Medeia Sharif

A ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:38:00 +0000

This round of A Round of Words in 80 Days runs from April 2^nd to June 21^st. Here are my goals for this round, all involving YA manuscripts. Abbreviations are used for the titles. In red are my updates.

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I did the first round of edits over the long weekend. My eyes are tired and my back is aching, but at least editing has begun. I'd like to do two more rounds of edits.

B) Finish EK. I wrote over half of the draft during the last round. I’d like to finish this draft, do some major revisions, and then put it away for a month or so to look at with fresh eyes for the next round. The draft is done and I wrote revision notes, but I didn't do any revising. I didn't work on this goal since last Wednesday because I was too busy with the first goal.

C) This is optional and only if I’m on task with A and B. I’d like to write an outline for a shiny new idea I have. I'm still jotting down notes for this optional goal, but I haven't started an outline.

The weekend wasn't truly restful because of the editing. I wanted to work on my second goal, but wasn't able to. I'll catch up with all of my goals in a week and a half, when it's time for summer vacation. Eight more days of school are left until teachers are off.

And thank you to the people who voted for me in Cherie's 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest. I won second place. :)

Books Recently Read

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:09:00 +0000

*THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST by Sarvenaz Tash

Goldenrod Moram is on a quest to map her town. Along the way she makes several discoveries: a ragtag bunch of hoodlums who’ve kidnapped her brother, an old woman who might be a witch, and the ghost of famous explorer Meriwether Lewis. Lewis urges her to find a magical blue rose in the forest. This will be hard to do when she’s also rescuing her brother, Birch, from the machinations of the hoodlums. This is a fun, adventure-filled MG read. The imaginative, curious spirit of childhood can be found in the pages of this novel.

ONE MOMENT by Kristina McBride

Maggie and Joey are alone on top of a cliff, ready to jump, but something disastrous happens. Joey jumps off the cliff, and instead of landing neatly in the water he cracks his head against rock. He passes away. Maggie is crying and disoriented. Her friend Adam, who’s nearby, takes her away from the death scene.

Maggie and Adam are later questioned by the police. It was suspicious that the two of them left, but their departure is attributed to Maggie’s shock. Maggie can’t give much information to the police because of memory loss. People tell her that on top of the cliff it looked like she and Joey had been talking before his leap—but she can’t recall what they were discussing.

It’s odd that Joey died when he had been cliff jumping for years. Adding onto the strangeness, Maggie finds out that his whereabouts before his death are sketchy. He told people he was going places and he ended up elsewhere. Adam becomes aloof and hard to reach. Maggie’s circle of friends is upset not just about Joey’s death, but about something much deeper. Clues about a secret Joey had been hiding erupt around Maggie, unsettling her loving image of the boy she cared for.

For many pages ONE MOMENT came across as a mystery, but I wouldn’t classify it into that genre. There is a mystery aspect, but not in the whodunit sense. It’s a contemporary YA with a focus on friendship, romance, and secrecy. There's a strong thread of suspense that had me flipping the pages to figure out what happened on top of that cliff, what memory Maggie was suppressing, and what secret Joey had been keeping. This is a fast, enjoyable read. I’m glad I received it from Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher.

I SUCK AT GIRLS by Justin Halpern

In I SUCK AT GIRLS, Halpern details childhood and adulthood incidents with the opposite sex. As the title promises, there’s plenty of awkwardness, some of it sweet since the author finds the love of his life. I was also glad to see Halpern’s father in the book, with his foul mouth and words of wisdom. It’s a hilarious read and I loved it just as much as Halpern’s first book, SH*T MY DAD SAYS. The saying “truth is stranger than fiction” can be applied to Halpern's work.

THE LAST CHANCE TEXACO by Brent Hartinger

Lucy is a troubled orphan now living in a group home called Kindle, which is nicknamed The Last Chance Texaco since it’s the last stop before Rabbit Island. The island is for teens who are beyond help. Kindle Home is actually pretty neat with the counselors and other caretakers, but Lucy encounters the group home bully, Joy, and classmates at school who look down on “groupies.” These antagonists place Lucy in quite a few compromising positions. When a rash of car fires happens in the area, people are pointing fingers at the group home teens. Lucy doesn’t want Kindle to close its doors because of the reputations of the inhabitants. If Kindle shuts down, she’ll be headed to Rabbit Island, aka Eat-Their-Young-Island, which she’s adamantly against. She sets out to find who’s setting these fires. There are a few suspects who either dislike Lucy or Kindle overall. Hartinger developed an interesting cast of characters in both the teens and adults. Also, the mounting suspense and mystery had me on the edge of my seat.

*Counts toward the 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Weekend Random

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:43:00 +0000

I'm a finalist in Cherie's 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest. You can stop by here to vote for the finalists. Voting closes the 28th and winners are announced on the 29th. My entry can be found in my Monday post.

I found another fun blog hop that I signed up. It's the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! Blog Hop!, hosted by Jaycee and Victoria. One of your female characters interviews another, with a picture and song accompanying the post. Heroines answer three of the questions listed on Jaycee and Victoria's blog (both blog links have the same details).

I recently read the bind-up edition of Simone Elkeles' RUINED series. These are amazing, contemporary YA romance books with a spunky, funny female lead.

From Goodreads:

One girl
Two guys
Three hot summers

'How to Ruin a Summer Vacation'
Leaving Chicago to go to Israel with her estranged father is the last thing sixteen-year-old Amy wants to do--until she meets handsome but aloof Avi, an eighteen-year-old soldier in the Israeli army.

'How to Ruin My Teenage Life'
Can a guy truly be your boyfriend if he lives in a different country? Avi might think it's possible, but Amy's edgy classmate Nathan wants a chance to prove him wrong...

'How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation'
Signing up for a ten-day boot camp at the Israeli military base where Avi is stationed might not have been Amy's greatest idea--especially since Nathan is there, too.

The bind-up had been sitting on my shelf for over a year! I can't believe I didn't pick it up sooner. That means I have quite a few gems in my library that I haven't read yet.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

A ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:03:00 +0000

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 3 more chapters, so 28 out of 28 chapters have been revised. I'm done with one portion of this goal. I'll be editing this manuscript real soon.

B) Finish EK. I wrote over half of the draft during the last round. I’d like to finish this draft, do some major revisions, and then put it away for a month or so to look at with fresh eyes for the next round. I added 2 more chapters since Wednesday, so 27 out of 27 chapters are done. Yes, I'm done with a portion of this other goal. I went over the hurdle of the draft phase, but I have a lot ahead of me. I already wrote two pages of revision notes that I'd like to tackle for this round.

That's it for me. I'm exhausted. I'm not going to work on my manuscripts for a few days. I'll get busy again during the three-day weekend.

I hope your writing is going well.

2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Today's post is for the 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest. My piece is from a MG manuscript, which I modified for this entry.

From Cherie's Blog:

1. Entries must begin with the two words: Lightning flashed.

2. Entries must be 300 words or less and be in prose. I'm not versed enough in poetry verse to judge it properly.

3. Entries must be posted on your blog between May 21 - 23.

4. You must sign up in the linky below to have your entry be counted.

Lightning flashed. Robinson clambered to the other side of the railing. His fingers were slippery around the metal. The thought of falling and breaking something forced him to focus on the feeling of his unsupported weight. It didn't help that the rain had soaked him. He tightened his grip, and then he let go of the tower. He made it, joining his friends on the school’s rooftop.

All Robinson wanted to do was skip class and avoid Ms. Lewis, whom he recently pranked. He never imagined that evading security monitors and the principal would make him and his friends end up on the roof. They had to get down and seek shelter. They wanted to turn around and retrace their footsteps, but the roof door had slammed shut, locking them out.

“There must be a way down from here,” Pedro said, raising his voice to be heard over the rain.

“Great!” Junior said. “We get this far and now we’re stuck!”

Robinson sprinted across the roof, inspecting every corner, and the safest place to jump onto was also the dirtiest. The parking lot sloped upwards towards the back of the cafeteria. The dumpsters were on this high ground. "This is the only way out," he said.

“I’m not doing it,” Junior insisted, shaking his head.

“We don’t have a choice,” Pedro said. "If we're caught we'll get suspended."

“This was all your stupid idea!”

“Arguing isn’t going to help,” Robinson said.

The three boys stood above the closest dumpster, looking down at discarded lunches, ripped newspapers, slimy stuff, and dusty things. The odor was nauseating. Robinson tried to keep his eyes open, which was hard to do when the rain doubled, coating his lids and lashes with water. They were closed shut when he made the leap.

Weekend Random

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:41:00 +0000

I have some new buttons in my sidebar. The first one is for Cherie's 2nd Annual Flash Fiction Blogfest. It takes place next week. Entries must begin with Lightning flashed. There are prizes to be won.

There's also the Giving Voice Blogfest, hosted by Madeleine over at Scribble and Edit. With flash fiction, excerpts, or poems with a maximum of 400 words participants express how people who've lost their voice, who've never had a voice, or who have a speech impediment feel and cope with their situations.

On June 5th Hart Johnson's THE AZALEA ASSAULT and Elizabeth Spann Craig's QUILT OR INNOCENCE are being released. They're celebrating with the Crazy Cozy Blogfest. Participants will be posting information about both books as well as writing their own short pieces of a cozy mystery.

Adam of Roof Beam Reader and Lauren of Shooting Star Mag are giving away prize packs to celebrate the work of author Catherine Ryan Hyde. More information on their Pay it Forward giveaway hop can be found here.

Also, my agent-mate Alex Bledsoe has a chapbook that was released this week entitled THE FIREFLY WITCH.

From Goodreads:

In these three short stories a small-town reporter meets a beautiful witch who shows him how mysterious, and dangerous, the world can truly be.

When small-town reporter Ry Tully meets the woman of his dreams, he has no idea what he's getting into.

Tanna is blind, but when fireflies are around, she can see. She's a graduate student in parapsychology, and psychic herself. She's also a second-degree Wiccan priestess--a witch. And her primary duty is to help those in need, whether living, dead, or otherwise.

Will Ry be able to forge a relationship with a woman so different from anyone he's known? Will Tanna rise to the challenges of both her new love, and her chosen path? And will the dark corners of the world be ready for the Firefly Witch?

Happy chapbook b-day, Alex!

A ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:42:00 +0000

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 10 more chapters, so 25 out of 28 chapters have been revised.

B) Finish EK. I wrote over half of the draft during the last round. I’d like to finish this draft, do some major revisions, and then put it away for a month or so to look at with fresh eyes for the next round. I added 0 more chapters since Wednesday, so 25 out of 27 chapters are done. I was on a roll with TWILAMPH this weekend, which I didn't want to end. Also, I was stuck on a pivotal scene in EK, which I needed time to think about. I'm positive I'll finish the draft by my next update.

That's it for me on the writing front. How's your writing going?

Books Recently Read

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

AND THEN THINGS FALL APART by Arlaina Tibensky

Keek is having family, friend, and boyfriend problems. Suffering from chickenpox—which is much worse when it ails you during your teen years versus childhood years—she stays at her grandmother’s house. Alone with her thoughts, Sylvia Plath’s THE BELL JAR, and a manual typewriter she uses for diary entries, she winds her way through her problems and their solutions.

I loved Keek’s voice. She’s such an intelligent, quirky young woman and she jumped off the pages. Also, as someone who’s read THE BELL JAR multiple times, I related to her obsession with Plath.

IDRAKULA by Bekka Black

This is a modern retelling of DRACULA. The entire story is told through text messages, emails, web pages, and the like. This novel isn't formatted in regular prose, and as a result the book is extremely fast-paced. Still, I found it to be an entertaining and satisfying read.

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE by Anna Staniszewski

Jenny is an adventurer, someone who travels to magical kingdoms to help others. She’s tired of being a heroine, because not only is it dangerous (unicorns are deadly!) but her life on earth is disrupted as she deals with frogs, lambs, clowns, and gnomes. This is a funny, adorable MG novel. Jenny’s a great character and I’m glad that a sequel is coming out next year.

DOUBLE CLUTCH by Liz Reinhardt

Brenna has returned from the States after spending a year in Denmark. She’s viewed as the smart, creative girl with cool clothes who was overseas during her freshman year. She gets reacquainted with friends and meets some delicious boys, Jake and Saxon. She’s attracted to both. Jake seems more sincere and safe, although he has a gritty past he’s trying to put behind him, while Saxon is dangerous and sexy. Brenna starts dating Jake, but she can’t ignore her feelings for Saxon. Throughout the novel Brenna learns more about the ties that bind the two boys. They used to be good friends until they had a blowout that left no room for forgiveness.

Liz Reinhardt knows how to write a love triangle! Triangles have been done before in YA books, but Reinhardt put a fresh spin to them. And even though the author tied up loose ends, she left a bombshell at the end that I need to know more about. Good thing I already have the sequel, JUNK MILES, so that I get to dive back into the lives of these three characters.

BEATLE MEETS DESTINY by Gabrielle Williams

John Lennon, aka Beatle, meets Destiny McCartney. Beatle already has a girlfriend, but he’s drawn to Destiny. Too many things happen in the realm of superstition and astrology that place the two together. He feels bad since his girlfriend, Cilla, stayed by his side during his toughest time: when he suffered from a stroke which left him with a limp. When Beatle’s twin sister does something criminal Beatle is willing to take the fall, which means he’ll put himself and his secrets out in the open.

I never imagined that I’d love a male character who was cheating on his girlfriend. The author has a way of making the characters’ motivations logical, emotional, and magical. This is a cute, hilarious romance. I’m so glad I found this since some Australian books I’m interested in reading are not readily available.

FEROCITY SUMMER BLOG TOUR ROAD TRIP

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:30:00 +0000

I'm pleased to have Alissa Grosso here for a guest post. I got to know Alissa last year through my 2011 debut group, The Elevensies. I enjoyed her first book, POPULAR, and I can't wait to read my copy of FEROCITY SUMMER, which was released this week. Happy book birthday, Alissa.

“Would you rather be dead and know it, or alive and not know it?”

Scilla Davis is haunted by a horrible accident that she was involved in last summer—a drunken, reckless joyride that ended in tragedy. With a big trial looming, life seems empty, unreal, and utterly hopeless. It’s especially painful watching her best friend, Willow, slowly destroy herself with pills and booze. Yet Scilla can’t seem to wrest Willow—or herself—from a path of self-destruction.

But there might be a possible escape from this nightmare. As a dangerous new drug called Ferocity sweeps the nation, an FBI agent asks Scilla to turn narc and help locate the Ferocity kingpin. In exchange, she could avoid conviction for her role in the accident. All she has to do is deceive and betray people she’s known all her life . . .

Now over to Alissa.

Florida Vacations

This is the fifth stop on my Blog Tour Road Trip to promote my new book Ferocity Summer, which is now available. Don't forget to read to the end of this post to find out how you can enter a drawing for your very own summer survival pack which includes a signed copy of Ferocity Summer.

For the most part Ferocity Summer takes place in my home state, New Jersey. But it wasn't a completely arbitrary decision to call this a blog tour road trip. There is a road trip, which occurs in the book when the main character Scilla and her best friend Willow head down to Florida. This isn't exactly a sunny, happy vacation, but it's been my experience that not all vacations are.

Let's just say that I know at least three people (myself included) that have totalled a car on a Florida vacation. If truth be told, there's more than one aspect of the road trip in Ferocity Summer that's based on my own personal life experiences. Though, rest assured, I also made a lot of things up.

As a kid, I went on vacation to Florida twice, both times to Orlando, home, of course, to Disney World. I have fond memories of these trips, but I also have a pretty distinct image of my father, who has always been unclear on the whole vacation concept, drawing up a detailed schedule for each day, with exact times for when we were to arrive at each destination. Anytime this gets brought up he likes to point out that he was successful in getting us to see almost all of the attractions. Recently, my parents along with my sister's family made a pilgrimage to Disney World. I'm told that my father has mellowed out some in his rigid scheduling, though I know for a fact that he keeps manilla file folders for all of his vacations, even the weekend getaways.

Thanks to my parents, there will probably be more than one Florida road trip in my future. They've bought a house in Fort Meyers and one of these days will get around to retiring and move down there. Past experiences aside, I'm looking forward to the occasional Florida trip. It will be a welcome break from all those road trips up to Maine to visit the rest of my family.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Alissa.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:31:00 +0000

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 4 more chapters, so 15 out of 28 chapters have been revised.

B) Finish EK. I wrote over half of the draft during the last round. I’d like to finish this draft, do some major revisions, and then put it away for a month or so to look at with fresh eyes for the next round. I added 1 more chapter since Wednesday, so 25 out of 27 chapters are done. My progress slowed down since last Wednesday for this project because I took a chapter to my critique group, which meant going back to polish a piece so that it was fit enough to read. I received valuable feedback which I'll use for both the chapter and entire manuscript.

Also, here's a song I've been playing over and over again as I write. It's quite beautiful and haunting. I hope you enjoy All I Ever Wanted by The Airborne Toxic Event.

A to Z Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 07 May 2012 04:36:00 +0000

This was the first time I participated in the A to Z Challenge and I had a fantastic time. Blogs I visited had themes or mixed themes about a variety of subjects. I found new music to listen to, received movie recommendations, discovered books, and learned new things. It was a fascinating look into the minds and hearts of bloggers.

Many thanks to the hosts for setting up this wonderful challenge. Here are some of my thoughts on how I could have done things better.

a) I wrote an outline a week or two before the challenge, but now I wish I had written this outline much earlier.

b) Along with writing an outline earlier, I wish I had scheduled posts in advance. I wrote my posts the night before or the morning of the alphabet letter.

c) If I had outlined and scheduled posts in advance, I would have had more time for commenting and following. I did follow and comment, but I could have done more in those two areas.

d) Planning in advance would have helped me come up with a theme. I wrote about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write. I'm not sure if I'll do this again or if I'll have a set theme next time around. Without a theme it was fairly easy for me to come up with ideas to write about, but I did want a theme.

That’s about it. I hope I get a chance to participate in A to Z next year. If I do, I’m going to work on posts in advance so that things run more smoothly for me.

Care to share any thoughts on A to Z?

Weekend Random

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:59:00 +0000

I've been seeing this badge and posts for this group for a while now. This week I decided to joined the Insecure Writer's Support Group, which was created by Alex Cavanaugh. All writers experience doubts, and I'm going to share mine the first Wednesday of every month from now on.

Also, I joined Teralyn's Inspiration Collage Blogfest, to take place June 1st. Participants will compile videos, songs, pictures, etc. that inspire the books they write. Sounds like fun.

Lastly, I read this series awhile ago and forgot to blog about it. This is the Madame Pamplemousse series by Rupert Kingfisher. The series consists of MADAME PAMPELOUSE AND THE TIME-TRAVELLING CAFE, MADAME PAMPLEMOUSSE AND THE ENCHANTED SWEET SHOP, and MADAME PAMPLEMOUSSE AND HER INCREDIBLE EDIBLES. While I was reading these charming books that took me into the magical world of Madeleine, Madame Pamplemousse, and Camembert, I couldn't help but think that they reminded me of Roald Dahl's books, and when I read the author's bio I saw that Dahl was one of Kingfisher's favorite authors. The influence is definitely there in this children's series.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

A ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:52:00 +0000

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 3 more chapters, so 11 out of 28 chapters have been revised.

Also, here's my latest musical find. I heard this a few days ago and it's on constant replay. I hope you enjoy Money by The Drums.

Z is for Zombie dog

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-sixth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

Z is for one cute, smelly Zombie dog

MY ZOMBIE DOG
by Charmaine Clancy

When Zane’s mom brings home a dog for his birthday, he’s disappointed. He wants a “real” dog, not one of those small dogs that have the appearance of a fluffy slipper—his mom even names the dog Fluffy. The dog keels over and dies once he exits his mother’s car, so he has to bury Fluffy. This isn’t the birthday surprise he was hoping for.

Fluffy returns from the dead and Zane renames her Fossil because of the state she’s in. She’s covered in dirt, with a stench that bathing and perfume can’t eradicate. Zane assumes that they mistakenly thought she was dead and she dug herself out of her grave. When Fossil goes on a biting rampage people become sluggish and ill, and they also get the itch to bite others. Fossil wasn’t ill. She was dead and now she’s undead. In no time the whole neighborhood might become infected with what she has. Zane, his sister, and his friends need to come up with a plan before everyone’s zombified.

This was a fun book. There are some gross parts, but it’s not overly gruesome or violent. It’s age appropriate for middle grade. Zane and the other fantastic characters, including Fossil, were all likeable and came to life with Clancy’s writing.

A to Z has been tiring, yet wonderful. I had a blast visiting numerous blogs and meeting bloggers. If I'm free, I'm definitely doing A to Z next year. Until then I'll be doing my regular 2-3 posts a week starting on Wednesday. See you then.

Y is for YA Contemporary

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:34:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-fifth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

Y is for YA Contemporary

I might be cheating a little bit, because many people use the term contemporary YA, but YA contemporary is also used by some.

I read plenty of paranormal, historical, and other types of fiction, but what I love the most are realistic books that deal with issues people face while they're growing up. Whether it’s romance, perfectionism, grades, friend drama or edgier things like eating disorders, bullying, and mental illness, I want to read about it. Some books are plain fun, while others hit me emotionally. And whether a book can be considered light or dark, serious issues are always present. I also enjoy writing YA contemporary. I’ve tried writing sci-fi and paranormal, but I never finish those manuscripts. It’s realism that's the best fit for me.

Here are a few of my favorite YA contemporary books. What are yours?

Medeia's ya-contemporary book montage

Medeia Sharif's favorite books »

}

X is for X&Y

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:45:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-fourth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

X is for X&Y

This is a challenging letter. It was either Coldplay’s X&Y album or 80’s band XTC. Since I listen more to Coldplay they won. Here are some of my favorite songs from X&Y. I hope you enjoy them. Have a great weekend.

W is for Workman

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:13:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-third day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

W is for Workman

EXILED by RaShelle Workman

From Goodreads:

Worlds divided them. Chance brought them together. Only love will save them.

An alien princess exiled to Earth.
An arrogant boy.
One week to get back to her planet or she'll die.
And, her only chance for survival? She must help the boy find his soul mate.
Piece of cake!

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.

Now she wants revenge.

First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate.

Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.

Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters--alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.

Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week.

Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.

But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl--her.

I must admit that I don’t read a lot of sci-fi, but I’m glad I picked up this action-packed novel. Venus, her world, and her time on Earth are riveting. I also enjoyed Michael’s character and his interactions with Venus. Now I have to wait for book 2, BEGUILED, to find out what happens next.

I used Random.org and the winner of my 2012 Reading Challenge Giveaway is #9 on the spreadsheet, Jennifer. Congratulations! We'll be in touch.

V is for V.C. Andrews and a ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:50:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-second day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

V is for V.C. Andrews

V.C. Andrews turned me into a bookworm back in middle school. Many of the books in the Dollanganger and Casteel series I read more than once. After V.C. Andrews passed away a ghostwriter wrote series inspired by her writing style and themes. I read a few books written by the ghostwriter, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t finish the Cutler series. I may have begun the Ruby series, but I can’t remember. The Casteel and Dollanganger series hold a special place in my heart since they hooked me onto reading, and eventually writing.

Medeia's V.C. Andrews book montage

Medeia Sharif's favorite books »

}

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 4 more chapters, so 8 out of 28 chapters have been revised.

Today is the last day to enter my international book giveaway.

U is for Unconditional

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Today is the twenty-first day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

U is for Unconditional

If you’ve read my musical posts you’ll notice I listen mainly to rock. Here’s another great band. I love The Bravery and this is my favorite song of theirs. I hope you enjoy Unconditional.

T is for Talli Roland

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Today is the twentieth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

T is for Talli Roland

From Goodreads:

The perfect man is out there . . . he just needs a little work.

Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could resist.

With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job.

BUILD A MAN’s Serenity is a character who grabbed me right away in the first chapter. I wanted her to overcome her faults and huge secrets so that she could get the tabloid journalism job of her dreams. The twist, when Jeremy’s surgery goes wrong, is such an amazing action point when everything unravels. The description of the botoxed ladies at Serenity’s workplace, where she's a cosmetic surgery receptionist, is hilarious and Peter, Serenity’s stodgy boyfriend, provides both light and serious moments. The romance—which I can’t say too much about or this post will become spoiler-ish—is sweet and delicious. I look forward to the sequel, CONSTRUCT A COUPLE.

S is for Sanders

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:26:00 +0000

Today is the nineteenth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

S is for Sanders

This is my Goodreads montage of Lawrence Sanders books that I’ve read. I may have read more, but I can’t remember since I mainly read him in high school and college. He’s my favorite mystery author. My favorite books are the Timothy Cone books, followed by the Deadly Sin series featuring Edward X. Delaney. Sanders wrote both series and standalone books. Looking up his books, they seem to be out of print. Sometimes I see them at library sales and used book stores, and I go ahead and buy them. After Sanders passed away a ghostwriter wrote under his name. I read one of the books in the McNally series—can’t recall which one—but didn’t like it. After reading so many books of his I could tell that it wasn’t his writing.

Medeia's Sanders book montage

Medeia Sharif's favorite books »

R is for ROW80

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:08:00 +0000

Today is the eighteenth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

R is for ROW80

Every Wednesday you’ll see me post this badge alongside my writing updates. Since last fall I’ve joined the rounds of A Round of Words in 80 Days. There are four rounds a year. Participants post their goals and their progress during these rounds. Updates are posted Sundays and Wednesdays, but I only post on Wednesday since I think one post is enough (and also less stressful for me). Ever since I’ve joined ROW80 I’ve been a more productive writer. Posting my progress publicly and receiving supportive comments are great motivators.

On a side note, I logged into Blogger this morning and was alarmed. I was looking for a button to put me back to the old look, but I’m going to have to get used to the new interface.

Q is for Queens of the Stone Age

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:41:00 +0000

Today is the seventeenth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

Q is for Queens of the Stone Age

In case you missed it yesterday, I posted a new book giveaway. Details can be found here.

P is for Present and a ROW80 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:42:00 +0000

I didn't initially plan this to be my P post, but yesterday I reached a milestone in my 2012 reading goal. One of you will be receiving a present.

This year my reading goal is to reach 150 books read. I'm going to do three separate giveaways related to this goal since I love sharing books and many of you leave comments expressing your enjoyment in my bookish posts. When I reach 50 books 1 person will win a book of his/her choice from my list, when I reach 100 another person will win a book, and towards the end of the year when I reach 150 (and I know I will) I'll have 3 winners like I had in the past two years when I've held this same giveaway.

This week I reached 50 books read in 2012! So 1 person has the opportunity to win 1 book of his/her choice from what I've read so far this year—as long as it's available on the Book Depository.

Here's the list of books I've read in 2012. There's also a montage below.

Edit: The montage widget isn't working. You'll have to check out my Goodreads link.

2012 Reading Challenge

Medeia has
read 50 books toward her goal of 150 books.

hide

50 of 150 (33%)

view books

The contest is open internationally to these countries that The Book Depository ships to for free.

You must be a blog follower to enter. Also, you must be at least 13 years old.

The giveaway contest form is here.

The contest ends April 25th at 11:59 p.m. EST.

As for a ROW80 update, I've been writing but fell behind in productivity since my last Wednesday post. Friday night I ate something that didn't agree with me, so most of Saturday I was in bed with a stomach and headache. Then yesterday I threw my back out picking up something heavy (a box of books!). The past few days haven't been good for me health-wise. My back is already feeling better, though. Hopefully, for my next update, I'll have more chapters done.

A) Revise TWILAMPH. I edited this manuscript during the last round and sent it off to beta readers. I received feedback from all three of my betas. Now I’m returning to it for new revisions and edits. I hope to be done with this manuscript by the end of the round. I revised 2 more chapters, so 4 out of 28 chapters have been revised.

O is for Oloier

noreply@blogger.com (Medeia Sharif) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:01:00 +0000

Today is the fifteenth day of the A to Z Challenge. I don’t really have a set theme, but I’ll be blogging about writing, favorite books, bloggers’ books, and music I listen to while I write.

O is for Oloier

MY LIFE AS A MISFIT
By Susan Oloier

Susan Oloier’s collection of memoir pieces is a fun read about awkward 80’s events in the author’s life. There are four chapters: Do-Si-Don’t, Riding a Permanent Wave, Baseball, and The Food Critic. My favorite was Riding a Permanent Wave. What the author had to go through to go from straight hair to curly was a pure mess that led to ridicule. Body odor, Brussels sprouts, and baseball blunders also come into play in MY LIFE AS A MISFIT. Sure we all have had things happen to us in childhood that were painful at the time, but looking back on these incidents can be entertaining, even funny.