Road Trip Wednesday: Ouch.

Lame ER stitching ensured a close replica.

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where we post a weekly writing- or reading-related question. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments over at the highway - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's question:
What's the story behind your best scar?

Some people will pay through the nose for creams and medicines to magically make scars disappear. Personally, I love them. They're road maps on our skin, and every scar has a story to tell.

Picture it:

Biting cold, snow-capped mountains. Me, teetering on a pair of skis. The rush of wind, stinging my face as I raced down the bunny slope.

Yeah, totally kidding. 

Real story?

I was around four or five. An infamous Arkansas ice storm had hit (see? There really was snow and ice involved!) and knocked out our phone line. Living in the middle of nowhere, my mom loaded us up in the truck to head to the neighbor's house to call my dad at work. We were about to be iced in for days and needed toilet paper and bread.

I was best friends with the neighbor's son and knew the stash of awesome toys he had in his room. So while my mom and the neighbor chatted, I bolted down the hall to play. 

"Don't run in the house," my mom warned me.

I turned around to tell her I was NOT running, simply waking VERY fast. Then I turned back around, and 'walked very fast' into a doorframe, cracking open my noggin.

I know there was some panic because it turns out the neighbor's phone had been out as well, which meant they would have to drive me to the ER. But the neighbor lived on a giant slopping hill (see. Big slope wasn't a fabrication either!). It took ten minutes just to get to the main road. The next thing I remember was a lucid dream involving a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sewing up my head. And now I have a permanent HP scar :D

Road Trip Wednesday: The Book Industry--2111

source

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where we post a weekly writing- or reading-related question. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments over at the highway - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's question:

The publishing world: 2111. What will it be like?

One word peeps: Osmosis.

You know that large percentage of gray matter doctors swear we don't use? Sometime in the next century we're going to figure it all out and gain the ability to absorb knowledge and great works of literature by simply touching them.

Gone are the days where authors and publishing houses are battling it out over things like e-book royalties. Now we're dealing with how to stop book piracy when reading a book is as simple as touching it. 

How often have you started telling your friend about the most AMAZING BOOK YOU'VE EVER READ, and then nothing but a bunch of dribble and randomness came out, leaving said friend confused and a bit worried for your mental health? No longer a problem. Simply hold out the book for your friend to touch and they'll know how awesome it is right away!

Of course, some will become nostalgic for that feeling of thin paper pages between their fingers. This will inevitably lead to the retro movement. Brick and mortar stores will rise up once again. Being in public holding an actual book will be seen as a defiant rebellion against the status quo (Just like how twenty years ago no one bought records--most would deny owning them anymore. But now it's kind of a cool throwback to have a vinyl collection). 

Seriously, though. The book industry, like all things in life, is constantly evolving. No matter what its future holds, people will always need good books. That, I'm certain, will never change.

Road Trip Wednesday: Childhood Obsessions

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where we post a weekly writing- or reading-related question. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments on the highway - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic:

What books were you obsessed with as a kid?

I think a more appropriate question would be, what books was I not obsessed with as a kid. Starting with a Wrinkle In Time and Bridge To Terabithia when I was young.

 

By middle school, I'd moved on to Sweet Valley High and The Babysitter's Club. In sixth-grade, my circle of friends had all but formed a book club with R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike's books. 

Then came the embarrassing highschool nerdiness where I'd finish required reading in a matter of days as opposed to the month we were given. Nothing will raise your popularity factor like the teacher taking you out in the hall to discuss The Scarlet Letter because you finished so quickly and she didn't want to spoil it for the rest of the class ;) 

 

Road Trip Wednesday: I Want To Be Like . . .

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This week, we're celebrating the release of my Kirsten Hubbard's , Like Mandarin!

(have you entered YA Highway's amazing Like Mandarin giveaway?)

The prompt:

In Like Mandarin, 14-year-old Grace Carpenter would give anything to be like 17-year-old Mandarin Ramey -- the bold, carefree wild girl of their small Wyoming town. Who did you want to be like growing up?

I'm not sure there was one specific person I wanted to be like. More often, I had the image of who I wanted to be (cool, laid back, effortless) in comparison to who I actually was (hyper, spastic, and nerdy).

There were definitely people I watched exude those qualities that I tried so hard to mirror sometimes (and failed horribly). But that was the beautiful thing about being a teenager: looking back we were all awkward in some way. All of us wishing to be someone else at one time or another. The sad thing is we rarely realize that until we became adults lol.

Road Trip Wednesday: Favorite Line

C'mon. You know you loved this show.

Welcome to our 62nd Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments over at the highway.

This Week's Topic:

What is your favorite line from your WIP (or from a book you read recently)?

I won't lie. It's out of sheer laziness that I'm not going to dig through some of my favorite books (or notebooks where I scribble down some favorite lines). However, I have one burned into memory (though out of context it might not be as goosebump-inducing)

AND SO THE YOUNGER GIRL DID IT

AND HER WHOLE WORLD FILLED WITH LIGHT.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

As for my own personal line, I'm not sure this my absolute favorite or anything. But it's from the middle grade story I've been working on and I think it sums my character up well ;) 

After such a long first day, nothing sounded better than throwing off my sneakers and kicking back with a cold glass of Kool-Aid.

Road Trip Wednesday: Your Autobiography

Welcome to our 61st Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.



           This Week's Topic:

5 Best Books of 2010

and/or

Sum Up Your 2010 in a Book Title

I'm going to do a little overachieving (to make up for my RTW absences during a lot of December) and do both =)  (with a little twist). Each one of my picks is followed by my own personal 2010 autobiography titles.

Best Five Books I Read in 2010:

                                                             (not necessarily released in 2010)

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Snow is Everywhere

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Amanda of the Laundry Mountain

The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind ( <333) by Kristin Cronn Mills

My Library's Selection is Lackluster, But Amazon Doesn't Mind  (my bank account on the other hand? *sigh*)

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Yeah, I suck. I can't think of one for that title lol

Final Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Final Countdown (you know, all the birds falling from the sky and fish washing up on the shore--makes for great dystopain/apocalyptic reading though, doesn't it.   )

What were the best books you read last year?

Road Trip Wednesday: Best Book of the Month--December

Welcome to our 60th Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments over at the highway!

This Week's Topic:
What is the best book you read in December?  

 Dude.

Duuude.

Now I know many people are burnt out on the vampire trend. But trust me when I say this series uses it in a unique way. The main character, Rose, isn't a vampire, but a dhamphir--a super hybrid of sorts that is meant to protect the vampires. And Richelle Mead can weave a story so in-depth yet clear that it never fails to blow my mind. I loved her writing and this series so much I went and read all of her adult Georgina Kincaid series books this month as well (also, awesome).

Insane world building. Wonderful, three dimensional characters that you can't help but love. And this final book in the series (#6) was a perfect conclusion. Not a fairytale ending, but realistic and satisfying. Loved it.