Myra McEntire

Writing Finally

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Giveaway

VERY rarely am I completely surprised by a book. When I am, and the surprise is not only good but excellent, I get behind it and tell everyone I know to buy it.


So now I'm a pimp for BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.

BC had two things going for it before I ever opened it. A gorgeous cover that holds all kinds of spooky promise and the possibility of dual use as a doorstop. I love a book that's going to give me time to get lost in the story, and I don't care what industry standards are for book length, 600 pages is perfect.

Especially when not one word is wasted.

Despite any comparisons being made, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES stands on its own. It is a love story full of magic and mystery, dripping with atmosphere. The film rights have already been sold, and if the film makers do HALF the job with casting and filming that Kami and Margie have done with character creation and world building - I smell an Oscar.

Here's the link to my review for Young Adult Books Central - it's spoiler free.

Good news for you...since I bought a hard copy, I'm giving away my ARC!

Here's how to win:

1.) Follow my blog AND ...

2.) comment on this post or...

3.) tweet this link on Twitter. Make sure to include @MyraMcEntire so I know you did it!

Good luck! Contest ends December 20th!



Interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Authors of Beautiful Creatures


I LOVED BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.

I also adore the ladies that wrote it. Enjoy the interview! I'll be posting my review tomorrow.

What inspired you to write Beautiful Creatures? You wrote the story in three months. Did you brainstorm the story first?

Kami: We did. But the pieces came together REALLY quickly.

Margie: If by brainstorm you mean hash it out over a thousand Diet Cokes at lunch at El Cholo one day.

Writing with a partner takes an amazing amount of teamwork. Did you take turns writing, chapter by chapter? Did you work from a storyboard or an outline?

Kami: It does, but more than that it requires trust. You have to believe in the other person completely.

Margie: And you have to like to talk a lot. We ask each other a ton of questions. Everything we write comes out of a conversation.

Kami: As far as the writing process, we don’t write separate chapters. We actually write each chapter multiple times, and we write over each other’s work.

Margie: It’s like a running stitch. By the time we finish, it’s impossible to tell who wrote what.

You chose to write Beautiful Creatures from the perspective of a teenage boy, Ethan. What challenges did this pose?

Kami: We knew it would either work, or it wouldn’t. I think it was easier to write in some ways, because Ethan obviously isn’t either one of us. So we could think about the way he would do something or feel about something, rather than how one of us would.

Margie: But it was harder in other ways, because sometime’s Ethan’s voice has to be transparent, so that you can fall into the world of the book. Other times he has to really sound like a teenage boy. And then on top of that, it’s tricky to have the narrator of a story be the boy you want to love.

You have several interesting subplots going. One of my favorites is the relationship between Link and Ridley. Will we see more of them in the sequel?

Kami: You’ll have to wait and see.

Margie: We can tell you those are two of our most popular characters.

Ridley jumped off the page for me, fully formed, brimming over with life. Did you see her coming as you were writing?

Kami: Ridley really evolved during the writing process and elbowed her way into more and more scenes, which is so Ridley.

Margie: Our teen readers were always asking us for more about Ridley and Link, so those two characters have had fans from the very first draft.

Music plays a big part in Beautiful Creatures. You’ve posted Ethan’s playlist on your site. Can we expect to see other characters’ playlists soon?

Kami: Link’s Playlist is up now & Lena and Ridley’s are coming soon.

Do you listen to music when you write?

Kami: I listen to music that inspires me before I write. But I need complete silence to write. I actually hear the characters talking as I write, so I have to be able to listen (Ridley is very pushy, in particular).

Margie: I write with music blasting in earphones. I literally can’t write if I’m not wearing earphones. It’s like I have to drown out all the other brains in the world. And for me, certain kinds of music make writing certain kinds of scenes easier.

Poetry plays a big part in Beautiful Creatures as well. Lena is a poet. Are there writers that inspire you?

Kami: I’ve been writing poetry since high school. My favorite poets are: Pablo Neruda, ee cummings, Sylvia Plath, and Robert Frost.

Margie: I love Stevie Smith, a crazily funny British poet. Also Emily Dickinson (I lived on her street corner when I went to Amherst College) & Lowell & Frost, two more Amherst poets. I studied poetry for a year at a Creative Writing program in the UK.

Who wrote Lena’s poetry for the book?

Kami: As with everything else in the book, we both did. It isn’t hard for us to get in touch with our inner teens. They’re pretty close to the surface.

Margie: Lena has a particular way she writes that isn’t the way either Kami or I write. (She doesn’t listen to us!) It’s been interesting to watch her writing as it evolves.

Lena wears a special necklace in the story. Can you tell us about it?

Kami: Lena wears a necklace with a collection of charms that look more like junk. But the charms are like her memories. Margie and I each have one. We made them ourselves.
Margie: We’re actually giving one away in a contest, in December, so be sure to check out site often.

Without giving anything away, there are certain characters whose fates seem to have been decided. Is there any chance those characters will have the opportunity to change their fate?

Kami: Great question. You’ll have to read the next book to find out.

Margie: Free will vs. predestination is certainly a big theme in our book.

Will you be posting any outtakes?

Margie: We haven’t talked about that, but you never know.

Will book two be from Ethan’s perspective?

Kami: We’ve just finished the second book, and it is from Ethan’s perspective.

You’ve started a ning for Beautiful Creatures. What is that exactly, and how can your fans use it to connect?

Margie: Little, Brown did that for us, and we love it! A ning is a fantastic forum where readers can connect with us and other BC fans. Fans can post discussion threads, photos, etc. There will also be special contests for ning members in the future. Readers can join the ning at: http://gatlincounty.ning.com/

Will you be going on a book tour? Where can we look to find details about it?

Kami: We will be going on tour in the Southern U.S. the last two weeks of January. The details will be up on our site, www.BeautifulCreaturestheBook.com, under Appearances, here: http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/writing/appearances/

How can we keep up with you two and the world of Beautiful Creatures?

Margie: All the latest news, contests, schedule, etc., can always be found on www.BeautifulCreaturestheBook.com.

What were your favorite books/authors growing up? Now?

Kami: I have always loved Harper Lee, Flannery O’ Connor, and Ray Bradbury. Today, I love so many authors: Melissa Marr, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Sarah Rees Brennan, Saundra Mitchell… there are really too many.

Margie: In third grade I had a Susan Cooper fan club with my friends, & I can still recite the poem from the front of THE DARK IS RISING. Diana Wynne Jones, C.S. Lewis, Ursula LeGuin – that was me. I’m a huge fan of Robin McKinley, Cassie Clare, and Kristin Cashore. And my new discovery is EVERYTHING IS FINE by Ann Dee Ellis. Her voice is so original, sort of Ramona the Pest meets Ellen Hopkins.

Finally, what do you like best about being authors for Young Adults? Do you have any favorite fan stories?

Kami: My favorite part of being a YA author is writing in the genre that I read, and connecting with the authors and readers who share my love for YA novels and fantasy. My favorite fan story is about a boy named Caleb who sent us our first fan letter. Caleb is on the ning & he’s really a guy’s guy. He said BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was the best book he ever read. That killed me.

Margie: My favorite thing is meeting authors I worship, and my favorite fan stories are all about me, because I’m the biggest fangirl in the world. When I first met Holly Black, we were having lunch and she finally said “Why aren’t you eating?” and I said “I’m too excited!” Because I was. I still am!


THANK YOU SO MUCH LADIES!

I Beg Forgiveness

I know I'm making you crazy.

I know I keep changing my blog layout.

I can't promise I'll stop. But I'll try.

I have FINALLY (well, Go Daddy has finally) retrieved my wayward domain name from the ether that was Yahoo and I'm ready to set up my website. On a side note, can I tell you how awesome Go Daddy has been as far as customer service goes? They take care of me. I even asked a salesperson on the phone if he had anything else he wanted to sell me. He laughed.

That means I'll ask them to sell me something again. And I'll probably buy it.

I digress.

I keep changing my blog layout because I'm trying to match the look of my website. Because I am a picky kind of beast, I just decided to design my site myself using iWeb.

If it sucks, please tell me. Deal?

Lots of good stuff coming up this week, including my top picks for books of 2009, an interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, authors of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and a review of the same. I will also be giving away my ARC of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES to one exceedingly lucky follower. This book ROCKS, y'all.

Have a great week!

Thanksgiving 2009

Last year, I took my laptop to Atlanta for Thanksgiving dinner.


I knew I'd have at least 24 hours to write because I'd have family around to distract the Spider Monkey and the Doodlebug. I remember being pretty sure my in-laws were convinced I was crazy. I mean, who writes a book?

ME.

This year I'm in quite a different place as far as my writing goes. I'm thankful for every second. I'm thankful for my friends and family because they believe. I'm thankful for my made-of-awesome agent because she challenges me to be better. And I'm thankful - and hopeful - for whatever else this year brings.

I'm thankful for you, too, dear reader. Because if you're here, it means you're sharing the journey with me.

Happy Thanksgiving. I pray the richest blessings on your lives.

Now laugh a little, 'cause that's what we do here.


On the Eve of NEW MOON

Heart Status: I'm squeeing. I admit it.


On iTunes: The New Moon Soundtrack!

I seriously thought about playing it cool and not posting a thing about my excitement regarding New Moon.

But if you've been here before, you know cool isn't on my list of character traits.

I am SO EXCITED! Mainly to see the movie, but for other reasons, too. I adore the fact that all of this hype originated in one woman's head, manifested itself on her computer while she juggled small children, winged its way to an agent who believed in the power of the story and ended at a publisher who felt the same. Except it didn't end there .... because I'm going to see part of that story on the big screen. TONIGHT!

It makes me a little weepy, actually. (Several of you can just shut it, right now. You know who you are.) Writer friends, TRY to tell me you wouldn't find ultimate joy in creating something that so many people fell madly and passionately in love with? Try. One of the things I want most in life is my story out of my head and in the hands of people who will love it.

Tonight is a celebration of just that - a story on a page.

Also, there is Rob Pattinson.

The pic above was taken by April's eight-year-old son before the TWILIGHT midnight showing last year. He actually said, "Move closer together. If you're going to make me take your prom picture, at least do it right."

Tonight's prom dress consists of my super-sweet Forks hoodie, jeans and Converse (of course). I will be taking LOTS of pictures, and I'll try to sparingly subject you to them over the next few weeks.

HERE'S SOME EXCITING NEWS!

My friend, Clint Redwine, husband of the great CJ Redwine, lost his mind earlier this week and gave me and April the task of acting as Roving Reporters at tonight's premiere for The Mix 92.9 here in Nashville. Not only do I get to call in my review after the movie, I get to tweet/interview/take pics of other fans as we wait in line. (I've heard some of them are crazier than I am.)

I look forward to the crowd, the energy, the excitement and the opportunity to eavesdrop on teenagers for research purposes.

Have a great night everyone! I plan to!


About Me

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Myra McEntire
I write Young Adult Urban Fantasy. I love classic jazz, inclement weather, coffee, chocolate, Converse sneakers and my yoga pants (I don't do yoga, I just like the pants). I am represented by Holly Root of Waxman Literary Agency! You can find me on Twitter as @MyraMcEntire ...
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Some Random Definitions

DH - Dear Husband

CP - Critique Partner

ARC - Advance Reader Copies

Spider Monkey - my youngest boy

Doodlebug - my oldest boy

SYTYCD - So You Think You Can Dance

MC - Main Character

Protag - protagonist

Antag - antagonist

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