Agent News

I'm taking a break from working on Pass Or Pages stuff to give an update: My agent, Jill Corcoran, has merged her agency with Transatlantic Agency. I get to go with her, so I'm part of Transatlantic Agency, now, too! I'm excited for this new phase of my writing journey.

ENTER TO WIN AN ARC FOR HOW I LOST YOU—A NEW YA NOVEL BY JANET GURTLER!

My friend and fellow author Janet Gurtler is celebrating the release of her YA novel, HOW I LOST YOU, with an ARC giveaway. Janet is published by Sourcebooks and her young adult novels are amazing. Janet and I share a fantastic agent: Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency.

From Janet’s blog:

I was thrilled, really amazingly overexcited, I think, to get my ARC's for HOW I LOST YOU. They are so freaking pretty. A beautiful orangey color with green. It's very delightful to me. I actually kissed them.

Yes. I. Did. 

It's funny how each book is different and special in some way, but I have to say I did LOVE getting these arcs (whispers) the most of all my books. Wheee!!!! Now I only hope the CONTENT is as good as the cover!!

To celebrate, I'm going to give away an ARC of HOW I LOST YOU. All you have to do is leave a comment and you're entered. How easy is that? I'll cut this off  the morning of the 5th and do the draw on January 5.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HOW I LOST YOU

Grace and Kya always do everything together, and nothing can get in the way of their friendship. They have a pact: Sisters Before Misters. Buds Before Studs.

Only Grace knows what Kya's been through, or how much she needs someone to stick by her. No Matter What. Besides, Kya keeps life exciting-pulling Grace into things she'd never dare do on her own.

But inch by inch, daring is starting to turn dangerous. And Grace will have to decide how far she can go to save her friendship with Kya...before she ends up losing everything else.

Visit Janet’s Blog for a chance to win!

http://janetgurtler.blogspot.com/2012/12/wheeee-win-arc-for-how-i-lost-you.html?spref=fb



In Operation Awesome news: 
We are just 6 days away from the Critique Partner Match-up on January 3rd, leading into our New Year's Revisions Conference on the 4th, 5th, and 6th. 

Not to mention a January Mystery Agent Contest on January 1st. I know, it's insane how much

Source

2013 already holds! We hope you'll join us. 

Announcement!!

Publisher's Weekly
Angela Townsend's AMAROK, set in a remote Alaskan town, when a runaway is kidnapped by an evil man and his black wolf, whom she later discovers is a boy enslaved by an ancient shaman; she must find the strength to save herself and the wolf, and in turn discover what love truly means, to Kate Kaynak at Spencer Hill Press, by Jill Corcoran at The Herman Agency (NA).

I'm thrilled to announce that my YA novel, Amarok is being published!!!!! Amarok's story came to me while I was researching one of my favorite time periods, the Ice age. I love Woolly mammoths, Saber-toothed tigers, giant bears, sloths and the megalodons that ruled the sea. I'm also fascinated with early mankind and lost societies and ancient civilizations.

Once I started writing I just couldn't stop! I really fell in love with the characters and the ice age lore. After a few weeks my house was a total mess, and kids thought a homeless person had taken over their mother's office and I nearly drove my critique partners crazy with grammatical questions.

I took breaks from editing and writing to do art for chapter heads. I spent hours studying cave drawings and paint mediums used by early man. I mixed my Celtic knotwork art with cave drawings in vivid colors and reversed them on my computer screen. I loved the result. After endless editing and resizing my artwork I sent it to my agent, Jill Corcoran. She loved the art and was very encouraging about the story. Though all the ups and downs, Jill never gave up on me--not once--even though I tried to give up on myself several times. Thank you Jill!

I've been so blessed to have so much love and support on my writing journey. I would like to thank my family, my critique partners, friends and the awesome women of Operation Awesome! Thank you everyone!

~ Angie

Amarok's release date is tentatively set for November of 2012.

Agent Jill Corcoran: Activate Your Story

Angela’s agent, Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency, recently posted an amazing article about how to write an engaging beginning. She’s given Operation Awesome permission to repost it for all you awesome blog buddies.

 

Jill Corcoran of the Herman Agency

 

ACTIVATE YOUR STORY

I have been doing a lot of first 10 pages critiques lately, and I find myself writing…START YOUR STORY and ACTIVATE YOUR STORY on almost 100% of the manuscripts. Choosing where to start you story is so very important in grabbing your reader and willing him to keep reading, captivating him so he cannot put your book down.

Unfortunately, so many writers start in the wrong place. They start in what seems to me like they are taking to themselves, working out what is happening or who their characters are or what the back story is and putting that in the first chapters rather than starting where the book needs to begin. Starting right before everything changes for your main character.

Right before? Yes, I know you have heard so many times to start in the action, to start at the moment your character’s life is about to change, but by doing this we often do now know who your character is so we don’t care that their life is changing. We don’t care about who they are or what is their peril.

Don’t start by describing what is going on. Don’t start by having your main character ‘think’ about/tell us about all that is happening in their life. Don’t start with shot from a gun, waking from a bad dream, dialog of people fighting, random thoughts from your character that does not activate your plot and bring the character and the reader into the character’s world. Don’t write a passive, telling, descriptive beginning.

START YOUR STORY. Show your character in his world, interacting with other characters that give us a glimpse into who your character is, what problem is he facing and why this problem means something to him, and to us the reader.

In one of my favorite books, Gayle Foreman’s IF I STAY, Gayle does not start the book at the moment of the car crash. We first see the family together, we actually fall in love with the main character and her family so when the car crash happens, we are devastated along with the main character. Gayle starts the first line of the book with an intriguing sentence….a sentence that activates us to pay attention to this first meeting with the main character’s family. That foreshadows the doom and gloom to come:

            Everyone thinks it is because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that’s true.

And then we are back in her world.  A world where the main character is not telling us what is happening but shows us through other characters’ actions and dialog, as well as her own.

Look back at the first pages of THE HUNGER GAMES, SPEAK, LOOKING FOR ALASKA, CONTERFEIT SON, FROZEN STIFF, FYLING SOLO,STARGIRL, the list goes on and on.

These are captivating beginnings that establish voice, character, plot, setting without plunging us blindly into the ‘problem’, the ‘crisis’. They also do not bore us with little details that talk down to the reader to make sure they are going to ‘get it’, that make sure the reader knows everything they need to know so they can follow your story.

Often you have to finish your book so you can rewrite/re-envision your beginning. Often you have to toss out your first couple of chapters. Do not mourn those lost words.  Thank them for helping you get started, for helping you understand where you book is going, for activating you to write rather than spend your years like so many wannabees saying I have a story I want to write but I just don’t know where to start. Congrats. You started. You got to the end. Now rewrite that beginning. Activate your story.

Jill Corcoran represents primarily Chapter Book, Middle Grade, and Young Adult authors. For more helpful writing tips and industry news, check our her blog: http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com/