Can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel, TOUCH and what
compelled you to write this particular story?

TOUCH is about a seventeen year old girl who lives to piss off her cold
and distant dad. She brings home a guy she meets after a party one night
in hopes of getting her dad’s attention–and it does. Just not the way she
expected.

As for what compelled me…nothing particular, really. My brain just spits
random ideas out. I was sitting on line, waiting for coffee, and got this
image of a girl being chased through the woods. She’s barefoot and the
ground dies as she runs.

What first drew you to writing paranormal romance?

I’ll read anything with a good story and compelling characters, but my
first love is paranormal. It seemed like a natural fit.

If you could cast your characters for the movie version of TOUCH who
would you pick to play Kale and Dez?

Dez would totally be Avril Lavigne and Kale… When i was writing TOUCH I
pictured him as a young Ben Barnes, but after seeing the cover, I want
that guy. Whoever he is, he’s perfection!

What is a typical day of writing like for you?

I usually sit down to work between 6 and 7 a.m. I’ll write most days until
12 and then take a break to run errands. I’m usually back in front of my
machine by 3 and I stay there till midnight at the least. On a normal day,
I average between 4 and 10 k a day give or take.

What are some of the other projects you have written?

Well, I have some early things that aren’t fit for my dogs to read, and I
have some later books–the trilogy that Denazen and Marshal Cross were
actually born from–that I’d love to revisit and rewrite. I’m also working
on the first book in a new paranormal series, but it’s too early to talk
about that yet

Are there any scenes in  that were inspired by true events?

There’s a bear scene that was inspired by real events. Other than that,
there’s none I can think of. There were a few scenes inspired by music,
though.

How do you feel about the yearly tradition of NaNoWriMo? Have you ever
participated in it and do you have any advice for those currently in the
early stages of it?

I usually do it. I’m going to try this year, but things are a little
crazy. My advice would be set yourself a schedule and stick to it. Every
word counts (There are NO small word counts!). Each one brings you closer
to your goal. So you only got 200 words today? So? Who cares? That’s 200
closer you are to 50k. Keep moving forward! And good luck!

Were there any books you read as a child that affected you directly as a
writer today?

All of S.E. Hinton’s books and Mary Stanton’s The Heavenly Horse From the
Outermost West were the big ones.

Do you have plans for a sequel to TOUCH?

Oh, hell yes TOXIC, the second book in the series is with my editor
now. I’m planning to start book three in a few weeks.

What would you say to any potential readers out there that are interested
in reading TOUCH?

If you love a strong heroine who doesn’t need to a white knight to swoop
in and save her, and a hero that’s both sweet and innocent while being
utterly badass at the same time, TOUCH is for you

—————————————————————————————-

Author Bio:

Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy
fiction. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her
husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. Her first book,
Touch, is due out in November 2011 from Entangled Publishing. She is
represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Touch Blurb:

“When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet,
seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity
to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue
eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower,
is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll
turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up,
wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez
realizes there’s more to this boy – and her father’s “law firm” – than she
realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation – an organization devoted
to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons -
his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. Dez and Kale team up
with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re
caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez
has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.”

Title: Touch by Jus Accardo
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-44-2
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-45-9
Release Date: November 1, 2011

Buy Links:

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Touch-Denazen-Novel-Book-1/dp/1937044459/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320098205&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/touch-jus-accardo/1105812249?ean=9781937044459&itm=1&usri=touch%2bby%2bjus%2baccardo

Website: http://www.jusaccardo.com/

Blog: http://www.jusaccardo.com/category/blog/

National Novel Writing Month takes place every November. The project is simple. Write a book in one month. Not produce a polished, publishable manuscript in a month. Just write a first draft.

Jus Accardo, author of Touch will be stopping by in a few days to give her opinion on NaNoWriMo. But until then, read her extremely funny post about “The Night Before NaNo.”

Shylock Books was recently featured in an article about NaNoWriMo written by the talented Ashley Ruth Wilbourn. The focus of the article was online tools to help writers during this month with writer’s block and inspiration, and specifically mentioned the “Weekly Novel Writing Inspiration” feature. Please share your thoughts on the article in the comments section below!

Let the madness begin!

It started with Wuthering Heights. Out of the blue, an idea for a book—while I’m deep in the editing of my primary manuscript—sprang out of nowhere the following morning. It consumed every thought, and I could do absolutely nothing until that story idea was written down. For seven days I could not sleep well…I forgot to eat. I became haunted by this idea as a lover is haunted by her affair.

I had to see this idea through, no matter the consequences to my health. What followed was a twenty-three page synopsis of this story idea. Every element, down to the conversations and blocking movements of the characters were written down, something I never do.

Throughout those seven days I believed I was cheating on my marriage…to my other book.

Now, I believe that something as serious as infidelity cannot be compared to an author and her books, but it felt exactly how I imagined it would be. Every thought was consumed by this idea, something that has never happened in my entire writing career. But what did it mean? Is the manuscript I’m working on not as satisfactory as that first flush of emotion I get with an exciting idea? Possibly.

So how does one remedy the fact that a story idea this prominent is demanding to be written, when a manuscript I’ve been working on for a very long time still must be edited and polished further?

An affair?

Or a marriage?

Has anyone else experienced this strange phenomena, and if so, how did you deal with it? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Feel free to post links to your own NWI memes in the comments!

http://www.from-london-with-love.com/2011/09/guest-blog-from-shylock-books.html

I talk about writing, photography, and how to harvest inspiration!

Feel free to post links to your own NWI memes in the comments!

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous
combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have.
Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and
the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it.
Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s
most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve
even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.

Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com

Vixen was a breath of fresh air for the YA world. The distinct voices of the characters through their corresponding chapters were easy to follow, and Larkin had a keen eye when it came to plot twists and tying them up neatly. Her pacing was way above average, just enough to keep the page turning. I could relate the most to Gloria’s sheltered character and her first taste of the forbidden: Jerome, the black Jazz musician at a speakeasy and her blossoming career as a night club singer. I liked the way incorporated real flappers like Clara Bow into the storyline and the intersecting lives of her characters.

Incredibly well conceived and carried out, Vixen kept the pages turning for me when deadlines needed to be met, phone calls made, and meetings planned. Jillian Larkin has me enthralled, and Vixen is one of the first books in this new trend for YA.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/97909264/who-is-11

Now is the time! We need to raise money or this project DOES NOT happen! We need to raise $2800 in 34 days, which means if we can raise at least $100 a day, we can reach our goal. Here's what you do: 1. Go to this link to reach the "Who is 11?" Kickstarter page. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/97909264/who-is-11 2. Feel free to take a look at what we're trying to do. 3. On the right side of your screen, click on the green button that says "Ba … Read More

via whois11

Book Trailer Thursday is a weekly feature started by Once Upon A Twilight, and features a book trailer for a new or upcoming release! Please post links to your own BTTs in the comments!

“Forever” by Maggie Stiefvater

Publication Date: September 14, 2010

Knopf Books for Children

Advance Review Copy

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (****)

Ronald Earl, aka Little Texas, almost 16, has been on the road with his Aunt Wanda Joy, elderly Sugar Tom, and Certain Certain for nigh on six years, preaching the gospel and performing healings in a long succession of small Southern towns. Lately he feels a fraud, bedeviled by recurring dreams of being  with a beautiful blond girl, naked. Sincere in his faith, he’s nevertheless beginning to doubt his work, his worthiness. Exhausted after a night’s work, he performs one last healing on a girl, Lucy, that feels different. As the days pass, he can’t stop thinking about her as she melds with the girl of his dreams. When a large, boisterous crowd in Mississippi cows him, he leaves the stage, unable to preach. Wanda Joy hatches a plan to get him back on track that will  test his faith and may, if he’s able, defeat the evil that ruined her grandfather on the same site, years before. Are the women in Ronald’s life working for good, or ill? A substantial subtext about twisted souls ensnared by slavery leads to increasingly scary and disturbing events, culminating in a showdown with evil reminiscent of M. T. Anderson’s climactic battle in Thirsty (Candlewick, 1997). Chapters are brief, the pace is rapid, and the tension is high as Ronald wrestles with demons both temporal and spiritual to find his place in the world.

Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.com

I had a few trepidations about Days of Little Texas. It didn’t get a lot of publicity when it was first published in October of 2010, and the theme of a “paranormal romance” was already a worn out subject.

 Days of Little Texas surprised me in the best way.

First, Ronald Earl, a.k.a Little Texas, had such a unique and powerful voice that I hadn’t seen in YA fiction in quite a while. He was honest, innocent, and had the purest of intentions on what he did with his ministry. He was a truly heartfelt individual and took on quite a bit of a responsibility by using his gift for spreading the Gospel.

Second, the paranormal aspect wasn’t the usual “weepy heroine falls head-over-heels in love with a ghost/zombie/vampire” etc., and the love story between Little Texas and Lucy was genuine and strong. I only wished more was said about Lucy’s past and why she was chosen to free the souls in the end.

It was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise to read Days of Little Texas and I congratulate the author on such a unique YA novel that has been overlooked for far too long.