friday5 for May 10, 2013

1. As I touched on last week, I love a highly anticipated cover reveal. It's almost as exciting as a book's release date. Okay, not quite, but it's pretty damn exciting. Without further ado:

What do you think? Personally, I love it. I can't wait to see all three books together on my shelf!

2. In less happy YA book news, two YA-series-to-small-screen adaptations have been canned this week, neither making it into the fall schedule after their pilots were shot. The much buzzed about pilot for Lauren Oliver's Delirium was passed on by Fox, while the second go-round at Keirra Cass's The Selection apparently still wasn't what the CW was looking for. In looking at the popular and successful The Vampire Diaries and PLL, I can't help but feel like the length of a YA book series is a huge factor in determining whether or not its adaptation is better suited to the small screen vs. the big screen. Why were Delirium and The Selection slotted for TV instead of the movie theater in the first place? Don't they seem like big picture stories to be told? Obviously whomever optioned the rights made that call, but it begs the question--do stand alone titles or duology/trilogy series have any place on TV? Does a YA book series have to be on on-going lengthy series (like PLL) to make for good weekly programming?

3. Kickstarter. It's in the news a lot these days. I've blogged before about the phenomenal Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign that seemingly started a trend. Well, now Zach Braff (super <3 him from his Scrubs days) is using Kickstarter to fund his next indie film project (the non-connected follow-up to Garden State). There are people who, for whatever reason, think it's okay for Rob Thomas to use Kickstarter, but not Zach (cause he's... copying? Which... doesn't make any sense? Or maybe... I don't understand this double standard?) and then there are people who have a problem with "Hollywood types" using Kickstarter at all. Personally, I don't have a problem with it (and in fact, have contributed to both campaigns). Nobody is forcing anybody to do anything. And as Zach has explained, he's contributing his own money to the project already, but this was an opportunity for him to make a great film instead of a lesser version of his vision. And yeah, if you aren't on board with his vision and don't care to help him make his film, don't contribute. That's kinda how this whole thing works. But why should the fact that he's a celebrity prevent him from using a publicly available service to raise money for an art project he feels passionate about? Zach talks about the whole situation here and I support him 100%.

4. Sigh. Community. The season four season (series?) finale just aired and I feel like if I'd blinked I'd have missed this entire season. Way too short. Yes, it had some growing pains as it adjusted under the helm of new show runners, but it was still one of the highlights of my TV week. As I write this, the final decision on whether or not the show will have a season five is looming. Fingers are firmly crossed! As different as the fourth season felt, I still love my Greendale Seven and I'm not ready to say goodbye.

5.Lots of great books hitting the shelves this week! At a time when publishing seems to be in constant flux, I love to see that great books are still managing to make it through the ever-changing system. This week I'm feeling rather enticed by The End Games by T. Michael Martin:

It happened on Halloween.

The world ended.

And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.



But The Game is changing.

The Bellows are evolving.


And the brothers will never be the same.

(Summary from
Okay, first of all, I am feeling tremendous amounts of love for this cover. It has many of the elements I love in a strong, eye-catching cover. Gorgeous design elements, a vibrant colour-scheme and and a mix of character and tone that puts you in the story before you even read the back cover! It's perfect. As for the story itself, I may be on a zombie kick these days, but it's not just zombies, it's fresh, interesting twists on zombies and I'm loving the set up for this one. The brothers aspect is intriguing and endearing. I love a good male protagonist too. It's a nice break from the female voices that dominate YA (especially when I primarily write in a female YA voice. It's good to change things up and get a feel for something different.) And then there's The Game. Not exactly a new concept, but the way it's being used here sounds twisty and dire. I like it :)

Happy weekend!

friday5 for March 29, 2013

Like this, but with more fluffy confusion!




Classic AND classy!
1. Run for pep club secretary
2. Host a fancy dinner party/soiree
3. Sew a dress for Homecoming
4. Find a steady
5. Do something dangerous
(Summary from

Happy weekend!