For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people’s dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie’s seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can’t tell anybody about what she does — they’d never believe her, or worse, they’d think she’s a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn’t want and can’t control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else’s twisted psyche. She is a participant….

In an over saturated market of paranormal ‘series’ books, WAKE is a treat. Great story line and true-to-life characters make this an enthralling read. Teenage drinking, drug use, and language play a role in this novel which makes it one of the more edgier YA’s in my opinion.  Though sex is not an issue, a captivating romance reels you in.

Likes:

Length: A fairly short read. After just finishing BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (576 pages), the 210 pages were somewhat of a relief. Especially considering there are two other books in the series.

Characters: Teenagers in real situations. Likable.

It actually ends! Several ‘series’ books out there leave you hanging for a whole year for the next installment. WAKE wraps up nicely while still letting you know there’s more to come.

Plot: I love books that have me guessing or even fuming sometimes. This one does both. Excitement=staying up ’til one AM to finish!

Dislikes:

Language! The F-word to be exact. I would have recommended this to more people had this expletive been left out the several times it was used.

WAKE was published in 2008, with the second book FADE, and third book GONE, published in 2009 and 2010. I picked up FADE from the library this morning and I can’t wait to dive in!

Stay tuned for reviews on the rest of the series.

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2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as I write?”
I did one character sketch and it worked all right, but she was my first *real* character. Once I got down how to portray a character, I realized I didn’t need the sketch. I have a great one — super detailed and I can see how it can help a lot of writers, but I learn about my characters as I go. They definitely reveal themselves. Even with the girl I did sketch out, I ended up finding out later that she was a cutter at one point and now has blood lust going on…definitely didn’t plan either of those, but it’s who she is..

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
Only for one book. The first one. It *might* be my best, but it also has allowed me the freedom not to have to work so hard on the subsequent ones. I have more confidence. Once an idea enters my head, I take a few notes and let it all simmer ’til I can sit down and then I just write. I suppose I do have a good idea of what’s going on, but really only in the back of my mind. And it’s the knowledge the characters give me…not anything that I hyper aware of.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
Books on plotting are probably not all that harmful. Maybe not super useful, either, but what’s wrong with learning something new? As long as you’re not reading a book about *how* to write, in general (because, let’s face it, if you have to be taught how to write, you’re probably not a writer), I don’t see the harm. [Sorry, I'm not one of those people who believe writers can be made...]
I do believe that learning how to *tell* a story is super important. A writer must know how to portray the action and have reason for everything. If a character can easily get out of a situation, then something in your book needs to change. There has to be a reason for everything. Otherwise there’s no point. And I mention this mainly because a good friend read a few books on storytelling and he made me realize that that’s key. I’ve always asked questions about plot holes in movies and such—ever since I was little. If a character has a choice, but only make a certain one just to keep the story going, then something needs to be done…. Motivation/necessity — crucial!

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
I’m a procrastinator, but only because I have no choice. If I could sit down and write constantly, I would. And I’ve done it before. But it caused some problems with the family, and now I’m taking care of my child completely by myself so I just don’t have the opportunities that I used to. But the itch is definitely there. It kills me.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
It completely depends. I *can* write eight hours a day and churn out chapter after chapter. But I just don’t have the chance. Now, if I was getting paid to write novels rather than articles, I’d have my child in day care after school and I’d work a *normal* work day and get a ton accomplished. But I don’t have that luxury

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
Neither. I’m an ‘everyone’s gone to bed and I Finally have no responibilities’ type of writer. Along with the fact that I work better at night. I don’t really wake up ’til about 3 or 4 in the afternoon (I mean, I’m awake and up, but my brain isn’t functioning properly) and I’m raring to go at around 9-10pm. I stay up ’til 3, on average, but some nights I don’t even go to sleep. My personal filter tends to disappear then and I can just be me and let the characters flow through me at the same time. I don’t have to be a mom or a daughter or whatever else I’m supposed to be. I can just be a writer.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
I can write with about any noise besides music. Only because I’m way too into music and I’ll start listening to the lyrics and then my thoughts get all jumbled. I edit with music, though. Editing is like doing the dishes to me. Just second nature. Even though my characters write for me, it still takes more effort to churn out the draft than it does to revise/edit.

9. Computer or longhand? (Or typewriter?)
Computer. I’ll sometimes write scenes in my notebooks or journals, usually the beginning of a book — to become more personal with it. If I write it out longhand, I create a stronger bond with the brand new characters. But once that part’s done, it’s off to the computer I go. Even typing, it’s hard to keep up with my thoughts. I cannot write fast enough.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends. My first book, yes. The other three I have going…I’ve not a clue. But I have others in my head that I know the ending to. I’m really not a type of writer you can pinpoint. I am how I am and that means jack…which can be rather annoying at times.

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
I’ve honestly only considered the market once, and it was more about what was best for my character more than the market. But the decision was huge and market did factor in. Otherwise, an emphatic NO! If you’re writing for the market, well, nevermind. I won’t go there….

12. Editing – love it or hate it?
Adore it. I love making something better. It’s so great to me. But hey, I went to school to be an editor so I’m a little different than other writers. I know most aren’t the least bit fond of revisions.

13. Why do you want to write?
It’s not so much that I want to — I have to. It’s just me. Even if I’m just making a list for the store…I love writing. I love putting words together. I can do that with speaking, and I do — I don’t shut up half the time — but writing is just so much more. It’s a life in itself. Whole other worlds…. It’s just the best. I can’t Not write.

14. Do you want to publish your work? Why?
Of course! Some things are just for me, but I love sharing what I’ve written with others. I’d adore it if that could happen on a larger scale.

15. Do like to write alone or do you like to work with others?
Alone. Yup. I like advice from others after the fact, but while I’m writing I like to be alone. But heck, even if I’m not alone, you’d think I was. I ignore everything else going on around me. I can’t help it. Writing sucks me in and has more of a hold on me than pretty much anything else in life. Seems writing is my life.

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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No book lives until it is read. The reader partners in the experience in creating the written word. How that works is that the writer places symbols on a piece of paper, and the reader later comes along and interprets those symbols and make them come to life.

The meaningful experience in all literature takes place in the white space between the words. Minds connect the dots and fill in the blanks. It is what the reader interprets the words to mean, how they are personal, that creates a meaningful experience.

Literature is an art form where the final performance takes place while the original artist is not present. He cited an example from Stephen King’s book On Writing. The experience of reading is like time travel back to when the author sat down at his desk and wrote it. They are experiencing the same things in one moment, even though those moments may be separated by years from when the author first wrote the book.

*It does not matter if you are published. Anyone can be published by ordering a copy of their book off Lulu. What matters is that you are read. It matters that your words come to life. Your words are dead until they are picked up by someone else.

We all read the same words, but what we bring to the story from our own experience makes it unique. It is the reader not the writer who creates the meaningful experience of the written word.

The only constant in the world is change. We’re always moving forward, backward, or staying stagnant, but we are always moving in a direction. If we aren’t moving forward, we are regressing and losing some of the knowledge we had. What we experience while reading a book cannot but help us change.

*Creation is more than knowing. It’s doing something with what you know to change the world.

Tracy then shared a story about a soldier in Afghanistan who had read the Dragon Lance books and loved them. He took them with him as he was stationed so far from home. One day while on duty, he was shot in the back. The young soldier thought in that instant of what one character in the books would have done and he decided to act accordingly. Standing up even though his back was shattered, he warned his comrades and saved twelve lives that day.

I can’t imagine that I’ll ever have such a dramatic experience, but it still struck me that writing and books and stories can be so powerful when you touch a reader’s life with your words.

Now for what this means to me. That day I was having a little mini crisis with my writing. Even though I’ve had close to 75 glowing comments from people who’ve read the first few chapters and loved the voice, and even though I’ve had two people read the whole thing and tell me they absolutely loved it, I started to doubt myself. I won’t go into the reasons why, but let’s just say I was feeling really down about my ability to write a book that I can actually get published.

And then I sat down to listen to Tracy speak, and I realized how selfish I was being. I was thinking of myself as the writer and not thinking of the reader. All I have to do is my very best with this book, and then I hand it over to the reader who will take that and create. There is something so incredibly powerful about that.

Really, that’s why I started writing. I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives—even if for just one person. I wanted to touch them, however briefly. But in all the hustle and bustle of “getting published” I forgot that.

So I am incredibly grateful for the lesson I learned tonight: I’m not in this by myself. It’s a partnership I have with readers. It doesn’t matter if only two people ever read my whole book as long as it affects them, even if only for the entertainment value.

I don’t know that I’ll ever influence anyone’s life so powerfully that they chose to save others’ lives at risk to their own, but I hope that someone somewhere is better because of reading something that I write.

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I’ve been reading Lost Horizon by James Hilton, and what I really liked about the story is the way Hilton has created a world–a hidden, legendary lamasery in remote mountains, the Shangri-la, where people live longer lives, where the lamas devote their time to contemplation and academic preoccupations.

I particularly love the descriptions:

“To Conway, seeing it first, it might have been a vision fluttering out of that solitary rhythm in which lack of oxygen had encompassed all his faculties. It was, indeed a strange and half-incredible sight. A group of coloured pavilions clung to the mountainside with none of the grim deliberation of a Rhineland castle, but rather with the chance delicacy of flower petals impaled upon a crag…An austere emotion carried the eye upward from the milk-blue roofs to the grey rock bastion above, tremendous as the Wetterhorn above Grindelwald. Beyond that, in a dazzling pyramid, soared the snow slopes of Karakal.”

So what have you been reading recently? And what has moved you the most in the books you have read?

Feel free to post an excerpt from your reading in the comments, so we may all get to know new and exciting, or old and undiscovered books for our future reading lists!

–Damyanti

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My eyes were glued to the hottie in uniform.
I fumbled around the door until I found the button, my eyes never left his. Holy Cow.
I kept my eyes down, too scared to look up.
His eyes penetrated mine.
His piercing eyes swam in that knee-weakening smile.
Andrew’s eyes shot daggers through me, as he looked me up and down.
His eyes still scaled my body, and he didn’t look discussed with what he saw.
He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since he came in about five minutes ago.
His eyes longed for me.
I noticed several pairs of eyes on me.
“What? That call sucked. He was going for the ball. Eyes on ball means no pass interference you stupid refs.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes screening the woods.
He glared, looking at everyone, but his eyes settled on Vincent.
His eyes were troubled.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
My eyes locked to his, and I felt as if all the blood from my head pooled in my stomach.
His eyes smoldered.
His eyes studied my legs before finding their way back to mine.
He eased in front of me, his eyes softened.
His eyes locked on mine.
Turning slowly, my eyes shifted to him.
His eyes were back on me.
His black eyes were laced with danger and longing.
My eyes didn’t leave Andrew’s.
My eyes traced his muscular arms.
He lifted my face so my eyes would meet his.
Andrew’s eyes smiled at me.
His jaw flexed and his eyes burned. I couldn’t believe how sexy he was.
Her eyes became cold.
When he came to a stop, he finally turned to me, his eyes angry, scared.
I would’ve known if he had, my eyes never left him.
His eyes danced.
His eyes jumped around and he wouldn’t look at me.
The next day at school, all eyes were on me.
His eyes almost bugged out of his head.
His eyes sought forgiveness.
I looked at Vincent; his eyes danced with excitement.
James asked, his eyes smiled and his voice calmed me.
I shrugged, keeping my eyes on that car.
Andrew’s eyes bore into mine.
I couldn’t find it in me to take my eyes off her.

So back to the question at hand. Is this wrong? It can’t be taken literally, but since we know it’s figuratively, does it stand? You tell us.

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And go here for Improving your craft. Something I’m sure we all can use as writers.

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