersed in something. Sometimes this worked out to be an exchange, but there are some people I critique who did not critique me and vice versa.

I did get some wonderful help to sway. I also started to notice there are different basic type of critique partners.

--Some critique partners have mostly good things to say. They can help you find out what you've done right and give you confidence to proceed. They might be a little soft, but on the other hand, they might just be someone who legitimately loves your work and when they do give you a suggestion, it's on target. You will get a feel for which is which after a while.
--Some critique partners are dead honest, blunt, and even harsh. I know a lot of writers who swear by this kind of critique partner. If their ideas are on target they can be extremely helpful. On the other hand, however, they can crush your spirit. They sound so sure of their opinions that you might be inclined to believe them against your deeper instinct, and you might put aside or change a book that doesn't deserve it.
--Some critique partners are, of course, right in between!

Which is best? It depends on what you respond to, and the individual who gets your work. I quickly found that I do not like harsh honest critiques. Even if they do give some excellent advice, I don't like being torn up at a vulnerable point in a manuscript's life. I think these critiques run the risk of squelching my own vision. If they work for you, that's great, but sometimes I feel a little ashamed that I don't want a bluntly honest critique, and I want to let everyone know that you can write a good book without one.

Writers, especially when they first start soliciting critiques, are often confused about what to listen to in a critique. That's why I think at first it's a good idea to get a wide range. You'll get some critiques that are so ludicrous you'll know not to listen, and others that turn on a light bulb in your head. You'll see that people have a very wide range of opinions. You'll critique their work which is also educational. But when you learn the basic rules, you can narrow your pool. Even then, sometimes things are a little muddy.

I have noticed that many -- although by no means all -- writers who treat writing professionally have heard a lot of writing advice and sometimes they get overly nuts about it. Like they might tell you to get rid of every single adverb. Your editor probably would not tell you to go that far. Sometimes I think critiquers think less about whether a story is actually enjoyable and more about whether the rules are being followed. I've also noticed a tendency to ask for more explanation than is necessary. Not that you should necessarily dismiss the request for more explanation, but I have gotten a number of critiques that said stuff like, "But we are already on page 2 and I don't know what color your protagonists hair is! I need to know that! I need to know that right now!"

With all this said, when I wrote the last draft of Magic Under Glass, the one I sent to my now agent, I felt that it was strong. But I also felt obligated to ask for critiques. Like I would be a failure of a writer if I didn't. So I did. 4 or 5 people read it and some of them suggested fairly drastic changes. I started to get really worried that I had screwed it up again. But none of the suggestions made me feel excited to implement them. I just sent it out as I had written it. That version, pretty much straight from my brain, did get an agent. And a sale. And one moderate round of revisions before copyediting.

With the mermaid book, I went through the same agony. I felt like I would be lazy if I didn't ask for critiques. On the other hand, I really liked how the book was going, and I kind of didn't really *want* any opinions on it. I felt like I probably wasn't going to listen to them anyway. I was just going to collect them so I would have specifics to beat myself up about when I sent it off. So I decided to try skipping the critique part. The only person who has read the entire thing before I sent it to my editor was Dade. He almost never says anything critical about my work, but sometimes he does make improvement suggestions, and he helps me talk through parts when I am stuck. I'm still waiting to hear back from my editor and see how that experiment worked, but I mention it because it is often assumed that EVERYONE has critique partners.

The winner of the US ARC: BookButterfly/Jacqueline!

Winner of your-choice prizes:
-yabookqueen
-Neverending Shelf (for having the most referral points, 12!)
-hefollowedme (out of Neverending Shelf's referral pool)

I will contact all of you for addresses shortly.

Thanks for playing, everybody! Weird how no one I really know ever wins these things... But, new contest next month!

The contest is CLOSED. Will announce winners tomorrow. Thanks everybody!

I've seen more and more talk about the effects of digital reading devices like the Kindle and illegal online filesharing on the book industry. Does it concern me? Yes. Do I know how prevalent the problem will become or what the overall effect will be of the rise of the e-book? No idea.

I was musing, however, about the world before MP3s. It was called, "a world where I didn't really listen to music".

Before online music filesharing, the way most people found out about new music was through the radio. Naturally this made it a bit difficult to find offbeat music (which I prefer). Some music stores started offering a system where you could scan a CD and hear a sound clip, but usually all the listening stations were taken. You could take a chance and read the description some CDs have on the back, or read reviews of music, but I find music to be very personal. You can tell me that a band sounds like Roxy Music with an accordion and is both lively and emotional and I might think, "awesome! I love Roxy Music and the accordion! I want to hear that!"

Then I hear the band and it does absolutely nothing for me. Music is not an easy thing to describe. A book, OTOH, you read the description, you skim the first chapter, no "listening station" required and you have a decent idea if you'll enjoy it.

And since music was all wrapped up, you can't just take it back if you hate it. You're stuck with it, or you can sell it for less money. And there are few equivalents of the hardback/paperback transition in the music world except for bargain compilations and things like that. An awesome CD did not come out for $10-$16 in one year and then drop in price to $6-$10 a year later. Usually.

Besides that, it was pretty recently that you could effectively share music with your friends. An album is something you want to listen to 100 times if it's awesome. You can't just borrow it. You have to own it. A book is something most people only read once. People have been passing books for friends to borrowing from libraries for hundreds of years. Even used bookstores have always been way more prevalent then used music stores.

So basically, it's true, I don't often pay for music. I don't download illegally from the Internet, but I get music from free MP3s offered by bands as teasers, or I download bizarre 1950s records that someone uploaded, or I listen to Internet radio, or whatever. Once in a while, I really want an album and I buy it from iTunes. But if music wasn't accessible in this way, I would just not listen to much of it. My actual music dollars are spent similarly to the 1990s before the rise of file-sharing. Books, on the other hand, I have always bought new, shared with friends, and read from the library.

Now I know perfectly well that this is not the case with everybody. Far from it. But I do wonder if books will not suffer as dramatically just because books have been available free to the people in large quantity at least for the last century or so, which was not at all the case with music.

Well, I can dream, at least.

Okay, just a note, if no one gets more than 1 extra point from referrals, I'm not giving all you people a prize. I'm just not that munificent. ;)

Eh, who reads the rules anyway? Clearly many people don't. And I'm enjoying the social experiment in what does and doesn't work with contests. I've already been considering my October contest... (I might just hold a contest every month!)

Magic Under Glass hits shelves in three months as of today! Also, I got a package of UK cover flats this past week. These portray the entire UK cover, front and back, featuring that lovely art from Daniela Terrazzini. (The book will be released there 2/1/2010.)



So I'm holding a contest. Here is how you enter:

+1 entry for replying to this post
+1 entry for every person who replies to this post referring to your name. (Make sure it's a name I can distinguish, like an e-mail address, LiveJournal addy, etc... not just "Jane" or somesuch.)

Here are the prizes:

ONE randomly chosen winner receives a US Magic Under Glass ARC, signed with a sketch by me of the main characters
ONE randomly chosen winner receives their choice of prizes below
ONE person with the most referrals also receives their choice of prizes below
and, ONE person will be randomly chosen amongst the people who were referred from the person with the most referrals for their choice of prizes below(so if your friend sent you here, give 'em cred, okay? It will benefit you too!)
In the event of a tie for most referrals, I will figure out something, although some prizes are finite. However, I will be sure that everyone gets a prize. (Also, if two people want the same book from the already-read pile, I'll draw a winner.)

The "your choice" prizes:
--UK cover flat with a sketch by me of the Magic Under Glass characters on the back
--Critique of 10 double-spaced pages by me
--Choice of a book from my already-read pile:

The Queen's Soprano-Carol Dines
Changeling-Delia Sherman
Head Case-Sarah Aronson (ex-lib)
Larklight-Philip Reeve
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City-Kirsten Miller
My Most Excellent Year-Steve Kluger
Vampire Academy #1-Richelle Mead
Liar-Justine Larbalestier (ARC)
Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins (ARC, slightly chewed on by my cat)

The contest runs through the week, ending on Sunday night 9/27 at midnight EST, winners announced Monday, YES to international shipping.