Outlaw Boots, pair #6: Rebecca Fjelland Davis

Friends! You really must read CHASING ALLIECAT. If you are a fan of mysteries or sports (in this case, competitive biking) or *strong* character voices, this book is for you. The action is swift, the love triangle is sweet, and it's a great ride (ha ha, I made a pun).

Disclaimer: I am biased as all hell about Becky and her book. She is a dear-to-my-heart longtime friend and one of my critique partners, and she's with my fabulous publisher Flux (they have good taste, huh?). However, I am not the only one who loves this book. And you will love it too. Read the reviews (a bunch!) and order the book here.

Here is Becky, her bike, and her Newfie, Freya. That dog is really a bear, but we don't tell anyone. Sweetest dog ever.



Here is ALLIECAT.



Here is the book trailer.


AND (finally), here is why BFD (Big eFfing Deal, Becky Fjelland Davis)is an Outlaw:


--Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
The guy who beat up Father Malcolm in Chasing AllieCat. Why, besides obvious reasons? He has no moral compass and lives only for himself.


--Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
Only concerning the church. Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

--What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your character--maybe outlaw boots?)?
Shit-kickers. Interpret that as you will.

--Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
Horse rustler (not that I’ve written about horses yet).


--Best thing about being an outlaw:
Following your instincts and heart, not rules or morès.

--Favorite outlaw/badass food:
Lip-blistering, sweat-inducing curry. Either red or green.

--Favorite outlaw/badass role model/why:
Gus and Call in Lonesome Dove. They’re heroes more than outlaws, but they start the story by rustling horses. Heroes outside the law. LOVE them.

Official release date is Feb 8, which is SOON. Put it on your calendar!

Legacies and book giveaways--L. K. Madigan

Friends, this is L.K. Madigan, fellow Debs 09 Feast of Awesome member, and she is someone who could use your help right now. Lisa's a YA writer with some fantastic books, namely FLASH BURNOUT and THE MERMAID'S MIRROR.

Right now, she's got a big fight ahead of her--please read about it here--and there are lots of us who are giving away her books to spread the love and help her out. If you're interested in winning copies of FLASH BURNOUT and THE MERMAID'S MIRROR, find contest rules here. She can use lots of support, and I hope you'll share yours.

What hurt about her post--aside from the fact that she's so ill--is that she can't work on her sequel to THE MERMAID'S MIRROR. Please, Lisa, we want you to get better. We want you to tell us what happens next. Your legacy is awesome, but we still want more.

So many worlds, so little time

I was raised to be curious: a humongous blessing and a curse worse than Avada Kedavra. It leads to things like "I need to grade these HEY IT'S THE GUY WHO DIDN'T SPEAK FOR TWENTY YEARS WONDER HOW HE DID THAT WONDER IF HE COULD BE A CHARACTER IN . . ." Not good for the day job. But there is *so much* out there to explore. How does a person determine where to start?

I have no answer to that question. All I know is there are books I want to write: graphic novels about cats, verse novels about 50s fashion models, a YA starring four boys and a winter hat with a mohawk (though nobody could afford this Dior one). Maybe even a romance novel or two. Who knows? All I know is my day job started again this week, and I'm not doing so hot at getting into the groove.

How can I make my writing pay my bills? That is also the question. I will find the answer, I'm sure, but in the meantime, I need to get my head in the school game (grr) despite my desire to research and write (sigh).

Maybe this is how my students feel about the split between gaming and homework.

Maybe my character needs this beard/mustache hat instead. I think I like the woolhawk better.

Mysteries, races, chainsaws: CHASING ALLIECAT

I am biased beyond belief--friends are in this trailer, friends made this trailer, and it was written by a Sister in Ink--but seriously, friends, you must read CHASING ALLIECAT. It's a wonderful mystery, and there are *incredible* bike racing scenes that will take your breath away--truly like you are on Sadie's bike with her. Plus, there is a missing chainsaw, which is pretty much irrelevant to the story, but its "bring it back" sign is the most hilarious point of the book. Well, that and firing the cannon.

See? Cannons, chainsaws, bikes--oh, and dead priests and murderous hicks in pickups--you've really gotta. Pre-order it here, and watch the trailer here. You will *not* be sorry. It's an ALAN pick and a Junior Library Guild selection, so I'm not the only one who thinks it's fab, but you'll agree with me--I know it! It's out in February, which is soon.

GO, BECKY! Woo woo!

(one of my New Year's resolutions is not to use so many exclamation points, but they're justified here, yes?)

An Outlaw with no Boots

Who needs boots when you are an EAGLE, damn it, and a MO FO BADASS OUTLAW besides? I want this guy on my side.

Thank you, Courtney Summers, for the reminder. Haters gonna hate, but we just keep writing.

Happy 2011!

Let's start with a font joke, shall we? I love font jokes.

2011 will be quite a year, I believe. Aren't they all? Most interesting piece of writing wisdom from 2010: it feels *really* weird to voluntarily take all the f-bombs out of a manuscript. Don't know if it will stay that way, but I wanted to try it.

Happy New Year, friends! Thanks for reading along. Here's to more hilarity and more stories in 2011.

Outlaw boots, pair #5: Neesha Meminger

Friends, this month's pair of Outlaw Boots is early, but no less notable for its outlaw-ness. Neesha Meminger is the author of SHINE COCONUT MOON (a book I'm teaching in the spring, can't wait) and the released-last-week JAZZ IN LOVE. She is a Debs 09 Debutante, which is how I met her, and I have it on good authority (meaning I saw it happen) that she's been mistaken for Halle Berry. But Neesha is *way* more outlaw than Halle Berry.

Neesha writes about girls that not many people (if any) write about. Sam (SHINE) and Jazz are daughters of South Asian immigrants. Have you ever seen books about Indian-American girls? No, I didn't think so. The girls struggle with traditional teenage things--love, clothes, friends--but layered on top are cultural traditions and constrictions that will surprise any reader. Want to learn about identity struggles that shake you to your toes? These books are for you.

(Not to mention the fact that Neesha has published JAZZ IN LOVE in a unique and cool way--she's a true outlaw for that as well!)

Here's Neesha:


And here's why she's an outlaw:

--Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
Jazz, from JAZZ IN LOVE, is the biggest rebel I've written so far. She just keeps getting herself into bigger and bigger piles of doo-doo as she struggles to do what she wants while trying to hang on to the approval of her friends and family. She doesn't do a very good job of the latter, though. In following her own heart, she ends up alienating just about everyone she cares about, and then she has to decide if it's (he's) worth it.


--Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
I am definitely an outlaw, for better or worse. I know because, like Jazz, I often find myself in big piles of doo-doo.

--What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your
character--maybe outlaw boots?)?
Jazz is definitely a sneaker gal--probably a wildly colored pair of Converse; while Sam, from SHINE, COCONUT MOON, is more of an Uggs type of gal--comfy, practical, yet still trendy. Me, I like clogs.


--Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
Jazz refers to herself as an "academic rock star," or a "cool geek," and Sam is more of a stealth bomber--she comes at you sideways, and before you know what hit you, she's gone :).

--Best thing about being an outlaw:
You're probably happier than most inlaws. *heh heh*

--Favorite outlaw/badass food:
I'm a mostly-vegetarian who has been vegan at various points in her life, so my badass food has to be goat marrow. Seriously. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

--Favorite outlaw/badass role model/why:
The real Storm from X-Men because, dude--she can command the WEATHER.
(me talking: real Storm = better than Halle Berry (again!))

Neesha, you are amazing. Thank you for showing us your Outlaw Boots. Go, friends, and buy these books! Don't you have an outlaw on your Christmas list?

One more thing: those Chucks up above are my Chucks, but I figure Jazz would like them. But the new Chucks I want--right here. They say MUSIC IS MY LIFE--Gabe needs a pair!