fantasy – Page 3 – Rachel Heston-Davis

Update on Book Club

ByRachel August 13, 2009 0 Comments

The <a href="http://rachelhestondavis.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/young-adult-book-club-online/">Up and Writing Book Club</a> has a few announcements: The date of our first book discussion has been postponed to Monday, Aug. 24. It was going to be next Wednesday, but as I've just now announced the club, I thought I'd give you all an extra week or so to track down the book and start...

Young Adult Book Club Online

ByRachel August 11, 2009 6 Comments

So I'm going to try something new with this blog. I've been wanting to talk about the YA books Idiscovered this summer, but instead of inundating you with reviews for books you haven't read--I'm starting the Up and Writing online book club. Unlike regular book clubs which meet once a month, we're going to read each book in four segments and have weekly discussions right here at Up and Writing....

And the winner is…….

ByRachel July 27, 2009 1 Comment

Thanks to everyone who voted for my query letter hook! The winner is a hybrid combination of sentences 2 and 4, with a hint of 3. "Sixteen-year-old Flynn thinks learning about her dead parents is a dream come true—until she’s asked to live up to their legacy by leading the army to war." I appreciated that you guys took time to actually analyze why you liked or didn't like each sentence....

Cold-Calling Bookstores

ByRachel July 16, 2009 0 Comments

My stint of highly experimental book promotion tactics continued today as I began the first round of cold-calling bookstores to ask about hot-selling titles in YA fantasy. I called exactly nine stores and got a host of responses from the inventory staff/managers, ranging from a twenty-minute conversation to a curt declaration that "Vampires are big, and that's all I can tell you." Yes, vampires...

What's so Creative About Creative Writing?

ByRachel July 8, 2009 7 Comments

What makes a piece of writing creative? Why do certain genres--novels, short stories, poetry, journalism, even copywriting--get the additional word "creative" attached to them? Is it because they require the execution of certain forms? Perhaps the manipulation of form, such as the rising and falling action of a story or the line pattern of poems, and a careful choice of words...