Road Trip Wednesday

(Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.)

This week: What are your all-time favorite book covers?

How about this beauty?

And something about this one (although not YA) always makes me laugh:

Could have something to do with the author...

I absolutely adore Imaginary Girls, but someone on RTW beat me to it:

I'm not the average consumer, apparently.  Because I read almost solely on personal recommendations, I tend to ignore the covers and focus only on what's inside. And when you've read a phenomenal book, it's hard to divorce the cover from the the story inside that moves us.  (Which is why I still love the old Pride & Prejudice and Emma novel covers with the painted portraits.)

But I do appreciate the fact that book covers are no longer mere advertisement; they've become original art in their own right.

Déjà vu

After watching this, I'm struck: maybe I didn't just write a YA novel manuscript...
(Fantastic work, YA Highway Channel.)

On the Winner and on Pledging

On the Winner: 

Congrats to the winner of the Goodreads Book Giveaway, Julie Donald of Missouri!

Your copy of Song of the Orange Moons is on its way to you in a pretty Priority Mail envelope. Enjoy!
Thanks to all 491 people who entered the contest.  I hope you're still inspired to read the book and review it on Goodreads or Amazon.

And on Pledging (not the Greek persuasion):
My author friend, Amy Plum, shared a link this morning that I'm passing on to you.  What a great idea: read the book before you see the film. You sign your name and pledge to read the book whenever humanly possible. 

Another author friend, Matt Bondurant, will see his novel come to life via Hollywood in the 2012 film adaptation of The Wettest County in the World, starring Shia LaBeouf. But do you see Bondurant's name credited on sites like this or this?   Breaks the heart.  It seems like a decent gesture to give the novelist credit for creating the story to begin with, because I'll bet the novelists aren't receiving the kind of grand gestures that they can deposit in the bank so they can quit their day job and write.

I'm excited about the movie, too, but I'm reading the book, which I suspect will be very different from the adaptation.

Sign the pledge.  Read the book.  You'll get smarter.

Thanks, Peeps at Goodreads!

Today is the last day of the Goodreads Giveaway.  As of now, 422 people have entered the contest for a single copy of Song of the Orange Moons.  Good luck all of you, and I hope the winner enjoys the book and reviews honestly!

Another little girl and her goat

Another Road Trip Wednesday, folks

(From the website: RTW is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered.)

This week's topic asks us what themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do we find recurring in our work?

1. Hordes of unhappy little girls and unhappy mothers (à la Betty and Sally Draper)

2. Blanket metaphors that keep creeping into my drafts (the fog like a blanket, his silence like a blanket, the humidity like a blanket, oppression like a blanket, etc.) Thanks to my beta reader, I recognize and kill those darlings as soon as they descend on me like a blanke--

3. Fathers who try really hard but just don't get their daughters

4. Goats.  Yes, goats.

from here.

5. Pride and prejudice, usually in the main character, which (I hope) gets sorted out by the last chapter

6. Fingers and acute sensitivity to touching in general   

Readers, what have I missed?  If you recently read Song of the Orange Moons (or are reading it now), what motifs skulk around the pages?