My First GCC Post: Deborah LeBlanc

So I am so super-duper excited. For the past few years, I've trolled around on the blogs of a slew of authors whom I've admired, all of whom were part of the Girlfriend Cyber Circuit - a club, of sorts, that hosts tours for its authors when they have a book to promote. And I'm thrilled to report that I'm now a part of the GCC! Whoohoo! So, here's my first shot at hosting a tour. The next authors I host will answer personalized and specific questions, but for now, here's Deborah LeBlanc, author of Morbid Curiosity, a horror book whose cover alone will cause you to sleep with the lights on.

Here's what you need to know about the book that Publisher's Weekly calls, “An imaginative chiller. Riveting!”:

It seemed like the answer to Haley’s prayers. The most popular girl in her high school promised Haley that her life would change forever if only she performed certain dark rituals. And if Haley can convince her twin sister to participate, their power will double. Together they will be able to summon mystical entities they never dared dream of. But these are powerful, uncontrollable forces, forces that can kill—forces that demand to be fed . . .

The Horror Fiction Review says this about Deborah, "It’s now official: Deborah LeBlanc has become a master not only of good spooky stories, but also of crafting great characters to fill them!” And here are a few other things you need to know about her:

She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana, and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Women Writers, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual, national campaign designed to encourage more people to read. Her most recent novels are: FAMILY INHERITANCE, GRAVE INTENT, A HOUSE DIVIDED, and MORBID CURIOSITY. Deborah’s next release, WATER WITCH, is scheduled to be on bookstore shelves in August ’08. For more information on Deborah or the Literacy Challenge, visit www.deborahleblanc.com

Pick up Morbid Curiosity today!

The YA Market

Question of the week: About the "getting an agent" question--my problem is, I want to write young adult and juvenile fiction. Since writing YA fiction (usually) isn't as lucrative a writing market as others, do you know if it's standard for a writer to have an agent? I've seen YA agents advertising, but I'm not sure if it might be any more difficult getting representation, or if the difference is negligible and all areas take the same amount of perseverance and luck.

Actually, the YA market is one of the hottest markets to be in right now. Despite the internet and TV, teens are reading like crazy, they're armed with their parents' credit cards, and they're snapping books up in droves. And if you can write YA well - smart and appealing to that demo - and agent would be thrilled to have you.

Also, I should note that having an agent goes beyond just the actual dollar amount that he or she brings in for your book. He helps you negotiate the contract - no small feat - I think my contract is something like 20 pages long, helps you navigate the publicity process/cover art/blurbs/etc, and is generally around as your go-to cheerleader and advisor. I think it's short-sighted to only see your agent as the bait for more money.

I'm not that well-versed in the YA market because, er, obviously, I'm not a YA writer, but I'm sure that others here are, and they can weigh in on the industry. To find the best agent for you, I'd do a thorough search of Publishers Marketplace, Agent Query, google, Writers.net, etc, and if you land one, I think you'll be far better off than without.

Free Books!

One of the things that I love so much about the internet (besides my ability to endlessly procrastinate on gossip sites), is how many people I've met via the web. Writing seems like it should be a very solitary existance, but thanks to the web, for me, it doesn't feel that way at all. I've made so many "friends," and even though I haven't met many of them face-to-face, they (many of whom read this blog) know things about my life, both professionally and personally, and for that (and them), I'm thankful. This profession must have felt a lot lonelier 20 years ago.

So, to that end, I am super, duper-excited to get my copy of (my online friend) Gwendolen Gross's The Other Mother in the mail this August (I've pre-ordered on Amazon), but now one of you lucky readers might land yourself a free copy. Like TDLF, it's been selected as a Redbook Book Club of the Month pick, so I'm sure that it's fabu!

Here are the details:

BLOGGERS! FREE BOOKS! GWENDOLEN GROSS, once called "the queen of women's adventure fiction," has moved on to the rich loamy pastures of writing about motherhood. THE OTHER MOTHER will be out August 7th, and Gwendolen is giving away signed copies of her third novel (which takes both sides of the mommy wars, with two first person narrators) to the first five bloggers who email her at ggross@gwendolengross.com---in return, you need to have a blog, and agree to read and blog about the book during the week of August 7th.
Send her your blog address and mailing address, and if you're one of the top 5, she'll send you a book!

For more on THE OTHER MOTHER, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.gwendolengross.com "suspenseful and compulsively readable"--Harlan Coben "..manages to engage all the contradictions of motherhood, marriage, and friendship.."--Rosellen Brown And for a free mini-writing-workshop, visit http://gwendolengross.typepad.com/
Email ggross@gwendolengross.com

And watch for THE OTHER MOTHER (REDBOOK's SEPT BOOK CLUB PICK), coming to a store near you.