Writing Contests for Teens

If you are raising teenagers or if you know of teens who love to write, here are two writing contests specifically for teens.

I found the link to the One Teen Story Fiction Contest posted on the Catholic Writers of St. Louis blog.  Teens between the ages of 14 and 19 can enter. The editors are "interested in great fiction of any genre--literary, fantasy, sci-fi, love stories, and horror. What’s in a great short story? Interesting characters, a unique voice, and of course, a beginning, middle and end." The winning story will be chosen by best-selling novelist Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay and Where She Went, and published in the May 2013 issue of One Teen Story. Contest winners will receive $500, 25 copies of the magazine featuring their work, and a 28” x 20” poster of the cover featuring their story. Click here for details. Deadline is May 31

The second contest for teens comes from Teenreads.com. Inspired by the "Another" series written by Daniel and Dina Nayeri, the judges are looking for stories which "reinvent a classic story or character, making it modern and, most importantly, making it your own!" Entries should be no more than 1,200 words. Contest is open to writers 12 years and older, and the prizes are quite nice. Click here for details. Deadline is June 15.

Note for Older Writers: In addition to the link to the One Teen Story Fiction Contest, you can find several other calls for submissions on the Catholic Writers of St. Louis blog. Denise Y. Montgomery, founder of the group, does an excellent job keeping members informed of submission opportunities.

Reading Roundup II - Some Favorite YA Books for 2011

In Reading Roundup I earlier this week I shared a list of recommended adult books I've read in 2012. If you have a young adult on your Christmas list --- or you enjoy reading young adult books --- and are thinking of giving them a book as a gift, here's a list of some I've read this year that you might want to check out. You can find reviews of these books on Teenreads.com

BETWEEN by Jessica Warman is a fascinating ghost story with a haunting message. From the cover to the last page, this is a memorable book. Highly recommended.


LEGEND by Marie Lu is an intriguing futuristic thriller with touches of romance.

MERCY by Rebecca Lim is an intelligent, supernatural mystery with touches of romance and suspense.

STRINGS ATTACHED by Judy Blundell is an elegantly written story of courage, sacrifice, neglect, redemption and the brutal power of secrets to shape and ruin lives.

THE ANTI-PROM by Abby McDonald gives a glimpse into the dark side of the glitz, glitter and glamour of prom night, the perennial American teenage right of passage.

Next week I'll post my recommendations for children's books.

Welcome and Summer Giveaways of Books and Cool Stuff

It's been a month since I've welcomed my visitors who have signed up as followers on Donna's Book Pub. Please join me in welcoming the followers who joined last month. I hope they come back often and stay long. Please visit their blogs or websites when you get a chance.

Mari L. McCarthy

Debra Mayhew

Gypsywoman

Kati Mar

Grandma Yellow Hair

Sheree Nielsen

Nothing says summer like sun, the beach--and books!

My friends from the Book Report Network, including Bookreporter.com, Teenreads and Kidsreads have lots of contests and giveaways going on this summer. I wish I could enter, but I can't because I am a reviewer for their sites. But you can--and maybe you'll be a lucky winner!

For a chance to win some great summer books, Bookreporter.com has a Summer Reading Contest and Feature where they spotlight a different title or two on select days through July 27.

Bookreporter's Father's Day's Contest is going on until June 13. Readers have a chance to win one of five Bookreporter.com Father's Day Backpacks. Each hunter green backpack is filled with a copy of seven featured titles, along with a red-striped beach towel and a pack of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

Teenreads.com has their annual Beach Bag of Books giveaway goin on until July 18. Five winners each will receive a beach bag with 16 books. Along with the books, winners will find their striped canvas beach bag stocked with an assortment of summer goodies: a blue polka-dot beach towel, a Mega Fling Toss Game, a deck of invisible cards, an inflatable beach ball, Coppertone Sport Sunblock, H2O+ Mineral Spa Shower Gel, Crystal Light Drink Mix, a metallic sports bottle to keep your drink cool, and a terrific cap that turns any can into a bottle to prevent sand and bees from finding their way into your drink.

And check out Kidsreads.com for their first Bunch of Books Giveaway to win four special books before June 15.

Wow! That's a lot of great books and fun prizes you can win. Good luck to everyone who enters. Hope you all have a great weekend!

February Giveaway for My Followers

My regular readers know that I am a book reviewer for Bookreporter, Teenreads, and Kidsreads. After finishing my reviews, I often give away books to family or friends or donate them to local libraries.

Sometimes rather than receiving copies of books, I am sent Uncorrected Proofs and Advance Reader's Copies (ARCs), which I can't really donate to a library, so I keep them in a stack that has been growing larger.

To shorten my stack and show my appreciation to my blog followers, I'm giving away two ARCs this month.

In honor of February, with St. Valentine's Day and healthy-heart month, I'm giving away an ARC of THE HEART IS NOT A SIZE, written by National Book Award Nominee Beth Kephart and published by HarperTeen.

The gracefully written book is about two friends who travel to Juarez, Mexico, as part of a mission to help improve a community. The story is about courage, loyalty, and the responsibilities of friendship. You can read my entire review of Kephart's novel on the Teensreads.com site.



The second ARC giveaway is HIGHWAY ROBBERY written by Irish author Kate Thompson, published by Greenwillow Books. This is a middle-grade novel intended for ages 10 and up. It's a story of danger and suspense and an infamous horse.

You can read my entire review by visiting the Kidsreads site.

If you are a children's writer, these books are great to read to study the craft of writing. They also make great gifts for children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students.

To sign up for the February ARC giveaway:
* Be a follower of my blog
* If you aren't a follower, just sign up before Feb 28
* Leave a comment by Feb 28 and let me know which ARC you would like
* If you would like both ARCs, leave two separate comments
* Be sure to include an e-mail address so I can contact you

I will separate comments by titles requested then randomly select the names of two followers who have left comments. Winners' names will be announced the first week of March.

Good luck to all who enter. If this giveaway receives a fair amount of response, I will repeat the process next month with similar giveaways.

December Giveaway #2 - Extraordinary

My second giveaway this month is for an Advance Reading Copy of EXTRAORDINARY, published by Dial books, and written by New York times best-selling author, Nancy Werlin.

What does it mean to be extraordinary? That is the question posed by this intriguing young adult fantasy novel, which is not the type of book I usually read.

When I read the book's title on the list of possible review books for Teenreads, I wasn't sure if it was a book I would enjoy. It's about fairies who live in our world and a pledge made generations ago. Not my cup of tea, but I decided to step outside my reading comfort zone and try something different. I have to say I was enchanted with the story about Phoebe and Mallory, who become unlikely friends, and whose friendship is tested after Mallory's brother Ryland appears.

Beyond being a fantasy about fairies, it's also about family and courage and loyalty and sacrifice. To read more about the novel, visit Nancy Werlin's Extraordinary site.

To spread some Christmas cheer, I'm giving away my ARC of EXTRAORDINARY to one lucky person who posts a comment between today and December 13. I will pick one name at random (drawn from slips of paper out of a hat) and announce the winner next week.

So, good luck!

Ally Carter, Kristen Nelson, and MWG

Last month I reviewed HEIST SOCIETY by Ally Carter for Teenreads, which is a fantastic site for teens to learn about authors like Ally Carter and books like HEIST SOCIETY. You can read my entire review on the Teenreads site.

I first learned about Ally Carter after visiting Literary Agent Kristen Nelson's blog, Pub Rants. Kristen is Ally's agent, and from what I've read on Kristen's blog, Ally and other authors Kristen represents have done exceptionally well with their books. So when I saw Ally's name on the list I received from my editor at Bookreporter, I jumped at the chance to review HEIST SOCIETY. Reading books written by YA authors, especially successful ones, has taught me a great deal in crafting the YA mystery novel set in St. Charles, MO, that I'm working on now.

Finishing my YA novel has been a challenge, and I'm always looking for resources to help me work through the process. I visit Kristen's blog frequently because she represents YA authors. Her blog is an exceptional resource for writers; it's filled with helpful advice about submissions, query letters, pitching, and other relevant topics.

Kristen is going to be speaking at the Missouri Writers' Guild Conference this year and I had hoped to learn more about the YA market from her, but life has interfered with my plans. This weekend I will be one of the hostesses for a shower for my niece.

MWG Conference Chair Claire Applewhite, Registrar Margo Dill, and all the board members and volunteers have done an outstanding job planning this year's conference. Pulling off a conference of this magnitude is a major undertaking; I know because in 2005 it was my job to plan and chair the MWG Conference in St. Charles, so I appreciate all their hard work and dedication. While I won't be at the MWG conference this weekend, several of my critique group friends will be including Judy Moresi, who is speaking on a panel, and Claudia Shelton and Doyle Suit, who will be shepherds for some of the speakers. Have fun, guys!

So, I hope everyone who attends has a great time and learns much. With such a star-studded line up, I'm sure it will be a success! To find more about the conference visit the MWG Conference website.

My Interview with Jen Calonita, author of the SECRETS OF MY HOLLYWOOD LIFE series

Last month I had the privilege of interviewing YA author Jen Calonita for Teenreads.com, which is part of the Bookreporter.com network.

Before becoming a famous YA author, Calonita was a Senior Editor at the former Teen People and a journalist for Entertainment Weekly, Glamour and Marie Claire. She has interviewed celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Ashton Kutcher, Hilary Duff and others.

What I like about interviewing writers like Jen (besides the paycheck I receive from Bookreporter) is having the opportunity to learn how other writers, most notably multi-published novelists, approach the craft of writing.

In my Teenreads interview with Jen, she answers questions about: the difference between writing fiction and magazine articles, how she performs research to keep up with modern trends and why she wrote the series in first person, present tense. Jen also she shares the best writing advice she ever received.

Oh, and if you aren't familiar with Jen's books, be sure to check them out on her website. The story line is fresh and fun, and the covers are amazing! Oh, and I love her website background. Probably no one outside my family knows that I have a small collection of items (including a set of book ends) with the fleur de leis on them, so when I saw the fleur de leis in the design of her first book and on the background of her website, it put a smile on my face.

Happy Easter everyone! My postings next week might be spotty. I'm scheduled for jury duty on Monday, so if I get selected to be a juror, I won't be doing much blogging.

The weather in St. Peters, MO, has been lovely the past few days. We've even come close to breaking some records. Today's forecast is sunny and mild, with a high temperature around 80 degrees.