Never Surrender Blog Fest

Today, I'm taking part in Elana Johnson's Never Surrender Blog Fest, which is meant to celebrate the release of her sophomore novel, Surrender. Before I get to my post, I'll give Elana a chance to explain:

All you have to do is blog about a time you didn't surrender. Trained for a marathon? Queried agents? Had to study for an entrance exam? I'm looking for inspirational stories that you have experienced. Hard things you've accomplished because you didn't give up. I want to be inspired by you!

Anyone who blogs this week for the theme can enter to win one of three $15 B&N gift cards. Everyone who blogs this week will receive a SURRENDER swag package.

Don’t blog? Put the cover of Surrender up on your FB wall, or pin it on Pinterest, or change your twitter avatar to the cover. Use the words “Never Surrender” somewhere to go with the picture, and link back to this post.

Sign up in this form to make sure you get the swag package. Elana will visit each blog to read your inspirational "never surrender" moments. Sign your blog up to participate in the Never Surrender blogfest linklist below. 

Now, let me share a story with you:

Before we begin, here's a topographic map of the Idaho panhandle, courtesy of Google Maps:

That letter A marks a town called Bonners Ferry. It's literally about 15 miles from the Canadian border. In the interest of keeping this short, let's just say I was a pretty willful teenager, and after being expelled from a nice, college prep boarding school as a sophomore, I was shipped off to reform school, just outside beautiful Bonners Ferry.

It was a pretty dismal place. There were some nice things too, like the gorgeous landscape, but that's not the point. The point is I couldn't take it there. So I ran away. I'd actually run away from home before getting sent there. I was 16. I lived in Atlanta at the time. When I ran I caught a Greyhound bus, made it to Saint Paul Minnesota, and was own my own for about 3 weeks before I got caught. But that's not the story, I was just pointing out I was an experienced runaway at the time.

So after being at this school for about 16 months, with no vacations, I couldn't take it anymore. I was 17 by then, and I figured I was old enough to make it on my own. So I woke up one of my roommates (he'd just recently arrived), told him "let's get out of here," and we did.

We hiked through the ink black night for about twenty miles, ducking into the undergrowth beside the barbwire fences separating the cow pastures from the road every time a pair of headlights approached. It was thrilling, but it was also terrifying.

We walked until the sun came up, and then we walked some more. Eventually we found a country bar, and some people willing to give us a ride. They brought us down the highway, south of Sandpoint (see the map), and to someone's house. They put us to work, and fed us, but the whole thing was pretty nerve racking, because they were these Aryan Nation anti-establishment types, and we wondered every minute if they were going to kidnap us.

They ended up letting us go, but the next day we had to hike 50 miles south to Couer D'Alene. The whole journey was an exercise in never surrendering, but if you've ever hiked 50 miles in a day (it takes about 18 hours) you'd know that day specifically is my shining example. We had a little water, but we had no food, and it takes a lot of determination to continue putting one foot in front of the other when the sun is beating down on the back of your neck.

I ended up making it to Seattle, and hung out in the airport for a few days, trying to convince my guardians to legally emancipate me, but I ended up having to go back. The story goes on, but you've read the exciting part. Don't worry, I'll write a book about it all someday.

That's it for my Never Surrender story, but there's more:
 

This week, as part of the SURRENDER blog tour, you can win one of three $15 Barnes & Noble gift cards and become a winner winner, chicken dinner! All you have to do is fill out this rafflecopter widget with what you’ve done. NOTE: One of the options is to blog about a time you didn’t surrender. Go here for full details on this, including how to sign up for your free swag package!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Elana Johnson Never Surrender Blog Fest

We had a power outage, so I overslept and didn't make it into work until just now. So just sign up, and we'll talk about it later:

So What Does It All Mean?

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who reads this blog. Even if you only lurk, or even if you only clicked "follow this blog" once, years ago, and never came back, I appreciate your support.

For me, personally, this journey to publication is something I could not ever have achieved alone. To have friends, people who truly understand, that is what makes it all bearable.

Some of you are new here, so I will give you a little history. I started this blog in March of 2009, almost two years ago. At the time, I'd given up on wanting to be a writer, you know, a real writer. I hadn't written a thing in months, and I was so frustrated by how difficult it seemed to be to break into the publishing industry, I was ready to give up on my passion, and settle for the table scraps of a life the corporate world was willing to give me.

The real reason I was discouraged, though, is that I was trying to do it alone. I did not know a single other person who was a writer. I was not in contact with a single person who was a professional in the publishing industry. Sure, I researched query letters, and I wrote to some agents, but I wasn't going about it right. I didn't connect with anyone.

So long story short, before I go on for way too long about all this, I started a blog, met some amazing people, and now feel more energized about my creative passion than I ever have in my entire life. I've had short stories published, I've met agents, editors, and famous authors, but most importantly, I've begun real friendships with people whose love of writing is the same as mine.

Back when I first started, I remember looking up to bloggers who had a thousand followers like the were some kind of paragons.

I remember first meeting Elana Johnson, and she already had just over a thousand followers at the time. We became friends, and she has probably taught me more about the ancient and honorable art that is the query letter than anyone, except maybe:

Lisa and Laura Roecker have been friends of mine for a long time. They were always so nice, and were one of the first people to lend their fame to my blog, offering their support to someone just starting out. I remember being so excited watching them reach that thousand follower milestone.

I think I met Shannon Messenger before she had a thousand followers, but she's been so famous for so long, it's hard to remember. What with being the queen of the writing/publishing conference circuit, and running WriteOnCon with the ladies listed above (and Casey and Jamie), it's hard to imagine how Shannon found the time to respond to my inane comments, and send me rambling emails (which I loved, hugz, Shan).

Rock Star of the literary world, Nathan Bransford probably had more than 2500 followers when I first started reading his blog, and in fact, his blog was probably the only thing that inspired me to start a blog more than watching that movie, Julie & Julia (yes, I'm a dork, deal with it). In spite of all the people he interacts with and helps, Nathan still always found the time to respond to questions in his forums, and had the best attitude of any publishing professional I knew.

Now ... now that I'm here, wherever here is, I hate to have to tell you: having a thousand followers really doesn't mean a thing. It's just an arbitrary number, and while it's fun to look up there and see it, it means so very little compared to real, human connections, or something tangible, like actually finishing a manuscript.

I'm not saying that if you're inspired to build a popular blog with a big following that you shouldn't go for it, because you should, but I am saying that now that I've reached this milestone I'd hoped for for so long, it puts things in perspective. Things like: writing a novel, finishing the manuscript to the point where it is submittable, earning author representation from a literary agent, and selling a book to an editor, that's what really matters.

At least to me.

What about you guys? Where are you in your journey? Do you care about having a lot of blog followers? Do you read and follow the blogs I mentioned? Because if you don't, you should.

Quotes Week, Part Five

For Paul:

• The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. ~Kahlil Gibran

For Elana:

• No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop

For Shannon:

• When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" ~Howard Ikemoto

For Sarah:

• One can't live mindfully without being enmeshed in psychological processes that are around us. ~Philip Zimbardo

Possession [P]Review!

Today is my stop on Elana's tour celebrating the release of Possession. Before I get to talking about the book, I want to say a couple of things about Elana. If you don't know EJ, well then you're probably not a writer who blogs, but more importantly, if you don't follow her blog, than you're seriously missing out. In fact, if you follow my blog, but somehow managed to come here without ever seeing her blog first, then there is probably something wrong with you. Seriously. Or you just got back from an alternate universe.

Why am I so high on Elana? Well for one thing: look at her. Over there, to the right. Have you ever seen a kinder face? It matches who she is ... perfectly.

Anyway, it's really because she is the nicest published author you will ever meet, and she is the most giving and helpful person I have ever known, though how she manages to find the time for everything she does, I will never know. Every time I have asked her for help, she didn't hesitate. And there are literally thousands of us whose lives and careers Elana has made a difference in.

Thank you EJ!

Anyway, go visit her, and make sure you're following. Now.

Once you've taken care of that, let's get to the book. I mean that is the fun part.

Possession is Elana Johnson's debut young adult novel. Here is the jacket copy:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

And here is Elana's bio:

Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) on June 7, 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog and WriteOnCon, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

Now let's finally get down to why you're here. Sorry, I tend to ramble because I don't have many friends in real life, and I'd rather talk to you all anyway. So: what's my take on Possession?

This book is hard to talk about online, if you're not discussing it with people who've already read it. The reason for this is probably obvious, but it's also one of the biggest things that make this book great.

Since I'm not going to spoil anything for you, let me just start with what I can discuss: the characters.

Jag Barque has quickly become one of my favorite all time characters. I loved him from the very first moment I read his name, over a year ago when Elana was kind enough to share her query with me, and give it some kick-ass analysis as well. Anyway, Jag is hilarious, sarcastic, defiant, and uber-cool. Exactly everything I wanted to be when I was a teenager, except for the awesome spiky hair ala:

Awesome, right? He's also kind, and caring toward Vi. Well, most of the time. The rest of the time he's kind of an annoying snot, but that's really believable, because that's what teenage dudes are like. I know, because I still am one (mentally).

Vi was great to read too, because she was full of questions, and let's just say: a little bit conflicted about how she should feel, and what she should do about her situation. I can't say much more without giving anything away, but I do want to cover just two more aspects.

First, the tech and sci-fi/dystopian elements in this story worked very well for me. It was just enough to make it fun, well paced, full of action, and exciting, without bogging me down with a lot of details, or too much science and technology. I'm a total nerd, but I tend to prefer my details on the original fantasy race language and giant family tree appendix side.

Second, oh man this book has an ending. I would never even mention something like this (because of the chance to spoil it), but it's already been talked about in some major industry reviews. I'm not going to give you any more details, because that would be lame, but I will say this book has one of the best endings I've read since the end of the first Bartimaues Trilogy, and that's saying something.

Thanks so much for making me a part of your tour Elana, it's an amazing experience to get to play even a tiny part in your success.

Now, some notes: my daughter Kylie is also giving her own review of Possession, over on Elana's blog. But you already went over there, and made sure you were following her, so you know that.

The other thing is that Elana is doing this amazing query critique conference call helper outer thingy, on June 23rd. It sounds really amazing, so you should go check out the details, here, at Robin Week's blog.

POSSESSION

Okay everybody, without further ado I am excited to announce the guest post of Elana Johnson, the Queen of the Query and the Darling of the Blogoshpere. If you don't already know how awesome she is you are about to be smacked in the face ... with sauce.

Please be sure to visit Elana's blog, the QueryTracker blog, and Elana's website. If you're not already following her then what the hell are you doing here? If you think she's brilliant (I do) and you need help with your query she sells an awesome e-book, called From the Query to the Call. And guess what? It's only $9.99 and comes with a free critique of your query so it pretty much pays for itself right then and there.

She is so smart and so skilled at crafting a query that I don't want to muck her post up with much of my own commentary but just in case her thoughts are in red, purple for emphasis, and my own will be in blue. I know that's a bit different than usual, but she's the teacher here, let's all just sit back and learn.

Her thoughts and query:

I break the query down into four parts and work on them separately: Hook, Setup, Conflict, Consequence. Then there’s Everything Else your query needs. So I’ve identified the parts, and given some commentary as to why I’m including what I include. You’ve only got a few words, so you want to use them all to propel the agent through your letter and get them to request your novel. I mean, that’s the goal of a query letter: to generate requests. Not to tell every thread of the novel. To generate a request.

Truer words have never been spoken, well maybe they have, but not by me. It's like a mantra: the point of the query = to get the agent to read (more) pages.

Dear Ms. Andelman, (Agent Name Spelled Right in Personalization)

I read on your AgentQuery profile that you’re “drawn to fiction with a unique voice.” Because of this, I believe you would be interested in my young adult novel, POSSESSION. (Introduction – I did this if I could. Interestingly enough, I didn’t have anything for my agent. So I simply said, “I believe you would be interested…” and went from there. Basically, I want to do two things up front. 1. Let the agent know that I KNOW what they want. And 2. Tell them I’ve got what they want.)

That is interesting. Personalization is always important, when possible, and proves you have the work ethic to do the proper research. After all what is writing but hard work, right? That being said it is fun to see that Elana proved that as usual, rules can be broken.

In a world where Thinkers brainwash the population and Rules are not meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces. (Hook)

After committing her eighth lame crime (walking in the park after dark with a boy, gasp!), ((details = Vi dislikes Rules and breaks them, world building = the Rules are lame)) Vi is taken to the Green, a group of Thinkers who control the Goodgrounds. ((world-building)) She’s found unrehabilitatable (yeah, she doesn’t think it’s a word either) ((details = Vi is snarky)) and exiled to the Badlands. ((world-building = exiled to another land))

This is so concise and such great advice/analysis that I'm not sure I can add anything. I will say that Violet Schoenfeld is a damn cool name, but Jag Barque is even cooler (sounding).

The voice also shines like a spotlight on amphetamines right here; so I'm sure that helped.

Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen. She busts out of prison with sexy Bad boy Jag Barque, who also has no intention of fulfilling his lame sentence. ((catalyst to the conflict = exiled to the Badlands with a (hawt) Bad boy))

(Okay, right here I wanna say this: So far this is all Setup. But I think I’ve hooked you with the first sentence. And I’ve given you the details of my character and world – oh and I’ve used the same voice as the novel. You’ve got to infuse your query with voice. My tip: Write it in the viewpoint of your novel. I wrote my query in first person and switched it back later.)

Man that's a great idea! *Runs off to change his query letter* Can't believe I never thought of that!

Dodging Greenies and hovercopters, dealing with absent-father issues, and coming to terms with feelings for an ex-boyfriend—and Jag as a possible new one—leave Vi little time for much else. (she’s got problems. Lots of them.) Which is too damn bad, because she’s more important than she realizes. (Whoa. She’s important? How so?)

This is great hinting, just enough to entice without giving anything away or going on too long.

When secrets about her “dead” sister and not-so-missing father hit the fan, Vi must make a choice: control or be controlled. (Ooh, what will it be? You’ll have to read to find out…)

And we will, boy will we.

A dystopian novel for young adults, (genre) POSSESSION (title) is complete at 75,000 words. (word count) Fans of Lois Lowry’s THE GIVER and Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES will enjoy similar dystopian elements, and a strong teen voice. (Market Comparison)

This is just housekeeping, of course, but Elana does it quite well.

I am an elementary school teacher by day and a contributing author of the QueryTracker blog by night. (Author Bio: BRIEF) If you would like to consider POSSESSION, I’d be happy to forward the complete manuscript to you. (Invitation – not a question, not a gushing-fest) I have included the first ten pages of the manuscript in the body of this email. (Conclusion)

You guys wanna guess how many requests Elana got when she couldn't include pages? Based on this query I'd wager the numbers are pretty high. Yes it only takes one, but even more is more fun!

I always included the first ten pages (my first chapter) in the body of the email – unless agents specifically said “Query Only.” I wanted them to read my writing, even though I thought my letter was 100%. It’s all about the writing, you know?

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Elana Johnson
(address/phone number)
http://elanajohnson.com (Contact Info)

Wow. Have you caught your breath yet? Does it seem possible that one person can have so much knowledge and insight and still not have any books published yet? [POSSESSION is set to be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) in Summer 2011] Do you wonder whether Elana is blessed with some kind of Alien Intelligence? Does she scare you?

I'll admit I was a little intimated by Elana's fame and experience at first. It took a nudge from our mutual friend Michelle McLean to get me to even email her to ask if she was interested in doing this post. But you know what?

Elana is just about the nicest person you could ever meet (online or otherwise). Not only is she always willing to help out just about anyone but she is friendly, upbeat and incredibly funny. Go read her blog. Follow her. Love her (giving nature) and for god's sake don't be afraid to email her. Not only will she make you laugh but you'll probably learn something.

NOTE: Candace from The Misadventures in Candyland is holding a contest. Guess what some of the prizes are? That's right, query critiques by THE Elana Johnson!