GRAVITY blog tour

For the next two weeks, I will be popping by a few different blogs to talk about GRAVITY, the characters, and provide some insight into HOVER, book 2 in The Taking Series. The tour stops are listed below, but just to make this fun, I decided to offer up a giveaway for those that follow along.

On November 20th, I would love you all to join me for a Twitter party to celebrate the full release of GRAVITY. During the party I will ask a few questions pulled from the interviews. If you follow along then it shouldn't be a problem at all! The first person to answer each question correctly will win a prize! Prizes will include a signed copy of GRAVITY, swag, and an Amazon GC. Fun times! So here is the list and remember to follow along! :)

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YA Scavenger Hunt: Fall 2013!

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team ! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours! Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM --but there is also a red team and a blue team for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books! If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full li...

HOVER has a cover!

I officially feel like Dr. Seuss with that blog title, but it's true all the same. :) HOVER now has a cover, and I need your help spreading the word! The official reveal will be Monday, December 3rd, and signups for the reveal will stay open through Friday, November 30th. Please leave your email address in the comments if you would like to participate in the reveal and be added to my list of super awesome people that I adore. The reveal will include a giveaway to add to the juicy fun! Can't wait for ya'll to see it!

Storytelling vs. Writing

Yesterday, I finished up a popular novel that I enjoyed for the storytelling, but realized early on that the writing wasn't stellar. All the traditional rules were broken, continuously. POV switches. Tense switches. Pages upon pages of backstory. Pages upon pages of dialogue. That sort of thing. But I still enjoyed the book because aside from the writerly things *we* writers notice, the author was a great storyteller. I think there is a difference between good writing and good storytelling. I've read books where the writing was so beautiful that I had to re-read passages again and again. But by story end I had no idea what the story was about. Now, the true geniuses (like C.S. Lewis) are the ones who can do both. How about you? Do you notice this difference and if so which do you prefer if you can only have one in a book -- captivating storytelling or beautiful writing? M.B.

Melissa West

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