I am taking a blog holiday, but what I’ve done, is go through the archives and pick a few somewhat random posts that I thought you might like to see again. Enjoy!  This past weekend I was at a party and there were a lot of people there I didn’t know. Through conversation with one of them, I found out about a very cool summer job for college students that anyone with some internet savvy, research skills, and determination can do.

One of the men there had a daughter home for the summer between her first two years of college. She knew that all the jobs available to her were low paying, and because she lived in the country, there wasn’t much to choose from even if she did want to work away her summer for a pittance. So what she did was create her own “job” and it was to find herself scholarships.

She spent time every day working at this, looking for those forgotten, small scholarships that go unclaimed or are under-applied for each year. She set her goal to apply for at least five scholarships each week. She concentrated on the $200 ones or the $500 ones, rather than the $10K ones that everyone else was looking to win. By the end of the summer she had won $30,000 in scholarships for the upcoming school year! Now that’s impressive!

How did you pay for college?

The year is 2041, and for Molly McClure, her life is pretty much the same as it’s always been. She was only six when the Collapse of ’31 happened, ending life as the world’s population knew it. When she is forced to leave the comfort of her home and small island in British Columbia to travel down to Oregon, Molly discovers how hard the Collapse has been on the rest of the world.

What starts out as a quick trip to the U.S. to convince her grandfather to return to Canada and be the island’s doctor, turns into a rescue mission, a test of Molly’s strengths, ingenuity, and sheer determination. Will a farm girl like Molly survive in this upturned world? Will she be able to return with her grandpa in time for him to help her ailing mother? And just how much will she have to compromise to succeed in getting back to B.C.?

Find out in Restoring Harmony by Joëlle Anthony, May 2010 Putnam for Young Readers

I know I just posted a thing about how you should support your indie bookstores, and you should, but I AM ON AMAZON!!!! and you can pre-order my book!!!! No cover art up yet, but yesterday I wasn’t there at all! This is really going to happen, isn’t it?

I check out blogs. I read comments. And do you know what I seem to see over and over, despite the evidence to the contrary? New writers still seem to believe it’s who you know that will land you that agent or that publishing deal.

Over at The Debutante Ball, they are talking about myths (biz, writing, etc.) and this got me thinking about this fallacy that you will never get picked out of the slush. Who started this rumour? They truly should be strapped to their chair and forced to write queries until they get it right and an agent snags their brilliant writing out of the pile.

I know a fair number of writers, and I personally don’t know a single writer who got their agent through a “connection”. In fact, I’ve heard a lot more stories that go like this: “So and so recommended me and the agent was really nice but in the end, we didn’t click.” That I’ve heard of.

I just read an interview with Sara Zarr: slush. My agent found me: slush. Eileen Cook: slush. Kim Thacker: slush. Any of you reading this who got picked out of the slush, please leave a comment!

Today, on Twitter, agent, Elana Roth got very excited about…yep…something she found in the slush. Janet Reid is constantly going on about the number of queries she reads. Why do you think she’s reading them instead of enjoying herself with whiskey and recreational reading (well, maybe she’s having the whiskey)? Because she’s looking for YOU. Nathan Bransford goes on and on about querying in hopes that you’ll send him something great.

I queried around 40 agents over two years. I received requests for partials/fulls about 10 times. I got multiple offers. Two of these agents were referrals. The others had never heard of me and I had never heard of them until I started doing research.

If you are one of those writers who think you’ll never get picked out of the slush, I want you to just stop thinking that right now! Work on your query. Work on your writing. Stay after it. Have FUN with this. It’s part of the process! And let me know when you sign with your agent. I want to congratulate you.

Ever want to run away with the circus? Well, an old time circus came to our island last night. Amazing! Check out a gorgeous photo here and read more about it. Ideas are brewing…

Since Need To Read is on a summer hiatus, and this is adult fiction, I thought I’d just write about it here on the main blog.

I won this book in a contest over at The Debutante Ball. I was a little nervous about reading it because A) I’m hoping to become one of the five new Debs for 2010, and if I hated the book, well…that might not help my chances B) Whenever an author gives you a book, you kind of have to read it and if they know you only write about books on your blog that you love, but then you don’t write about their book, they know. You know?

Luckily, I had nothing to worry about! I LOVED THIS BOOK. A LOT. And can I just say it’s not really the kind of book I normally like to read. It falls into adult literary fiction. While I’m not a bubblegum reader by any means, I really don’t read a lot of literature. At least, not contemporary adult lit. It’s just not my thing. It’s usually so full of angst and unlike YA, it’s angst without the hilarious embarrassment factor. Or the belief that eventually the characters will grow up and get past it.

RL&L is full of…if not angst, then familial tension. But it’s often hilarious and laugh out loud. And while the first sentence hooked me, it was really this sentence that got me:

….I have a finite number of words left — who can say how many? — and each one that’s less than loving is a squandered opportunity.

I mean, who doesn’t have a finite number of words left? I might even print this up and post it on my wall as a reminder. The thing is, RL&L is filled with things like this. One way I judge the quality of a book is by how many things I want to read aloud to my husband and by the time I got to this on page 27, I’d already read him a bunch of stuff. I also know that if it starts to be too many things to read to him, then to stop and simply pass him the book. This book will be handed over to him for sure. And to my friend Wanda, who I know will love it.

Also, another reason I know this is a great book is because I’ve already plotted out the sequel. Kristina, feel free to email me and I’ll detail it for you. When you finish a book and you can’t help thinking about what the future holds for all the characters, you know you’ve read a winner. I’ve got ideas for all of them, but I could write a synopsis* for the character Katya’s book already because I’ve figured it all out in my head!

Anyway, congratulations to Kristina Riggle on a great debut, and I hope some of you will read it too!

*If you follow me on twitter – joellewrites – then you already know that it’s amazing that I could write a synopsis for the sequel because I am horrible at synopses!

If you’ve been hanging out here for any length of time, you’ll know two things about me. I only write about books I really love here on Need To Read, and every time Suzanne Selfors writes a book, I have no choice but to write about it. She’s quickly becoming one of my favourite authors! SAVING JULIET made my Fave Fifteen of 2008, and COFFEEHOUSE ANGEL, her new book is a fantastic read too.

When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she leaves him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over, never expecting this random act of kindness to turn her life upside down.

I won’t tell you what happens, but I will say if you’re looking for a good read, something to make you smile, and a special twist to brighten your outlook (or just your day), this is a book for you. Coffeehouse Angel is available now.

I know you read the book, but if you haven’t seen the movie, then my comments will definitely spoil it for you, so in order to make sure you really want to read this post, you must click here and know that I am warning you now, I give things away about the movie that you may not want to know yet.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE MOVIE BELOW!!!!!

So I left the island, which in and of itself is a big deal, to see this movie and while my expectations wanted to be high, I was a little dubious after #5 (do NOT get me started on how much I hated that movie and how they ruined the entire story with it). But I’d heard good things and the preview looked excellent, so I suppose I was slightly hopeful.

Okay… So I know I haven’t read the book since last summer, and I’ve only read it 3-4 times (including audio), but does anyone else remember Ron’s house burning down in the middle of the book? I didn’t think so. That said, it was kind of an exciting scene in the movie! But what was with Mr. & Mrs. Weasley just standing in the doorway looking dumbstruck, not even taking out their wands, while Harry and Ginny run after Bella & the werewolf? Yeah, right!

I did think, “Wow! This is a cool scene. I bet J.K. Rowling wishes she wrote it in the book!” Of course, maybe she wrote it for the movie, or maybe she wrote it in the book and it was cut, but either way, it was pretty cool. Except that their house burnt down and well…that can’t really happen, can it because they need that house later in the series to live in…and do ghouls survive fire? Hard to say, but they need that ghoul too.

But you know that’s not all I have to say, right? I mean…they added a cool scene and left out THE FRIGGIN CLIMAX OF THE BOOK!!!! So can anyone tell me what the whole point of Draco fixing the vanishing cabinet was if he was just going to let some Deatheaters into the castle so they could run around and laugh evilly and then leave? And what about Bill? When does he get bit by a werewolf? And I’m sorry, but Dumbledore knew Harry would ignore his orders in a fight and that’s why he immobilized him under his invisibility cloak, so when he didn’t this time and Harry just lurked in the shadows, I was all, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Totally unbelievable.

To be honest, I was so disturbed by the fact that there was no battle, I almost didn’t even notice that Dumbledore died! Seriously. The book makes me cry every time and all I could think was, “Why are they all holding their wands up like it’s a 1970’s Rolling Stones concert?”

I’m glad I saw it because otherwise I’d be worried I was missing something, and until the end, I thought it was pretty okay. But as I heard some teenagers say on their way out, “If they cut all the kissing scenes and people looking into each others’ eyes, the movie would’ve only been about half an hour long.”

What did you think?

It’s official! I have a pub date for my book Restoring Harmony. It is May 13, 2010. Yay!

I have also handed off the final edits to my editor. All that is left are the copy edits and then it is out of my hands. We’ve even done the catalogue copy. It’s so exciting I can hardly stand it! Really!!!!

Miss Sophie knows that the blue velvet chair is off limits to her, but it’s never stopped her before. I wonder if she was planning on reading this book I accidentally left there after her nap?

As you might know, I’m originally from Portland, Oregon. I know things are hard all over for indie bookstores, but this notice in Publishers Marketplace distressed me enough to bring it to your attention.

Portland, OR-area bookseller Stephanie Griffin closed her store Twenty-third Avenue Books in January and then became homeless. “Startled neighbors discovered this in June” as “Griffin had started panhandling outside her old store,” Willamette Week writes. Neighbors have set up a relief fund:

Donations can be made to Stephanie Griffin Fund, c/o Glenda Magistrale, Consolidated Federal Credit Union, 2021 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR 97232.

I am grateful for a lot of things Amazon does…it makes finding out about books very easy. It sells a lot of books, which is good for authors and publishers. It provides a place for reviews which probably helps sell books too. But I think that if a book is available at an indie then I will ignore the deep discounts and free shipping and just suck up the extra cost (I did this recently, ordering from Powells, and the cost was considerable). I’m not saying I’ll never buy another book from Amazon, but I am saying that after reading this, I will consider all my options even more carefully than I usually do. If we writers don’t support the indie bookstores, how can we ask them to support us?

I am excited to say that I did a guest blog today over at Darcy Pattison’s website. She teaches the best workshop on novel revision ever! And she now has a book out too. Anyway, read what I have to say about the road to publication here: http://bit.ly/hW83V

Hiya! Just a quick note to say that Need To Read is on a summer hiatus. You’d think that I’d be reading more, not less in the summer, and I actually am, but I’m not really reading things that apply to NTR. I am reading some adult fiction, some ARCs for books that don’t come out for ages, and a lot of gardening and cookbooks. One of our goals (mine and my husband) is to become more and more self sufficient in regards to food. Last year was our first year as gardeners, and we learned a lot and even grew some of the easier to grow things (lots of zucchini, for example!). This year, we have quadrupled our garden space, and I’m getting invloved too. Also, one of my roles in the sustainability equation is food prep and storage. I’m having to study up on all this.

Just in case you’re interested, here are some of the things I’ll be reading this summer. Maybe you might feel inspired to try your hand at some gardening, or if you’re a pro and want to offer me tips, I’d love to hear them. Or maybe you just want to check out the cookbooks. Either way, if I read anything I think you might like (YA-wise), I’ll add it, but overall, postings on this blog will be light (I will keep up my regular homepage blog though). Enjoy your summer and eat well!

Organic Gardening For Dummies – your basics

Food Security for the Faint of Heart by Robin Wheeler – tonnes of great info on storing food

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades – highly recommended by our gardener friends and proving invaluable to us West Coasters

Perfect Vegetables – if you think you don’t like veggies, or you only eat the basics, this is the BEST book ever. It will get you eating ALL of them. Trust me…I only ate carrots, corn and potatoes until I was 35. Now I eat it all (except eggplant) and this book went a long way towards getting me to this point.

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian – my turn-to book for EVERYTHING. Worth every penny (if you’re not a vegetarian, Mark Bittman has some other great cookbooks out too).

Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone – my new favourite. A recent gift and one that I’m sure will become another turn-to cookbook. Lovely and delish recipes.

I realized that not only have I not posted in a while, but it’s been ages since I did a Friday Five, so I thought why not now? And why not add pictures?

1. This is how I spent Canada Day. Oh, heck, who am I kidding…this is how I spent most of the week!

2. If you live anywhere around these parts, you do not want to miss this barn dance on July 10th. It’s the kick-off to the Dancing Man Festival. 

3. And back to the sock theme, these fantastic socks were made for me by Eileen Cook. Really! She knit them herself! How cool is that? They’re really comfortable too.

4. There are a lot of baby type things here on the island at this time of year, but this is one of my favourite “baby” photos. Click on it to see it properly. My husband, Victor Anthony took it.

5. Well, okay, come on…yeah, I know you can see this all over my site, but guess what? It’s my favourite picture, so there!

Hope you had a great holiday if you’re in Canada and that you have a fun one tomorrow if you’re in the U.S.