Entries by Karen McCoy

Holler Good and Loud

Dear Teen Me is a great site where authors write letters to their teen selves. My letter was published today (June 8) and can be accessed here. Since I tend to censor myself a bit when I’m writing (especially from a biographical standpoint), this was a really good test for me. An opportunity to tell some […]

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GLITCH, by Heather Anastasiu

This week’s featured author is Heather Anastasiu. I discovered Heather through the Dear Teen Me website, and her entry blew me away–I contacted her and found out she wrote this awesome book called GLITCH, and the premise was so compelling I had to feature it. GLITCH will debut this August. See below for more: From […]

365 Days of the Query: What Keeps You Going?

Anything we strive for always comes with barriers to success. This is especially true in writing. The mountain gets tougher the higher we climb–and if we fall from near the top, it gets all the more difficult to pick ourselves up. But we must dust ourselves off and keep climbing if we want to reach […]

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ZERO, by Tom Leveen

I had the fortune of hearing Tom Leveen speak at the Desert Dreams conference last month. Not only was his talk inspiring, but incredibly funny! Tom will also be at this year’s Comi Con in Phoenix (which starts today). Tom’s new book, ZERO, is absolute must-read. If you liked his first book, PARTY, you should […]

365 Days of the Query: Be a Squeaky Wheel, But…

While querying, I’ve always tried to err on the side of courtesy, mostly because agents tend to get bombarded–and I’m sure the last thing they want is more people banging on their door (or email inbox). And, thanks to Janet Reid, I have one more example of how not to get an agent’s attention. However, […]

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NARC, by Crissa-Jean Chappell

Crissa-Jean Chappell wrote the award-winning YA book TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER. This coming August will mark the debut of her her second book, NARC. I chose to interview Crissa based on NARC’s incredibly intriguing premise (especially the opening line!): NARC (Synopsis from Goodreads) “You’re going to hate me forever when you learn my secret.” Seventeen-year-old stoner […]

365 Days of the Query: The In-Person Pitch

Since it’s conference season, a lot of people are preparing in-person pitches. I did some at Desert Dreams, but before I share what I learned, be sure to read this post from Meredith Barnes’ blog, La Vie en Prose. Here’s what I have to add: 1. You don’t (necessarily) need a script. A lot of people […]