Where Genres Collide Traci Dowe YA Author

Odds & Ends

Traci Kenworth

I’m reading Girl From Mars by Tamara Bach. It’s not my usual type of book. It’s

Contemporary and I’m more into fantasy/horror but it was on the list of The Best Books of 2010, so I thought I’d give it a try. Should finish it up today. I’m hoping by expanding my reading, it will help my “voice” and the dynamics of approaching the Young Adult market. I always want to write to the reader. After all, that’s why I do what I do.

Next up is 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, then a western by Tabor Evans followed by ta-dah(and OMG, I can’t wait!)Mockingjay!! Paranormal and dystopian are also a big part of my reading. But then, to be honest, other than contemporaries, I read most anything. And it has improved my writing drastically. Each time I pick up a book, it teaches me something new. Either a way of looking at things, or how to draw my characters, setting, etc. better. It’s a win-win situation.

I’m so enamored of the Young Adult market right now. There is such good stuff!! And I’m loving it as that’s what I strive to write. My characters just usually call out to me from that direction though I have had several adult voices as well. Right now, I’ve pulled The Safe House or SH for short, off the market until I can do a first-person re-write. It’s coming along good and faster than I thought. Which is a nice surprise. I hope to get it back out there in the next couple of months, then focus on re-writing Walking.

It is so hard to know what direction you’re going in. That’s where critique partners or beta readers come in. They help you polish things. I so appreciate each and everyone of the ladies from YoungAdultFictionFanatics(or YAFF)that do so for me. They’ve seen my work in the raw stages as well as further along. They’re my first readers and they can be tough but they really push me along and help me grow as a writer.

I’m also branching out into reading new blogs and putting my fiction out there in hopes of good reviews or the presence of at least one fan. You don’t know how important you are to us as writers. Without you, we have no future in this business. So each piece of feedback you give us matters tremendously!! In these blogs, I’m finding a lot of research avenues, ones I didn’t know existed.

Like take for instance, The Bookshelf Muse, recommended by fellow writer friend and YAFF member, Miranda Buchanan and I fell in love with their informative pieces. When I need to evoke something in the five senses, setting, emotional-wise or so on, I go here. They never let me down. Then there’s Writer’s Thesaurus that points me in the direction of research sites I might not otherwise discover. YAFantasyGuide is another to name a few. There are so many wonderful ones out there waiting to be discovered.

Two new ones I plan to look into to display my work are inkpop.com and Scribed.com. I hear they’re some of the best places to get your writing out there, to build a fan base. And isn’t that what we’re all really after? Fans make the world go round for an author. So, if you’d like to drop a line to your favorite, rest assured, they’re going to want to read it and bask in the warmth that someone out there cares.

So have your read any good books lately? Have any blogs you want to give a shout out to? As always, the ladies at YAFF are mentioned on my page, so if you’d like give them a try. They won’t disappoint you.