Writing Romance in Young Adult

It's Valentine's Day and what better day to chat about writing romance in young adult books. One of the big areas that editors were asking for in the last three conferences I have been to is more romance in YA.

I think it's important for us writers to remember that there should only be romance in the story if it's needed. It has to have an integral part of the plot and character development.

The romance should have a plot arc of it's own. This can be tricky to not fall into the cliche relationship.

Books that I love and give a shout out to the romance are:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Jane by April Lindner
An Infidel in Paradise by S.J. Laidlaw
Reboot by Amy Tintera
Sanctum by Sarah Fine

Here's a vlog I made for you on tips for writing romance in YA:

Using a Plot Grid

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned pulling out my plot grid when I was revising a manuscript and promised to talk more about that later. Now that NaNo is finished and many of you have a very rough draft in place, it's key to pull out or create a plot grid.

Why have a plot grid?

1. Plotting- Gives you a bird's eye view of the structure of your plot.

I'm a sucker for a good plot. Especially one that's unpredictable. Of course, creating an unpredictable plot is another whole blog post for another day.

2. Character Appearances- Allows you to see how often and which one of your characters appear throughout the book.

3. Setting- Where is your story taking place? Are you switching up your setting? To me nothing is more boring than bouncing your characters between the school cafeteria and home. Please don't do that. At least for my sake.

So, you're probably wondering what a plot grid looks like and how to put it together. Click here for the word document that I use. If you have a mystery plot, check this plot grid out.

You can also watch my vlog on how to make a bigger version of this. Personally, I need both.



So what do you find is helpful to making sure your plot flows, doesn't lag, and isn't filled with holes?

Tackling the Killer Manuscript

So you’ve written the story of your dreams. You’ve stamped your soul’s signature onto it. With all your heart, you believe it’s publishable, unique and marketable. It just has one itsy problem.

It’s a big fat mess.

Yep. That’s me with my latest WIP. It’s a new series that’s been rattling around in my brain for about five years. While GILDED was on submission I decided to write the impossibly complicated story.

It has earned the fond name of THE BEAST. You might have heard me refer to this in previous blog posts and on Twitter. Let me tell you, that book practically killed me. And I’m not finished with it. I don’t even know if it will sell. But I truly believe the story is stronger because of the process I put it through.

If you have a story like mine and you’re willing to not give up on it even though it’s a big fat mess, then here are some steps that might help you.

1.       Ask yourself if you’re committed to the story. Are you willing to do anything for it? This includes major rewrites, structural, plot, or overarching changes in the main character’s internal conflicts? If you can answer yes to all of these things, then keep reading. If not, forget your story and write a new one.

2.       Okay, so now that you’re committed, you need to write a query, synopsis, and a detailed outline. The query will tell you the central issue your story will face. The synopsis will give you an idea of flow of the story, and the outline will show where your plot holes are located, among other things.

3.       Study your query, synopsis, and outline. Personally, I like to also use a plotting grid. See the one attached that I made up using a traditional one with my own personal tweaks. (Don't worry, I plan on vlogging more on this plot grid later) Find where your weaknesses are. Number them from biggest issues to smallest issues. Tackle each one step at a time.

4.       Now send it to two or three critique partners who will tell you if it’s awful or not. When they send back their notes, take them seriously. If more than one person is saying the same thing, you should strongly consider changing what they say is the problem. I find that my critique partners are right 99.9% of the time.

5.       At this point I print out their suggestions and highlight them in various colors. An example is: character issues,  I highlighted in blue, plot is in green, internal conflict with main character in purple. I’m a visual person and right away I can see where the central problems are lying in.

6.       From there, I brainstorm ways to fix my problems using a flow map. Something like this.

7.       Don't be worried about trying multiple versions. In THE BEAST, all three of my crit partners didn’t like the opening. It was too slow, but they didn’t know how to solve it. They all gave me suggestion though.

What I found after looking at my color scheme of highlighting that most of my issues stemmed back to my main character’s internal conflict. It wasn’t strong enough and therefore those opening chapters reflected that. So I decided to write three different versions of chapters 1-3. It was hard work, but I think I got closer to solving the problem. Hopefully, you’ll be able to fix the problem without writing three different versions.  

8.       Mission accomplished! You’ve now finished another draft of your beloved manuscript. You read it and it’s all fixed. Yay! Go celebrate! But this was not the way it went with me. I felt I still had problems. I didn’t know what they were but something was still not right.

9.       Try, try again. So…. If this happens, write a new query, synopsis and outline (or plot grid). Then pull out your old versions and compare the two. What changes did you make? How did these changes improve your story? Can you take it to another level?

10.   Get More Feedback. If you’re like me, I decided I needed more feedback from my crit buddies. I resent it to two of the girls and they took another look at it. While they were looking at it, I didn’t even think about the manuscript. Instead, I took a break and started writing another book. I think sometimes, stepping away from a project helps you get a clearer picture of that project later on.

11.   Take a Break! After a few months break I took on the new suggestions that my crit partners gave me. I reread the manuscript with fresh eyes and made the changes I felt were needed.

12.   Send it off! A couple of weeks ago, I sent THE BEAST to my agent. Last week the two of us chatted. It's still not submission ready, but it's closer. He had great ideas of how to fix my biggest problems. I've been playing around with some different scenarios and seeing which angle will work best. I'll let you know what happens!

Ultimately, the key to revision is the ability to adapt and be open to change. If you can do those two things, you have a chance to slay THE BEAST before it kills you.

Any revision tips that you have?

Blog Tag- The Next Big Thing

I've been tagged by Justina Ireland, author of upcoming VENGEANCE BOUND, and Tara Gallina.

I'm supposed to answer all kinds of questions about the book I'm working on. I'm actually working on two other projects, one a sequel to GILDED, and another is a dystopic fantasy. Even though I'm over-the-moon excited about these two projects, they're still in the secret stages where only the Brilliant Ones (my crit partners) and my ninja agent know details.

I thought you might want to hear a little more about GILDED because this baby is coming out to the world next November (Yes! My editor gave me a release month). 

What's the working title of your book?

GILDED (Crossing fingers I get to keep the title)

Where did you come up with the idea for your book?

I love mythology. While living in Korea, I was teaching Greek mythology to my students. I thought it would be fun to learn more about mythology of the country I was living at. When I came across the myth of Hameosu and Princess Yuhwa, I was hooked. I knew I was going to write their story.

What genre does your book fall under?

Mythological paranormal

Which actors would you play the movie rendition?

For Jae, I'd choose Song Hye Kyo because of her look.

This is how Jae looks most of the time (ticked off, thanks to Haemosu)

But when she's around Marc, the world changes:

For Marc, it would have to be William Moseley.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

About a 16-year old Korean-American girl who discovers an ancient Korean god has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of her family for generations. And she's next. 

If you're interested in a pictorial idea of GILDED, you can check out my Pinterest page here.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Um.... there really isn't much out there in YA. The closest would be the Percy Jackson books. I'm anxiously waiting to read Amanda Sun's INK. From its blurb, it might be the closest YA out there in similarity.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Living in Korea absolutely inspired GILDED. I wrote what I saw, heard, smelled and lived. Most of the scenes were recreations of stuff that actually happened to me. Like the ski scene. So me.

What else about this book might pique a reader's interest?

If you like books with: tough fighter girls, romance, lots of action, dragons, portals, fantasy and mythology then you'll like GILDED.

Now who to torture next? *rubs hands deviously*

Andrea Mack!

Smart Ways to Sweat It Out

The other day, I was sitting on the sidelines watching my son's soccer practice. On the field behind me a football coach was yelling at his players, saying, "If you're not sweating, you're not working hard enough!"

My first thought was, “Man, I’m glad you’re not my boys’ coach.”

But that line bothered me for the rest of the day. Was he right? Will working hard make them better players? My thoughts turned to writing. If I worked harder, wrote more, would that make me a better writer?

The conclusion I came to was ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Yes, in that the more you do something, your craft is developed. But at the same time, if you’re doing it wrong, it’s like banging your head against the wall. It can hurt your craft and frustrate you.

How can we as writers be smart in our craft?
 

1.      Write as often as you can. I work a full time and part time job. I’m a mom and I’m taking classes. Time is more valuable than gold. But if I want to write, I just have to suck it up and sit down and write. That means I might only have an hour a day. But the reality is, the more I write, the better I get.

2.      Read. When you read, study the way the author has constructed the story. Pick one or two elements that you feel are lacking in your book such as plot, character arcs, or conflicts within a scene. Focus on those two elements as you read and see how that author has developed them. Write down notes in your journal at what worked and what didn’t. Read another book and do the same thing. I find I learn so much by reading other author’s books.


3. Find critique partners who know their stuff. These people don’t have to be writers. Sometimes your best critiquers are actually readers that have the eye for when a character isn’t being true to themselves or the plot is sagging. Trust them. Listen to them.

4. Attend writing conferences. Develop your craft by learning from experts. Your focus might change over the years, but there will always be new ways to develop yourself as a writer. You will never be too accomplished of a writer to not learn.

5.      Try something new. One of the best ways to stretch yourself at anything is to break out of your box. If you have this fabulous new idea of a book you’d love to write, but you think it will be too hard to accomplish, that means you need to write it. It may end up taking you many drafts and many years, but you’ll be a better writer by challenging yourself.

6.      Get online and know what’s going on in the market. If you’re reading this right now, you are already doing this point. I learn so much from other bloggers on what’s happening in the market as well as ideas to make myself a better writer.

 

What about you? What are smart ways that you make the most of your writing time?

At the MiGs- After the Book Deal

Over at the MiGs, I wrote a post called After the Book Deal- The First 3 Months, which will end up being a series on things you can do after you get your book deal. The whole process can be daunting and you might wonder, where do I begin? Hopefully this series, After the Book Deal, can help you navigate your way through it.

Facing Your Fears

Every day we as writers face fears.

Fear of rejection, fear of reviews, fear you'll never land an agent or editor, fear that your next book won't sell, fear your agent or editor won't approve those edits.

The list is endless. But the only way to overcome those fears is to face them. While I was in Europe this summer, I filmed this short vlog with tips on how to face those fears.



Do you have any tips that you'd like to share?

Epic Book Deal Contest!

This weekend has been overwhelming. I've been blown away by the well-wishes on Facebook and Twitter, the emails and blog posts. It's moments like these that all the years of late-night writing, tears over rejections and fighting self-doubt become worth it.

I'm so excited to celebrate my book deal with you that I'm giving away three prize packs. I know some of you are readers, some are writers and some are travelers, so I've created a pack for each of you.

Writer's Pack

• Critique of your first 10 pages by me
• $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card- your choice!
• $10 Starbuck's gift card
• Journal and writing pens
• Query critique from my writing partner, Kate Fall, who has just opened her own editing business 

Reader's Pack

• Copies of my writing partner's books: autographed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, I'M BORED illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi, and a preordered copy of PROPHECY by Ellen Oh 
• A Samjokgo amulet (or some spell it as Samjogo)- this represents strength and was considered the most powerful symbol in Korea during the Koguryo Kingdom. This amulet has a big role in my book!

Traveler's Pack

• Traveler's journal and writing pens
• "Woman On the Go" traveler kit
• Kindle or Nook (your choice!) versions of these great YA books: TEN by Gretchen McNeil and DEFIANCE by C.J Redwine.

Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Book Sold!

Finally, finally I can scream from my rooftop that I've got a book deal! I've been keeping this little secret for a hundred years now. (Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration).

I am so pleased to announce that my young adult paranormal, GILDED, sold to Amazon Children's Publishing (formally Marshall Cavendish)!

Here's the blurb from Publisher's Marketplace:

Christina Farley's GILDED, in which a 16-year-old Korean-American girl with a black belt and a deadly proclivity with steel-tipped arrows discovers an ancient Korean god has been kidnapping the first-born daughters of her family for generations, to Miriam Frank at Amazon Children's, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2013, by Jeff Ourvan at Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency (world).

I know you're waiting for all the gossip on how it happened. So...

Let's rewind back to January, when on Martin Luther King's birthday I got this stop-your-heart kind of email from Margery Cuyler, Publisher of Marshall Cavendish, saying she loved my book and was taking it to acquisitions. (Wow!!!!! She loved my book!!!!!!)

For the next week I was on pins and needles. Waiting, staring at my phone, waiting and staring at my phone some more. Then I got the call from Jeff, my agent. THE CALL. It was during my school day and I'm not allowed to answer my phone so he sent me a quick email first. Amazon Children's had offered to buy my book. Squeal!

Somehow I got through the school day. I have no idea what I told my students or if I even taught the math lesson correctly. All I know is that I had this huge smile plastered across my face. As soon as I herded my students out the door, I was dialing Jeff to talk about all the juicy details.

 

Signing my contract

 

I am just so thankful to my agent who knew how to navigate through the whole submitting maze because the next few months after that were a bit insane. And he put up with my bizarre emails that looked something like this:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I know, who sends crazy emails like that?)

Yes, he's totally a black belt in agenting.

I am thrilled to be working with my editor, Miriam Frank, who said she fell head-over-heels in love with GILDED (I can't help but love her already).

Below you will find a short video I made that highlights my journey in writing this book. If you have read my blog over the years, these pictures will be familiar to you. Most of the pictures my husband or myself took while living in Korea.



Thanks as always to my crit buds who have endured emails and reading too many versions of this manuscript among others: Casey McCormick, Beth Revis, Larissa Hardesty, Ellen Oh and the amazing girls from the MiGs!

I hope you will stop by later this week to celebrate with me because I'm holding an EPIC contest giving away books, critiques, gift cards, and jewelry based on GILDED.

SCBWI Young Adult Workshop

During the SCBWI conference in Orlando, FL, I also attended the Young Adult workshop. This was led by Noa Wheeler, editor for Henry Holt, and Nancy Werlin, bestselling author of numerous books including Extraordinary. These two ladies did an excellent job exploring ways to tackle issues we face as young adult authors.

Noa Wheeler talked about how to deepen our characters by asking questions about them. One of the best questions she asked was “Is my character active?” She says we should be asking ourselves this question all through the book.

She also had us create 100 questions for our characters. I was really excited after I finished because these questions helped me build a more three dimensional character for my current WIP.

In the afternoon, Noa discussed how to write a flap copy and gave us specific examples from the books she’s edited. She said that usually the assistant editor writes these for the books, but they are a great exercise to find what the big issues of our stories are about.

Nancy is currently revising the third book that will come after Extraordinary. She broke down the revision process she is undertaking right now which I found fascinating in how she tackled her revisions. She also explained how she used the feedback from her critique partners to write another revision.

Overall, I came away with some new ways to revise and a stack of answered questions I hadn’t known about my main character.

Have you ever interviewed your characters? Did you find that helpful and if so, which questions did you find to be the most helpful?

Interview and Giveaway with Elaine Wolf

 Every secret has a price…

I’m very pleased to welcome Elaine Wolf today. She has offered to share her thoughts on her publishing journey and what inspired her to write her book, CAMP, published by Sky Pony Press (an imprint of SkyhorsePublishing). This YA novel tackles the issues of bullying, mothers and daughters, and the consequences of family secrets.

In case you were wondering what CAMP is about, here is the blurb from Amazon:

For most girls, sleepaway camp is great fun. But for Amy Becker, it's a nightmare. Amy, whose home life is in turmoil, is sent to Camp Takawanda for Girls for the first time as a teenager. Although Amy swears she hates her German-immigrant mother, who is unduly harsh with Amy's autistic younger brother, Amy is less than thrilled about going to camp. At Takawanda she is subjected to a humiliating "initiation" and relentless bullying by the ringleader of the senior campers. As she struggles to stop the mean girls from tormenting her, Amy becomes more confident. Then a cousin reveals dark secrets about Amy's mother's past, which sets in motion a tragic event that changes Amy and her family forever.
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1. What got you started into writing?

I always loved to write, even as a child. When I grew up, I became a “closet writer.” I never shared my work, and I still have a “bits and pieces” file of story ideas, first sentences, and poems. And when I worked as the English language arts director for a public school district, I found lots of excuses to send memos to the staff––just so I could write! My husband encouraged me to enroll in a writers’ workshop at our library. Then came a Saturday morning short story class at a local university, followed by a series of summer workshops and writing conferences in New York City. And that did it! All I wanted was more time to write. So my husband, again, told me to go for it––this time by encouraging me to take an early retirement from the school district and to enroll in a novel writing class at The New School in New York. As I focused on the novel that became DANNY’S MOM (Arcade Publishing, November 2012), I joined other writers’ workshop programs, as well as a critique group. I’m so blessed to have such a supportive husband, whose favorite activity now is telling everyone about CAMP. And I can’t stop smiling!

2. Tell us a little about your journey in pursuing publication of CAMP.

I’ll tell you the truth: the road to publication was long and hard. Six years ago when I signed with my agent, she said she loved CAMP and was eager to get it out on submission. But shortly after signing me on, my agent went out on her own, and CAMP submissions were delayed. However, I hung in there because I knew my agent loved the manuscript, and I believed that she would find the right home for CAMP.

Once submissions started, several editors said that they, too, loved the manuscript but didn’t feel that bullying was a big enough story. So I put CAMP on hold and moved on to other writing projects.

In 2011, five years after I signed with my agent (see, I told you the road was long!), I asked her to please try once more because bullying was now front and center in the news. My agent put CAMP out there again. And this time, CAMP sold quickly. And then DANNY’S MOM (also with a strong bullying theme) sold to Arcade Publishing, another Skyhorse imprint.

Now I’m known as “the anti-bullying novelist.” And I’m thrilled that I’ll have two novels published this year! I hope you’ll check out my website (authorelainewolf.com) for information about both books, as well as for anti-bullying resources.

3. As a teacher and mom myself, I’ve really seen how bullying is such an issue with kids, not just here in the States, but world-wide. I love how you tackled this issue in such a unique way through the setting and the characters. What inspired this?

Thanks! I’m glad you love how I “tackled this issue in such a unique way through the setting and characters.” But, truth be told, I didn’t set out to write a bullying novel; I just wanted to write a compelling story. So I started with a character, 14-year-old Amy Becker, who’s being shipped off to sleep-away camp for the first time. And, of course, I gave her lots of problems––because a happy, sing-around-the-campfire story isn’t very gripping.

I believed that sleep-away camp would be a good backdrop for a coming-of-age story, and it’s a setting I know well. I was a camper and camp counselor for many summers. And, like Amy Becker, my uncle owned a camp in Maine. But that’s where the similarity ends. My uncle ran a terrific camp, where the bullying that happens in CAMP would have been stopped before it got out of control.  

The bullying in CAMP grew organically after a mean-girl character, Rory, stormed through my mind while I was writing the scene about Amy on the bus heading to the fictional Camp Takawanda for Girls. Rory’s voice was really loud in my head, so I just tried to get out of my own way and let the characters dictate the story. Once I had a timid first-time camper, Amy, and an alpha girl “queen of mean,” Rory, it was impossible not to write about bullying.

Now CAMP is finding its way into schools for the fall, where the novel will be a springboard to conversations about bullying. And I sincerely hope that CAMP and DANNY’S MOM will lead to discussions that will make our camps and schools safer for all kids.

4.  What has been the most difficult part for you in writing in general and how have you met that challenge?

The most difficult challenge of this whole process was the “getting published part.” I was so happy while working on CAMP and DANNY’S MOM. But, I must admit, the “getting published part” left me frustrated and anxious. Yet I never gave up because the feedback from editors was overwhelmingly positive. I learned that getting published is not only about talent and perseverance; it’s also about timing. As they say, timing is everything.

And here are some quickies:

1. Favorite type of chocolate: dark, darker, and darkest! (Chocolate is absolutely my favorite food.)

2. #1 place you’d like to visit: Greece (And I’d love to go back to Florence, Italy, where I had the best gelato I’ve ever tasted. Ice cream is my second favorite food.)

3. Favorite mode of transportation: walking (I often park my car far from where I’m heading just to walk a bit­­––which is a good thing because I eat way too much chocolate and ice cream!)

4. Preferred mode of writing (i.e. pencil, pen, computer): computer (I start every chapter with pen and paper, though––and go to the computer only when I have a first paragraph that makes me tingle.)

Check out Elaine on Twitter or her website.

I will be giving away a copy of Elaine’s book, CAMP. Comment below to win a copy and tweet about this contest for an extra entry!

Writing Conferences- How to Know Which Ones to Attend?

Today I'm pleased to post my interview with Sarah Nicolas who attended the SCBWI Orlando, FL conference with me. She is a young adult writer who is famous for her youtube channel, YARebels.

In this interview she shares about her best conference experience. Sarah is also the acquisitions intern for Entangled and in this interview she shares common mistakes writers make.

Congratulations to Susan Laidlaw!

Big congrats to Susan Laidlaw, one of my writing buddies from the MiG Writers. Her book, INFIDEL IN PARADISE, is to be published by Tundra Books! She even has a release date, which will be on Feb. 12, 2013.

Her YA is about a Canadian girl whose family moves to Pakistan. As attends the international school there, she deals with family adjustments and her own identity in living in a foreign country. And of course there's a romance that blooms between the main character and one of the Pakistani boys.

Susan currently teaches at a British school in Jakarta, Indonesia, but before that she taught in Pakistan which inspired her to write INFIDEL. Not only do I love Susan's writing, but she really captures the life of an expat and the students attending international schools. It's a true picture of the realities of living overseas. 

This is a book that I know you'll love and the ending... oh the ending... is a page turner. You won't be able to put it down!

Winners and Lucky 7

I am so excited to announce my two winners for the author interview and book contests I've held.

The winner for KISS OF THE MORNING STAR is Viven!

The winner for TROUBLE WITH A HALF A MOON is Carmella Condon Van Vleet!

I will be emailing you asking for your addresses.

And now for Lucky 7. I was tagged Kim Kasch and by Jessica Khoury. Ironically, Jessica worked at the bookstore my mother-in-law managed and we both attended Toccoa Falls College. Small world!

So the Lucky 7 goes like this:
1. Go to the seventh or 77th page of the WIP or latest book
2. Count down seven lines.
3. Copy the 7 sentences that follow and post them.
4. Tag 7 other authors.

So here are my 7 lines from page 77 of GILDED (my YA mythological based paranormal):

“Haemosu’s power is greatest in the day,” she says and then grunts to whip out a roundhouse. I’m ready and side step around her, quick and light. “That is the time he will attack.”

She turns to face me again. I see the attack and land a front kick, planting it directly at her chin. She stumbles backwards slightly, her eyes widening. “Not bad,” she admits. “The best I have seen in a long time.”

But then she does a move I’ve never seen. It’s like watching a movie. And I’m definitely not the star. She leaps up, spins and double kicks, one foot after the other knocking at my shoulder and nose. Pain shoots through my face and blood spurts through the air.

So none of that probably makes sense to you, but there you go. As far as tagging, I'm going to let you tag yourself if you would like to participate!

Give Me a Heroine

Photo from Hunger Games wiki

I'm a sucker for strong female protagonists. Characters like Katniss, Tris, and Elizabeth Bennet. They are girls who stand up for what they believe and create a difference in the people's lives around them. Sure, they are fictional, but it's girls like these that inspire readers to face obstacles they deal in their everyday lives.

The question is, how do we create heroines that break through the boundary of being more than just words in a book? What defines a heroine who is strong and inspirational?

My random thoughts:

1. Show Me- One of my all time favorite books is DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. First of all, if you haven't read the book, GO OUT AND BUY IT! (I'm so subtle. Smile.)

Tris, the main character, is faced with adversity and the odds of her success are practically impossible. But it's through her sheer determination to stand up for what she wants, despite the consequences that makes her dauntless. She is a strong character. The book doesn't need to tell this to the reader. Tris' actions are sufficient.

2. The Heroine Must Save the Day- Cindy Pon reveals a stunning ending as Ai Ling in SILVER PHOENIX banishes a horrifying force. Sure there is a hot guy, but the hot guy doesn't save the day. It's Ai Ling (yay!).

Side note: I've always thought TWILIGHT would be so much better if it had been Bella who kicked James' butt instead of Edward.

3. Motivations- The heroine must have internal and external motivations that push the boundaries and up the stakes. In FIRELIGHT, Sophie Jordan puts a fiery character on the page-- Jacinda, a draki. I love how Jacinda longs for freedom and yet is desperate to cling onto her true self despite the opposition around her. She is a fighter for what she believes in.

4. Sacrifice- Characters willing to fight for those they love take a story to a new level. I think that's why I love Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE so much. Elizabeth is willing to sacrifice her love for Mr. Darcy (swoon!!) for the safety and keeping the good name of her sisters.

What about you? What do you think makes a great heroine? Who are some of your favorite heroines?

Related to Jane Austen

As you all know, I'm a crazy fan of Jane Austen. I've read all her books, do the annual Jane Austen movie marathon, I even have her figurine standing right above where I write (okay, that sounds a little creepy).

So when my uncle and I were chatting on the phone the other day about my dream to become an author, he said, "Well it makes sense considering who your relative is."

This is where I sit and rack my memory to recall which relative he's talking about. (Note: my uncle is a historian and knows everything about our family tree).

"You know," he prompts, "Jane Austen."

I laugh. (Because that is funny)

"No," he says. "I'm serious. She's your 14th cousin."

And then it all makes sense. Now my dad's side is Jewish. But my mom's side is English. And her family name was Austen.

Sure, 14th cousin is FAR off and I definitely don't live in England, but still. It's pretty cool.

And maybe he's right. Maybe there is a little bit of her writing spirit passed down to me over the years.

I sense a book idea here...