Official Maria V. Snyder Blog

I've wonderful news, INSIDE OUT final for a Prism Award in the Young Adult category!!  YAY!!  My fellow finalists are  Shade, by Jeri Smith-Ready (a really good friend of mine - we already planned for the winner to buy the loser a drink ;), and Picture the Dead , by Kelly Barrales-Saylor.  We'll find out the winner at the end of June.  Here's a link to see the other finalists in the other catergories: http://www.romance-ffp.com/contests.cfm As for the giveaway - I'm a guest blogger on I Just Wanna to Sit Here and Read blog - I blogged about writing a dystopian novel and Sheepy.  As part of the blog, we are giving away 4 copies of INSIDE OUT so stop by and be entered to win - the contest ends June 6th.   Here's the link: http://www.sithereandread.com/2011/05/guest-post-maria-v-snyder-giveaway.html I had a great time at BEA (book expo) and am now off to Balticon in Hunt Valley, Maryland for the long weekend!  If anyone is in the area on Sunday, I'm doing m

Social Media  are the catch words of the day.  I've been hearing it from everyone - my publisher, my editor, my agent and even my writer friends.  Facebook and Twitter, I think are the biggest examples of social media.  And there are lots of articles out there on how to use social media to promote books.  I'm all for spreading the word--writing is a business, but...I don't know if it's truly working.  And it does take time - time that could be spent writing books and short stories.  I'm sure I'm not the first person to wonder if  the time spent is worth it in a business sense.  In general, would readers prefer more stories and less interaction?  Or more interaction and not as many books?  Do you make discoveries online? However I enjoy doing the social media thing in a more personal sense and will continue to do what I can, which is maintain two Facebook pages (one more personal and the other a Fan page), be on Goodreads, blog, and maintain my website. Spe

This is a guest post from Author/Speaker Bri Clark (she has also posted comments in my blog).  Welcome Bri and thanks so much for putting together this very infomative post for all writers :) GMC…and we ain’t discussing trucks. GOALS, MOTIVATION and CONFLICT My editor at Astraea Press (I indicate Astraea cause I have several editors) and I were discussing submissions (we were discussing submissions because I also run the blog and contribute to the marketing for the Press. Currently authors wear many hats, but that’s a whole other post) She was expressing her dismay at having to reject so many. She’s wore the author cap too. She knows the sting. Nevertheless, she said she couldn’t accept a novel of any kind lacking GMC. GMC…I repeated. What’s that? Goals, Motivation, Conflict she explained…, which are what, spurred this post. GOALS: A story needs to have goals for the overall book as well as for the characters. Especially the main characters…however even the supporting characters

I'm cleaning out my inbox.  It's amazing just how many emails can lurk below what I can see on my computer screen.  I think they hide there, hoping I'd forget about them ;>  I've long since given up my goal of being "caught up" with all my email replies.  Now, if I'm only a week or two behind, I'm feeling pretty good. As with all house cleaning, I've been finding a few items of interest that I've posted below. Links: I'm participating in Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research - I've donated a set of Australian Study books that you can bid on and raise money for diabetes (I'll personalize them and sign them for the winning bidder :). Here's a link to the auction (lots of goodies to bid on): http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/ and a link to my books: http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=2132967 INSIDE OUT was mentioned in The Independent on Su

Fiction writers spend lots of time with imaginary people - we have conversations with fictional characters, we argue with them, and spend hours putting their words, actions and thoughts onto a blank screen or page, depending on the author's work preferences.  However, writing is not a solitary life.  We have families and friends and other writers to hang out with.  And I will admit, hanging out with my fellow writers is always interesting - we discuss the business of writing, the craft of writing, and have a million odd little conversations about zombies, murder, cats, chips, and basically "fill in the blank." As an aspiring writer, I had the good fortune to meet many published authors who shared their knowledge of the industry and writing with me.  One author, Kate Elliott, even spent time critiquing my first book, POISON STUDY and her comments improved my story tremendously.  Of course, I thanked her many times and treated her to dinner, but I really couldn't help