My first ever VLOG! Writing accents on YA Word Nerds

I've always thought that I hated hearing my own voice and watching myself on video far too much to ever do a video blog - a vlog - but when I was offered the chance to do one about an aspect of my writing by the lovely writers at the YA Word Nerds channel on YouTube, I thought I'd give it a go anyway. It was a scary idea to put myself out on video like this, but if there is one thing that I am learning from this journey towards publication it's that being scared isn't a good enough reason not to grab hold of a great opportunity to promote my book.

So I did record a video and edited it, and it's been posted at YA Word Nerds.

It's all about how I approached writing the accents that are in WAIT FOR ME, given that so much of my writing is deliberately accent-neutral. In fact, did you even realize that I have a Scottish accent when I speak?

And do you know I learned from this exciting experience?

That I STILL hate hearing my own voice and watching myself on video, especially when I then have to edit my endless ramblings down into a tighter 4-5 minute piece, so I''m forced to watch it over and over again.

But I also learned that I might feel a certain pride in facing something I'm nervous about head on, and who knows, perhaps I might give this vlogging thing another go soon.

Huge thanks to E.Latimer, and to her fellow YA Word Nerds - Erin, Rachel, Emma, Kellie, Desiraye and Meghan - for having me on board.

To see more of the fantastic vlogs by the team and their guests, visit the channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSKHG1eUF7vnL1kieYiVasA 

And if you are feeling stuck or a little down and you just need a writing pick-me-up, then click here for the very special . . . 

YA Word Nerds Dance Break

It makes me dance and smile every time!

Banned Books Week 2016 – Reading and Giveaway!

For more than 30 years, Banned Books Week has brought together people from across the book community – authors and publishers, librarians, booksellers, teachers and readers – to celebrate and fight to protect the freedom to read.

This Friday, September 30^th at 7pm I will be taking part in a Banned Books celebration at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, where I will be joining a great group of YA authors and librarians to read from some of our favorite books which have been banned or challenged in schools and public libraries over the years. The other readers will include YA/children’s authors Joy Preble, Anna Meriano and Varsha Bajaj, as well as Houston area librarians Megan Robertson, Cory Eckert and Melissa Buron. And you might be surprised by some of the books we've chosen.

We’d love to see you at Brazos Books on Friday, but even if you can’t make it, to mark my first Banned Books Week event, here’s a GIVEAWAY you can enter!

WIN A 
BANNED BOOKS MUG 

AND 

A BANNED BOOK 

OF YOUR CHOICE*

To enter, just leave me a comment below, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter @carolinesblurb. Tell me the title of your favorite Banned Book and why having the freedom to read it was so important to you.

After Friday’s event, I will pick the best reply, and the winner can choose a title from any shown in the picture above (some of my Banned Book favorites). I’ll send you a mug and a brand new copy of the book of your choice, as well as some swag for my forthcoming YA historical debut, WAIT FOR ME (Harper Teen, January 31^st 2017).

For more details about Banned Books Week and the importance of the freedom to read, visit the American Library Association website, where you’ll also find lists of the most frequently challenged books.

If you win, you can choose to receive a new copy of one of the following books:

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Harper Lee

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND – Lewis Caroll

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – CS Lewis

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME – Mark Haddon

THE GIVER – Lois Lowry

HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy (any one of the three books) – Philip Pullman

ELEANOR & PARK – Rainbow Rowell

TWILIGHT – Stephanie Meyer

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN – J K Rowling

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS – John Green

THE OUTSIDERS - SE Hinton

Guest post: How to shut up your inner editor

Probably the most important lesson I learned from taking part in the wonderful torture that is NaNoWriMo - that's National Novel Writing Month - was to keep going, keep putting down words, and to get the first draft finished so that you canstart having fun with the revisions all the sooner.

You can read more of my thoughts about switching off your inner editor - you know, that voice in your head that keeps telling you what you have just written is awful and should be changed immediately? - here on ReadWriteLove28, a fun blog for readers and writers.

My guest post is part of the blog's Sweet & Swanky event which is running throughout September. Thanks for having me on the blog, Nori!

Giveaway Winners!

I am delighted to announce the winners of the three fantastic prizes in my Cover Reveal Giveaway, hosted recently by the wonderful team at YABooksCentral.com. Congratulations to all three winners. Your prizes are already in the mail!

The winner of a signed ARC of WAIT FOR ME, along with some of 

my book swag, and a goody-bag of Scottish treats is

Austine Decker, Pennsylvania

  The winner of a trio of the newest YA historical fiction reads

from Harper Collins and WAIT FOR ME swag is

 Nicole Osadacz, New Jersey

The winner of $30 Barnes & Noble gift card 

and WAIT FOR ME swag is 

Gwen Cole, Virginia

 And in case you are interested (and I'm sure you will be!), Gwen’s own YA historical fantasy debut, COLD SUMMER, will be published on May 2^nd 2017!

And if you entered the giveaway, but didn't win this time, don't worry, there will be numerous other opportunities to win advance copies, or real copies, of WAIT FOR ME over the next few months. Please like me or follow me on social media, or join my mailing list via the Contact Me button on my website to make sure you receive all the details! 

New website and 6 months to publication

This Sunday, July 31st, marked six months until the publication of WAIT FOR ME, my debut YA novel. To mark this milestone on the countdown, I am delighted to reveal my new website - www.carolineleech.com - on which you can find more details of my books, events, news and contact details, as well as link to my existing blog.

I hope you'll come visit me on the new site. I'm particularly pleased to be able to include some photos of Aberlady Bay, where WAIT FOR ME is set, taken by my friend Elizabeth Martin and by me on my last visit home.

The ARCs are here! And you've only 4 days left to win one!

 

There's been huge excitement round here this week at the arrival of the WAIT FOR ME galley proofs, also known as ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies). These are not the final version of the book, but they are very close to it, and they have been created by the team at Harper Teen to send out to 'influencers' in the book industry - booksellers, librarians, reviewers and bloggers. 

But you don't have to be one of these influencers to get hold of one of my ARCS - you can just win one!

You have just FIVE DAYS left to enter 

my Cover Reveal Giveaway... 

... hosted by my lovely friends at YA Books Central, so please head on over there and put in your entry. Remember, there are three fantastic prizes to be won, and they are:

• One winner will receive a signed Advanced Reader Copy of WAIT FOR ME, along with an author-curated goody-bag of some of the best Scottish treats that were definitely not available under wartime rationing! 

• A second winner will receive a trio of YA historical novels from Harper Collins (see photo above) along with some WAIT FOR ME swag. They are the comical and fantastic retelling of the story of Lady Jane Grey, MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows, the alternate World War Two history of FRONT LINES by Michael Grant, and the first book in Rae Carson’s sweeping new Gold Rush trilogy, WALK THE EARTH A STRANGER.  Three perfect reads for fans of historical re-tellings, in whatever speculative or comedic style they appear.

• A third winner will receive a $30 Barnes & Noble gift card and some WAIT FOR ME swag.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY - CLICK HERE!

(Sorry, this one is restricted just to the US and Canada, but I will do some international giveaways very soon!)

Want to support your favorite authors?

Well, here's how!

One of my fellow Swanky 17s, Kim Ventrella has created this wonderful infographic to help you, as a reader, support your favorite authors. Of course, we'd love you to buy our books - that's why we wrote them, after all - but there are other ways you can help spread the word to other readers too about the books you love most. 

Liking, following, posting, voting, recommending, fangirling - or fanboying - is an important way you can help other readers to find a book they might enjoy. But more than that, it might help get a book into the hands of a reader who might really need to hear the message held within its pages at a moment in his or her life when a book might feel like the only thing they have to turn to.  

So I'd love you to come find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or by sending me a message through the contact form on this page. Once WAIT FOR ME is published, I will be doing some signings, readings and writing workshops, as well as school visits and book club meetings, so I hope I'll meet you at one of those. And if you are in the Houston area, or if you hear that I will be travelling to your part of the world, let me know and perhaps I might be able to come to visit your school, library or club, because I am really looking forward to meeting you!

And if you'd like to know more about the amazing Kim Ventrella, visit her website or her Goodreads page to find out more about her middle grade novel, THE SKELETON TREE, which will be published by Scholastic in the fall of 2017.