Looking for a Cute Romance?

A couple of reviewers think that you'll find it in

When Mike Kissed Emma. I couldn't be happier with the reviews I found online this weekend.

My favorite lines from them?

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews had this to say:

I know I would have really really loved this one if I'd read it as a young teen.

And Lauren at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf said this:

The plot was fun and fast paced leaving me to be constantly turning the pages, curious to see what would happen next.

Please go to both of these sites and read the full reviews!

Dialect in Dialog - How Much is too Much.

Here's a writing question I'm going to throw out there and see what kind of answers come back. I'm working on a story now that has some characters who, when speaking, would have a distinctive flavor to their words. There would probably be less than perfect grammar, a certain dropping of g's at the end of words ending in 'ing' and a lot of replacing the 'th' sound with 'd'.

But yet, I feel that if I use those constraints with every bit of dialog that I am over-doing it and it will get very annoying to read and seem too "in-your-face" if that makes sense.

On the other hand, if I only do that occasionally does it appear that I am inconsistent in the way the characters speak?

Right now I am using the occasional approach in the theory that a lot goes a long way, but that could easily change in revisions. I feel that it gives a flavor for the character's speech without becoming too much of a distraction.

So, opinions anyone? What's the best way to handle strong dialect in dialog?

Great Contest for Writers and Readers

To share her joy at her big news with as many people as possible, Beth Revis is having a contest with two prizes. One for writers and one for readers. Go check out her blog and enter to win some awesome prizes.

Celebrating with a Writer Friend

I love good news, and my friend Beth Revis just got fantastic news.

From Publisher's Weekly:

Deep Freeze

In another major YA acquisition before the Bologna Book Fair, Ben Schrank at Razorbill pre-empted North American rights to the debut novel by high school teacher Beth Revis, Across the Universe.Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House brokered the deal, which is for three books, and Universe is scheduled for spring 2011. In the novel, set in the near future, a teenager is cryogenically frozen only to thaw too soon, before arriving at the new planet that's her destination. Set to wake 300 years in the future, She rouses 50 years too early, still on a spaceship in transit. Schrank said he thinks the book will do for popular sci-fi what The Hunger Games did for postapocalyptic fiction. Rights have been pre-empted in the U.K. (by Razorbill UK, which will do a joint publication with Penguin USA) and Germany, and sales have also closed in France and Greece.

I've read an earlier version of the book and it is blow-your-mind fantastic! I can't wait until next Spring when I can see the final version!

Congratulations, Beth! I love when great things happen to great people!

Go on over and offer your congratulations to Beth.