Is YA Dystopian Dead?

As many of you may know, I’ve been writing a YA dystopian novel with Brianna from the Instagram @snowflakesandwine. Others of you might be aware that this November we decided to participate in the popular National Novel Writing Month competition (aka NaNoWriMo). Over the past year I’ve had a certainly strong inspiration to continue the project we have been pursuing. I always held a lingering amount of doubt, but what writer doesn’t? My doubt mostly laid in a single question – Am I writing the right thing?

Tonight on the NaNoWriMo several participants were having a conversation that grabbed my interest. The members were talking about dystopian for the YA genre. Certainly I decided to read the thread for Brianna and my book which resigns within the dystopian genre.
The thread was anything but comforting at first. Let me also point out that I most definitely am not writing this due to problems with the members critiquing the genre. No, see that isn’t the problem – they were plain and simply destroying the genre. Ripping it to shreds is the most accurate term I can find within my vocabulary.
“The genre is dead. You really had to write it three or four years ago to actually have a chance of publication.”
“I will bet you any money publishers and agents just throw away the manuscripts as soon as they see the word dystopian…”
In the beginning, I never had expectedly high hopes for our project mostly because it seemed to be experimental at the time of development, but over time I began to view it in a differing perspective. As we dug deeper and deeper within the story, perhaps without knowing, the hopes for the novel was risen substantially.
“They take one characteristic of society and blow it out of proportion.” Oh, you mean like our novel?
“Why does the MC [main character] always have to lead a revolution and be special?” Hey, you’re talking about our MC there…
“At the end of the first book they always run away and leave a vague cliffhanger.” I wrote one of those last night, would you like to read it, kind sir?
As I watched the dozens upon dozens of messages trickle in, I couldn’t help but feel as though they were directed towards Brianna and my book in one way or another. Now of course I realize that these fellow writers most likely meant no harm by these words (and were definitely directed towards us), but in more then one way it hit home for myself.
So we come to this road-block of sorts where we evaluate the situation. I for one have read dozens upon dozens pieces of advice from very accomplished writers where they advised to always listen to others because they have good advice to provide.
I found myself asking what happens if I don’t agree with said advice? Do I agree with it?

At a standstill, I began opening up the large document that compiles all of our writings from over the past year. Scrolling through, I asked myself – Is it special? To me, yes. Do I love it? Yes, I do. Do I just love it because I wrote it? This was the most difficult question for me to answer for who does not praise their own work? But eventually, after a read through, I decided the answer was no. No… I would still love it if I did not read it.
If I have ever been sure of anything, it is this – No matter how many times dystopian is deemed ‘dead’, it will always be my favorite and first genre. Is this a bad thing? Perhaps from a publishing stand-point (which, if I’m completely honest, is something I’ve daydreamed of more then my fair share of times).
In admitting these things to myself I’ve come to realize something pretty relieving. Even if others do not read our creation, it is still ours and I am proud of it.
I am now certain I am writing the right book. Thank you dystopian haters. 😉

The Mac & Cheese of Writing

I think some of us (including myself) look at a blank Word (or Pages for all you Mac users) document and feel incredibly overwhelmed by the idea of starting to write, well, anything.

 

But alas, whether you’re starting a manuscript or a poem or, heck, Mac and Cheese, you have to start somewhere. Then you’ll get those annoying people (like me) that say, “Well, I start in the middle/end of the book and write out of order.” Great, but you still have to start somewhere. Actually I was talking to one of my friends recently about the overwhelming need for a machine that attaches to your head and writes down all your thoughts, but until that happens we’ll have to suffer through ‘blank-page-syndrome’. *Shiver*

So in my attempts to impersonate John Green, I shall form a metaphor in hopes that it makes sense to other people and not just me. 

Writing is like Mac and Cheese… Yes, Mac and Cheese.

First you have to boil the water and it just sits there bubbling for several minutes. When you think about it, the boiling water part takes the most time in the Mac and Cheese making process. But without the boiling water we would have hard, unbaked noodles.

The boiling water is like the first draft. You put all this extra ‘stuff’ in it because it’s necessary for you to develop the world and characters. That part takes the most time.

Once you have all the crappy stuff down and you’ve decided where your book is actually going, you add some noodles, the concrete ideas – the main substance.

The readers don’t really need to know every single detail you developed, so you pour out the water. You pour it out even though it took a long time to boil. Because who really wants watery Mac and Cheese?

You’re left with noodles. The foundation and main substance of your story.

Then you go wild with the milk and butter and cheese and fun stuff to spice up your noodles.

 

 

Oh crap, my Mac and Cheese is over-boiling…  I hope you enjoyed my attempt of being metaphoric through the only thing I know how to cook. That surprisingly found a path and some-what reasoning along the way. 🙂

Across the Universe by Beth Revis – Book Review

Long time no post. It’s great to be back reviewing for you guys and what better way to kick it off with some ground-breaking sci-fi romance?

Across the Universe is a novel that takes place in the near-future and follows a space adventure aboard Godspeed. But this ship isn’t carrying any regular cargo. Members of modern society have agreed to be frozen for the 300 year endeavor. Among these passengers is 17-year-old Amy.

The trip does not go over as smoothly as expected seeing that Amy is harshly awakened from her frozen slumber 50 years ahead of schedule. She soon discovers that the ship she once boarded has developed far beyond expected. She meets teenage Elder, a young man born to become the new ruler of the ship, and is suspicious of the seemingly brain-dead population of the ship. Now Amy must face a ship built on a foundation of lies.

Review–

Wow. The concept alone is chilling. Freezing people as cargo to awake 300 years in the future at a new planet? Points for originality, Revis! Just imagine going to sleep one day and knowing when you wake up, your friends great-great grandchildren would be your age. Mind-blown.

Now let’s discuss the actual story.

The one thing that really bothered me, was there was no surprise. I felt like the plot was predictable and the plot twists weren’t surprisingly enough. This is probably due to the double point of view which let us know a lot more of the secrets of the opposite character. I feel like, since Elder and Amy were on the ship the entire time, losing one POV would’ve benefited the story.

The setting and description was really, really good and what pretty much sealed the deal for me. Revis used beautiful comparisons to get the reader to envision the story in terms that they could comprehend. An example of this is when Amy compares the base level of the ship to ‘at least ten Magic Kingdoms’. Using such comparisons helped me to better picture this futuristic and unfamiliar landscape.

The story had some newly developed words which I LOVED. In fact, who doesn’t love some futuristic, funny slang? Instead of saying ‘fricking’, the characters aboard Godspeed, say ‘frexing’. Which originated from the builders (who condemned the workers and their offspring to the ship), of the ‘Financial Resource Exchange’ or ‘FREX’ for short. I’m pretty sure I’ll be slyly using that word from now on.

With all this being said, the story did hook me and I had to get the sequel immanently!

Overall Grade- A, because it did what the concept set out to do.

Age- I’m going to say 12 and up due to mild romantic content and a slightly graphic opening scene.

To discover more about the “Across the Universe” series, visit – http://www.acrosstheuniversebook.com

DIY- Book Fandom Shoes!

Want to show you’re part of the book fandoms in a cool way? Well, I decided to express it through my shoes!

First, I bought plain white Converse. Mine are from Aeropostale, but they can be from anywhere as long as they’re white.

You can tell I drew a little bit of an outline in pencil to try to get an idea of where everything will go.

I used Sharpie’s Stain Paint-Marker. Since they are perminate, you can wash your shoes without ruining the design. (Wouldn’t want your mockingjay smearing when you step in a puddle.)

These are how they turned out.

The tips are flames with a Mockingjay and a Rune (The Mortal Instruments)

The left inside is Katniss’s arrow on fire and more TMI runes.

Here is the left inside. It’s 3 of Divergent’s faction symbols and also a Divergent quote.

The left outside is the city skyline seen in Divergent. I incorporated the zipper of my shoe into the design.

This is the right outside. It has the other 2 Divergent symbols. Once again I incorporated the zipper into the design with added flames

Lastly, the back features The Fault in Our Stars’ line of “Okay?” “Okay.”

I hope you like them and try it yourself! Comment below if you are or what you’d put on them.
-Bae

Catching Fire Movie Release

As many of you are aware, Catching Fire was released on November 22nd (21st for preshowing).

It happened to fall on my 15th birthday, so that was the best present!

There’d been a lot of criticism on the first film, ‘The Hunger Games’. Mostly focused on director, Gary Ross’s, decisions while adapting the novel to the big screen.

I wasn’t 100% against Ross’s changes and filming technics (the shaky cams), but I can say this- The Hunger Games only gives a small taste on what is to come in Catching Fire!

Francis Lawerence captures the complex and unique feel of the film, while still including very accurrate details that us readers immensely appreciate.

Overall, I think Catching Fire was unbelievable and it’s earnings of 161M in box office agrees.

What did you think of the film? Who do you think did a better job- Ross or Lawrence?

DIY Book Charms

Today, I made book charms. They were super easy and turned out great. I thought I’d show you how. If you’d like to purchase a custom book charm, I will be selling them for $5 plus 50 cents for shipping. (Ships to US and additional shipping cost to other countries.)
If you’d like to purchase one, email me at alia9247@gmail.com and tell me what book you’d like.

Here’s how I make them-

First, these are all the materials needed. I scanned in my book covers and shrinked them. Also, the miniature books are from the craft store.

Next, I took tacky glue to use as an adhesive. Also, I measured and cropped the covers to fit.

Also, my designs have the front cover, side panel, and back cover.

I added a clasp so it will go onto a chain.

And there you have it!!!

Short Read of the Week (Week #1)

Heya Readers!
I’ve decided to add a new segment called ‘Short Read of the Week’. Basically, I know how many of us readers love to write. So, I thought I’d start featuring some of mine and your stories! Every week I’ll post a short prompt and you can submit an entry. Here’s how-

1) Write a story or response of at least 30 words. It can be longer.
2) Check it for spelling and errors. Please make sure all content is created by you.
3) Submit it to me by kik (LittleFlowerRue) or email- alia9247@gmail.com

The first weeks prompt is- Secrets. That’s it! Write it in anyway or any point of view. Feel free to make up characters! Good luck writers!

To kick off these contests, here’s something written by Jessica (@foxfaceinventor on Instagram) and myself.

Not remembering something dosen’t really mean that it’s gone. When you remember one thing, that leads to remembering another and then another and then another. Our memories are connected. Many pieces are linked together like a chain, that makes up each one of us.

I never could understand what she meant by this but, now I finally do. Our past will forever be a part of us. It can be buried and hidden but, never truly erased. Some memories are worth digging up and some are better off remaining hidden. The tricky part is figuring out which is which before it’s too late.

Thank you for reading. Be sure to enter by November 17th.

4 YA Book Releases in the Next Month

It’s an overwhelming time for at YA readers. With all the releases taking place within this time period, it might be difficult to keep up. That’s why I’ve made my top four countdowns. Without further ado, my top 4 releases-

1) Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Oct. 22nd
The highly awaited final installment of the ‘Divergent’ trilogy. I, personally, have been counting down the days. I really would love to review this book in further detail but, I’m aware many people haven’t read it yet. All I’m going to say at this time is that the ending will rip your heart apart and you may cry. Possibly for three hours…

2) Shadowhunting Codex by Cassandra Clare
Oct. 29th
With the “Mortal Instruments” franchise booming with the recent release of the ‘City of Bones’ movie, now’s the perfect time to introduce the Codex. This book the characters actually own and read throughout the series. It tells of the history of Shadowhunting and tips and tricks. This copy also includes drawings by Clary and notes from Jace and Simon. I really hope this is all I imagined and not just another way to bring in franchise money as some readers believe.

3) Champian by Marie Lu
Nov. 5th
The ‘Legend’ books have always been on my list of favorites. Though not as widely read as other YA series, it does tell an epic story. It takes place in a dystopian California with a new government system. The best thing about the story is that it’s told from two very different perspectives. Surprisingly, the second book ‘Prodigy’ was even better then the first. I hope the 3rd book ‘Champian’ is just as epic.

4) Catching Fire Movie by Suzanne Collins
Nov. 22nd
Finally, the most awaited book-to-movie adaption of the year- Catching Fire. With the knew director, Francis Lawrence, I’m excited to see how he transfers the best selling book to the big screen. We are all excited to see the new arena and, of course, Peeta/Katniss scenes. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I hope you have an amazing YA book reading season filled with laughter and tears. If I’ve missed any of your releases, then comment them below.

 

-Bae

Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare Book Review

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTeHLG-G9k&feature=youtube_gdata_player&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6HTeHLG-G9k%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player

I’ve decided my review for this week will be in the form of video. Tell me if you like reviews written or filmed.
Thank you!
-Bae