So, yeah, Thanksgiving happened.  And because I'm a slacker in slackersville, I'm serving up some leftovers.    Or maybe I'm just being practical--no tweet gone to waste!  I didn't do a twitter round-up last week, so I've got just enough now to go around.

You all were pretty funny last week:

How are you NOT following Chaucer?!?

I call Christmas at Siobhan's house!

And, as always, inspiring:





In publishing there's been some rumbling:

There you go, Dan.  Just need to follow British booksellers.

Best Tweet of all time:

This Thanksgiving, we would like to say thanks to all of YOU. We truly enjoy getting to know each of you through your blogs, and through the little love notes (also known as comments) that you leave on our posts. It is such a joy to connect with other readers, writers, book-lovers, and YA fans. You guys are unbelievably smart and funny and kind. So again, thanks for being our friends. :)

If you're anything like us, you have been spending time with your family, relaxing and cooking and stuffing your faces -- and basically paying very little attention to the internet. All good. But again if you're like us, you're now flopped on the couch and looking for something low-key to do while that giant food-baby gestates in your stomach. In that case, we've compiled a list of our recent musings to help you pass the time:

If there's one thing we've loved about living in Cincinnati (none of us are native to here), there have been a TON of author events.  We attend as often as we can, and have even become recognizable to some authors and staff at Joseph-Beth (the local indie booksellers).  It's a great feeling to be a part of that community--even if we're just the audience or the admirers (and diligently working on our own books).

Recently, Kristan and Sarah managed to snag a couch and sat back to listen to Rae Carson gush about CJ Redwine's debut, DEFIANCE.  Sarah's only read the first chapter so far, but she can tell it's a book that's going to draw her in.  There's an immediate sense of character, and a genuine reason to care about the world she lives in.  Quite compelling.

Not too long ago, Kristan and Sarah were the lucky recipients of an ARC of CROWN OF EMBERS from the awesome chicks at Epic Reads.  We devoured it.  And now we've got shiny hard covers--if you haven't read this book (or the first in the series) then you haven't read our blog enough!  It's safe to say, we're Rae's biggest fans.

From left: CJ, Kristan, Rae, Sarah

Seriously, such a nice author to sign a bajillion books...his eyes were a bit glazed over by the time they called our line letter.  Take Care, Jeff!  What a rock star tour you've got!

“Be yourself” is arguably the most common advice given to teenagers, and it’s probably the most unhelpful thing anyone has ever said to me. A self is such a complex, multifaceted, ever-changing thing that making a conscious effort to be it is the most frustrating thing you’ll ever waste your time on.

This is why I’m grateful for coming-of-age novels and protagonists who get everything wrong in all the right ways. Here is some wisdom I’ve gleaned from some of the more recent ones:

I've been busy writing so haven't been on twitter all that much this week, but yesterday when I put the call out for brilliance, you didn't disappoint:


Here's some more:


And some funny:

That title?  It's my new favorite phrase thanks to the Disney movie Wreck It Ralph.  Have you seen it yet?

It's stupendous.  Mainly because of the storytelling.  I wasn't one of those blown away by the humor (which relied on puns that went over the kiddunk's heads), or by the political correctness (it's Disney, 'nuff said).  I was charmed by the "finishing line."  And the world building.

Okay, okay.  Yes, this is a book site.  Why am I talking about movies?  I'm getting there...

We know you all read (readers of the world, UNITE.  Bangarang!), and some of you write too.  But did you know that once you cross that line between writing angsty (yet strangely efficient) poetry to novel-length fiction that you will NEVER be able to watch a movie or read a book again without seeing the mechanics?

Yeah, NO ONE ever tells you that.  When you write stories, you can't go back to being fooled by the man behind the curtain.  You ARE THE MAN behind the curtain.  There's no being gullible.  You see the minions working all the strings, and then you imagine BIGGER minions with stronger strings.  You see it all.

But there's hope!  Yes, there's hope.  Every once in a while you read a book that makes you forget that there are strings.

Hello, sweet DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT

You see a movie, and you think it's going in one direction, and you say, "Okay, this is the 'all is lost' minion stringing me along...I see you, minion!  Let's just skip to the end because I'm bored now." And then something magical happens.  The story glitches.  (Glitching is good now, friends).  You forget your way.  You're at a traffic light and you have no idea how you got there.

You are quite happy to be an oversized, smelly oaf riding on the back of a frosting-coated race car on a sugar rope race track.  And you can smell the mentos.

You gotsta love a story that does that.  Ralph, you Wrecked It!!

East Coasters...we haven't forgotten about you.  Stay safe.  Stay warm.  For the rest of us, if you haven't already donated your time or your resources, you can simply donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999.  There's also some huge things happening over at Kid Lit Cares--an online auction with proceeds going to the Sandy Relief Effort.

Books and Inspiration and Insights and Stuff:

Ah, November. The leaves are still changing from grass to fire, but winter is blowing its first kisses too, sending little waves of frosted love our way. Yeah, I know most people go ga-ga for spring and summer, but me? I'm an autumn gal.

Besides turkey overload (for us Americans) and the start of holiday sales, November is known -- at least in the book world -- for one other very important thing: National Novel Writing Month. During "NaNoWriMo," writers all around the world try to pump out 50,000 words in just 30 days. It sounds a little crazy, and it definitely isn't easy, but some writers really thrive from the push, and the NaNo site offers a wonderful and encouraging community.

To be honest, a lot of NaNo projects never make it past December... But -- as we know from personal experience -- what all those words and long nights teach their writers is positively priceless.

Now, a few NaNo projects do make it past that first calendar page. And the page after that. And the page after that. In fact, some of them make it all the way to our bookshelves! (But only after weeks, often months, of careful revisions.) Here are a few that we've enjoyed:


(Note: Maggie Stiefvater does not regularly do NaNo. She tried it that year to help get going with SCORPIO RACES, but ultimately it didn't work out. She explains why in this rant-y "breakup" letter to NaNo.)

On the non-YA side, there's also been:

Quite a collection, huh? You can find a longer list of "published wrimos" at the NaNoWriMo site, though it's not 100% complete.

Do you know any other NaNo success stories? Are you participating in NaNo yourself? If so, we'd love to hear about what you're working on, and we wish you the best of luck!