Nice reviews of FALLING FOR YOU

Waiting for professional reviews to come in is a bit nerve-wracking, to say the least.

Today I thought I'd share some of the nice things reviewers have said about my latest YA novel, Falling For You.

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates, a publication for librarians) says, "Schroeder has done a wonderful job creating teenage characters from a variety of backgrounds and using those backgrounds to influence their actions. This novel is ripe for use in a classroom or book club; discussion points include: healthy relationships, poetry as expression, relationship boundaries, and more. Readers looking for a realistic teen read saturated in emotion will love Falling For You."

Ripe for use in a classroom? That makes me as happy as this cute little guy!

School Library Journal says, "Rae is a well-drawn, strong-willed heroine, and her blossoming relationship with a homeschooled neighbor adds a sweetness and depth to the story."

Awesome! Sweetness, like a cupcake, right?

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books says, "As things get worse and worse for her, she [Rae] seeks ways to help herself and others that are faithful to her character; she's no Pollyanna, but she is determined that the messes that surround her on all sides won't define her, and she manages to convince herself and others that being honest about one's pain can bring compassion. It's a heartening message for readers in difficult situations, and the poems scattered throughout the text enhance the cathartic note of hope in hard times." 

I love that she mentioned the hope that I believe is prevalent throughout in what is sometimes a pretty sad story. Hope like a rainbow in the sky...

Thanks for letting me share! 

AMAZING, FANTASTIC, SWEET ARC CONTEST

I have ARCs to give away!

ARCs are Advanced Review Copies of books that are coming out in the next few months but are not on the shelves yet.

Look what you could win!! (All descriptions are from worldcat.org).

The Program, by Suzanne Young

"When suicide becomes a worldwide epidemic, the only known cure is The Program, a treatment in which painful memories are erased, a fate worse than death to seventeen-year-old Sloane who knows that The Program will steal memories of her dead brother and boyfriend."

***

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

"When sixteen-year-old Mallory learns that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with his cyber "wife," she rebels against technology by following her grandmother's list of goals from 1962, with help from her younger sister, Ginnie."

***

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

"Ten years after surviving the tornado that killed his parents, Vane Weston, now seventeen, has no memory of that fateful day but dreams of a beautiful girl who, he now learns, is not only real, she is his guardian sylph, who harnesses the power of the wind."

***

Poison by Bridget Zinn

"When sixteen-year-old Kyra, a potions master, tries to save her kingdom by murdering the princess, who is also her best friend, the poisoned dart misses its mark and Kyra becomes a fugitive, pursued by the King's army and her ex-boyfriend Hal."

***

Sorry, U.S. residents only. I've decided to use rafflecopter to make it easier for people to enter, so one person will win all four ARCs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Poetry Contest - Eight Cousins Bookstore

Eight Cousins Bookstore in Falmouth, MA is doing an awesome thing to promote my latest YA novel, Falling For You.

Because Rae, the main character in Falling For You, writes poetry as an outlet for the stuff she's dealing with, they thought it would be cool to have a poetry contest with me picking the winner!

The contest is open to all interested parties and you can find all the information you need, including the on-line entry form, HERE.

But hurry, the contest ends February 14th - that's THIS coming Thursday!

If you write poetry and have notebooks with poems you've written laying around the house, why not submit something? Or, write a piece specific for the contest, if you'd rather do that. It's totally up to you!

I can't wait to read some poetry entries once the contest is closed. Will it be YOURS that I pick as the winner? Stay tuned....

Thank you and where do I go from here?

It's been a little over a month since Falling For You was released into the world.

First, I want to say thank you to all of you who have done any of the following: bought the book, read the book, reviewed the book, blogged, tweeted or talked about the book somewhere, told friends about the book, asked your library to order the book, etc. etc. Every little thing helps!

Really. I mean it. THANK YOU! Here's Stormy and me giving you a virtual hug for your support!!

Lately I've been getting questions like - what's next? What are you working on now?

The thing is, I love YA. Like, I love, love, love it. But I know there are many people who write it a helluva lot better than I do. There are many days when I feel I'm not the writer I need to be to compete in today's market.

I wrote Falling For You at a time when I needed to do something different. I was tired of hearing the criticism about verse novels. A lot of people don't even want to try them, and that frustrates me SO much. It's like they hear the words "verse novel" and their brain immediately says, "well, not for me."

So I put something different out there. Reviews seem to be kind of mixed. I'm trying to stay away from them, for the most part, because it doesn't help the already somewhat low confidence. And honestly, it's FINE, not everyone is going to love every book, I know that. I've gotten some really heartfelt notes from teens, teens who needed to read this book at this time, and knowing that makes me glad I wrote the book.

But what's next for me as far YA goes? I honestly don't know. Some days I think maybe I should bow out gracefully from the YA world. Let the far more talented have the shelves. But like I said, I love YA. It's hard to leave!

Since November I've been secretly working on a YA manuscript. It's quiet and lyrical and has two characters I adore. It's part verse and part prose.

And it's all me. The question becomes, is that enough?

For a while, I thought I wouldn't finish it. I was going to walk away, and leave the YA world behind for a while. But the book won't let me leave! It keeps calling to me and calling to me. So for now, I'm writing it JUST for me. It's fun. Magical at times. When it's finished, I'll have to decide if I want to show it to anyone. It may not have a big enough hook. It may be too quiet. It might suck! For better or worse, I haven't worried about any of that. I've just tried to write from my heart, which is where my best work comes from.

At the end of the day, publishing is a business. Numbers matter. I can't control how many copies of my books are sold.

Fortunately, a great story matters too. That's what I'm going to focus on for now. We'll have to wait and see what happens next...

xoxo
Lisa