YA Info

So I post here about my YA stuff, but I can't post there about my adult stuff. Something to do with libraries and all that so I'm being careful.

I've created a fb fan page for the YA instead of doing a whole other profile in hopes that it will limit the naked men posted to it that I will have to delete.

I'm currently slogging through my second beta for Evolution, and thinking I really need to get started on part two. Winter just makes me so tired. I need to get back in the habit of getting up early to write.

Anyway, if you're on fb and would like to add yourself to the updates please like my new YA page:http://www.facebook.com/SamKadence

Reading

I'm a crazy reader. I go through five or six books a week and I reread a lot of stuff. That being said, it's hard to find really good reads! 

In the past few weeks I've been reading a lot of YA trying to figure out what has made the YA genre grow so much in the past few years. I really think it's cause it's really not YA anymore. There is more sex and violence in most of these teen books than there was in the adult stuff I was reading.

So anyway I read this big who-ha (is that word dating me?) about this big named author who has been ousted by her publishing company and now has ghost writers writing her series. Everyone is like "be true to the series" when the original author freely admits she signed a contract that said "work for hire" which means you own nothing.

Work for hire in the writers world really means you get paid once for something you write, but they can use it over and over again and do whatever they want with it. It was actually one of the first bits of advice I ever got from another author. Unless you're a technical writer you should never write "work for hire." 

Now keep in mind this is still really popular. When people write for anthologies, that is essentially what they are doing. The publisher pays for the piece once, but can reuse it, and any element of it whenever and wherever they want. So have caution.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the stuff the ghost writer has written for this author (not even ghost writer cause the real writer's name is on the book too), and thinking, so you were kind of not smart enough to look into your options 20 years ago and are begging for the Stephanie Meyer fame you could have had if only you'd been more informed. No sympathy. But I've never really been all that nice when it comes to people who feel they were cheated cause they didn't "know" any better.

So reading! Xmas is coming, and we all know how I feel about the holidays, but there is a positive side! Books, books, and more books!

No, no one buys me books anymore, not if they want to remain my friends anyway, but I do get gift cards and when the light is low, and there's snow outside, there is no better time to read. Snuggled up under a blanket, or with a cat on your lap (or both), and a good book, (or reader) in your hand.

I stopped into a BN this past weekend and they have those giant hardbound "classics" in for Xmas. I was eyeing the Alice in Wonderland one. But $20? I'm sure I can get that for my reader for cheaper, but I'm still tempted by the physical book. It's different to hold it in your hand, and yes I have a lot of real books.

If I could give anything to everyone for the holidays it would be books. It makes my heart hurt to find out that so many young kids can barely read. And I was there! I hated reading, it was so hard, until I was in the fifth grade and someone at the library pointed out this book about Annie Oakley. And after I'd struggled through rereading that one three times cause I liked the gun-toting chick, they gave me Bunnicula, which is where all my para love came from.

So what will I be getting my nieces for the holidays? (nevermind the giant Barbie playhouse on layaway) Oh yeah, the Bunnicula pack. And I always donate that set, as well as the Little Prince to some local reader programs.

Haven't read them yet? Why the heck not? LOL. Anyway, no matter what you do as the holidays coming at us like a million ton freight train, get reading!

You'll be surprised the places it can take you. :)

Xmas giveaways

Or solstice if you prefer. I'm looking for ideas. I had to reorder some shirts cause I ruined three trying to sign them. LOL Live and learn right?

So what should I do for a holiday giveaway? I'd like to get some reviews and rating over on Amazon, so I'm trying to figure out something to incorporate that.

A book reader maybe? Don't you all have one though?

A hoodie?

A set of the cute plushies of the boys I had made (gave away two sets at grl and have one left)?

I think probably a points system will be put in place. You get points to put your name in the bucket for prizes. Adding up multiple points of course provides better chances. Just trying to figure all that out.

So help me out. What would you want for xmas if you were the big bad winner of some crazy Lissa Kasey contest?

Real World Disabilities

I get migraines. Bad ones that take me down for at least a day, usually I can feel them coming. The funny thing is people are like oh I get headaches and I just take xyz. Yeah well I take morphine and it still doesn't help so obviously you've not had a migraine.

I was thinking earlier this week while lying in bed suffering from said migraine, that why don't we have more characters with this sort of issue? It can be just as disabling as losing a limb. I know one girl who has such bad chronic migraines she cannot work. Nothing helps, and the docs don't know why it happens. If you lose a limb they can do a prosthetic most of the time. There's nothing you can do when your brain is killing you slowly. 

Then this week I picked up a new YA novel, and low and behold the main character has migraines. Not headaches, migraines, nausea, light sensitivity, searing pain that makes it impossible to function. His pain is caused by the fact that he's a witch with crazy powers, and I'm not that cool, but still. It's nice to feel like I'm not the only one in the world for that right?

So I want to ask you guys, why do you think we don't see a lot of these disabilities in fiction? I know there's a stigma around a lot of these things. For mental illnesses it's the worst, things like being bi-polar, depression, anxiety, ocd. And then there's things like migraines, rheumatoid arthritis (which affects not just old people), and probably something else I can't think of at the moment.

I guess a second question would be, do you want to read about people with these sort of issues? We are so accepting of the physical, but what about the stuff we can't see?

Sensitive Matters

So I was reading about a favorite actor of mine today how he's been badgered about his relationships. Everyone wants to know if he's straight or gay, and he says he's only been with women but is open to love of all kinds, however, he was very badly sexually abused as a child, so has trouble with relationships in general.

Now for those who don't know anyone who's been abused, or who have not been abused themselves, it's hard to fathom what that means. For me it's a very sensitive matter. I've been there, done that. Still haven't "healed" but really what does that mean?

I think for those of us who were abused, healing is finding someone who accepts us even when we can't accept us. Now don't go thinking that we are thinking it was our fault, I hear that all the time "but it wasn't your fault." No it wasn't my fault, but that doesn't stop us from seeing ourselves different, tarnished, undesirable. Even this very attractive actor who has dated some of hollywood's most beautiful people.

Why do a lot of the people who were abused end up alone? Fear. Trusting someone again after something like that has happened is so hard. Almost impossible unless you have someone with endless patience and understanding. And let's face it, the world is filled with very self-absorbed people who don't have time for other people who may not be perfect.

I wish there were more highlights on the victims recovery, or how hard it was to recover from something like this. We had the whole Penn State scandal and I think scandal... hmm... tragedy really. So many of these people who will never have normal lives. They might try, they may fake it, they may be really good at faking it, but really it never goes away. 

I think a lot of people don't think of it the right way. Sexual abuse is rape, often continual rape. One rape is bad enough, think of it happening over and over for years. It's unfathomable.

There's just not enough protection for children, education for parents, people listening to teachers. My parents ignored all the signs. Even now my dad denies it was possible, my mom shrugs it off, as oh well, poor you. 

I'm almost 35, and single, probably will be for the rest of my life. Relationships don't last long because I find it hard to trust. I'm socially awkward because I almost feel like people can see. Somehow they all know that I was abused, probably comes out in my personality. I don't know, but it does make me pull away. I'm sensitive to other people when they are very outgoing because they are aggressive, and for me aggressive people mean abusers, that's how my abuser was.

I have written my main character Seiran in the image of the sort of emotional struggle that I've had. Though there are two ways people go from sexual abuse as a child, either they become highly sexually active, finding it's the only thing that gives them value, or they pull away completely from society. Sei threw himself into sex. As a character he is growing, but no he will never be healed from the abuse. It just doesn't happen. He has Gabe who is extremely understanding, he's seen this sort of thing before, though never been so close. But I think to come out and say that Seiran will never fear for his relationship, or be one hundred percent secure in it, would be very unrealistic. 

Even for those of you who had a normal childhood, who didn't have someone touch you and make you think you were a toy, you still have doubts, even in the greatest of relationships it's not all rainbows and sunshine. That's why I write that way. That's why my stuff has angst. The characters are fucked up, cause that's what's real. We're all fucked up. Some of us just a little more than others.

Be sure to watch for the signs in people you know and love. And check out Rainn.org for help.http://www.rainn.org/ or http://www.childhelp.org/ 

And on a side note this is not  call for sympathy, this is a call for awareness. Watch the kids around you, they give signs long before we will ever speak! 90% of those abused, know their abuser. 

And the winner is.......

Congrats to Seiran Allen-Field. You should be getting your copy of Ascendance soon!  Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest this week. I hope you enjoyed the snippets shared this week. 

Don't forget you can pick up your copy here at Dreamspinner or on Amazon!

If you enjoy it don't forget to give it your review!

Chicken Tacos

So unlike Seiran, I am not a chef of any type. I used to cook a lot and consider myself a bit of a foodie, now not so much. However, I can do the little things well. Like my five minute chicken tacos recipe. It would make Sei cringe, but it's tasty. Take one can of chicken in water (drain the water), put the chicken in a saucepan, pour in a little chicken broth, add a packet of taco seasoning, heat up your favorite tortilla shell, and once the meat has come to a boil, fill the shell.

Good stuff, I promise. And takes five minutes. You'll never even know the chicken came from a can. Promise. :)