Lucienne Diver has created an awesome contest for the sophomore effort in her paranormal YA series. VAMPED and REVAMPED (Flux, September 2010) heroine, Gina, is looking for minions and not just any will do... First they must pass a test. The grand prize winner who proves they are king or queen of the minion pack will receive a Flip Video Camera. Here's a stolen bit from Lucienne's blog to explain the how, what and why:
Have y’all seen the application tapes from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog for the Evil League of Evil (samples here)? Well, Gina’s on the side of sweetness and light…or at least, light…and taking applications of her own. That’s right, Gina wants, no NEEDS, minions. So, here’s the deal:
-create a video “application” to tell Gina why you’d make an amazing minion. Style, theatricality and humor all encouraged -send it to me at ginasminions @gmail.com (though without the space between ginasminions and @), along with a filled in, signed version of the statement below.
It’s as simple as that. Four finalists will be chosen and posted on my blog(s) by August 15th. The winner will be chosen on August 31st, the day before ReVamped officially hits shelves! The grand prize winner receives a Flip Video Camera, and the three runners-up $25 Barnes & Noble gift cards.
To get the required form to participate, visit Lucienne's blog.
Hot of the Presses: Chloe Neill & Lucienne Diver Chat Transcript!
Thursday night we had an awesome time chatting with Chloe Neill, author of SOME GIRLS BITE, and her agent Lucienne Diver. Thanks to everyone who came out! Some of you were almost an hour early :). Admittedly, there was some time zone confusion -- but hey, still great to see everyone.
If you didn't make the chat, we've got the next best thing available. Check out the transcript below. Chloe and Lucienne were very generous with their knowledge about distinguishing yourself in the flooded paranormal market, query ettiquette and combating writer's block. Plus, Chloe also revealed the name of her upcoming YA series for the first time, ever! A must read: Chat Transcript.
YA Spring Break Week: Lucienne Diver Tackles America's Sweetheart...Begrudgingly
UPDATE: The winners of signed VAMPED bookplates are: Nicola, Suzette, Celeste, Brindle and Isabel. Please send your physical addresses to contests @ knightagency.net (remove the spaces in the email addy).
When Jia gave me “America’s sweetheart” as a topic, I had to laugh. I suppose if I had to label myself, I’d be a closet goth. Not cool enough for the full title. Too cheerful for one; too geeky for another. Yes, I adore vampire fiction and have an affinity for skulls, hence my near miss with graduate school for forensic anthropology, but I tend to wear all that on the inside.
So, as you can imagine, the thought of America’s sweetheart makes my teeth hurt. Saccharine overload. The likelihood of cavities and dentists and all that rot. But here’s the thing…nothing is ever as it seems. Authors and screenwriters have gotten a lot of mileage out of the fact that nobody’s perfect (think the film American Beauty). Inside we’re all closet geeks or addicts or outsiders laden with fears we hide away from the outside world. Things that are either too precious to be exposed to ridicule or too certain to invite it. And the teen years are the worst, as kids often try to direct attention away from their own perceived weaknesses by pointing out those of others.
Like my character Gina from VAMPED. Okay, she doesn’t have any insecurities that she’s aware of. She’s coasting along fairly certain that she’s at the absolute top of the food chain. Until she wakes up dead. No reflection, no way to apply lipstick or fix her hair and make-up. Now that’s horror. And that’s why I had so much fun playing with her. In order for Gina to become a fully-realized person, I had to knock her off her pedestal. Take her from head of the fashion police to low girl on the vampire totem pole. That’s the true test of a person’s metal…whether they wither in adversity or put on their big girl panties and deal with it. Well, Gina is not the type to take her reversal of fortune lying down, especially once she discovers that not only is her geek-boy sire in danger of being stolen away by his vampire vixen progenitor, but her classmates are being turned to the dark side to serve as cannon fodder in some war not of their choosing. First of all, if anyone’s deserving of merry minions, it’s Gina. For another, well, she’s starting to develop some of those warm and fuzzy feelings she was always able to fend off when she lived and breathed.
So, I guess what I’m saying here is that the idea of America’s sweetheart and all that accompanies it (perfect beauty, manners, behavior…ack!) is just that, an idea, an ideal. The truth is that the beauty is in seeing what has to be done and doing it, in accepting yourself and others for who they are and in hosing the sugar-coating from our ideals and facing their realities. I think we’d all be so much happier in a world where people were prized for saying and doing what they feel is right rather than what they’re told is acceptable.
To me, that’s part of what’s so appealing about young adult fiction. It’s subversive. So much of the text and subtext is about a) being true to yourself and b) not buying into the preconceived rules and notions of authority. We’ll never change the world by accepting the status quo.
That’s my two cents.
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. Five winners will be chosen to receive signed VAMPED bookplates from Lucienne! Leave your name in the comments to enter. The winners will be announced tomorrow morning in this post.
Not only is Lucienne Diver a member of TKA's fab team of lit agents, she's also well known for her writing prowess. Her upcoming YA title, VAMPED (Flux, May 2009) is receivingtremendous industry buzz. Here's the cover copy:
Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls of Vamp Life 1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty! 2. Free. Designer. Clothes. 3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud. 4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek. 5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.
I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.
Lucienne Diver is a woman of many talents, including uber successful agent and up-and-coming author. In a Q&A session with My Favorite Author, she talks about how writing informs her agenting -- giving her a unique perspective into the mind of a writer. Her sophomore novel, VAMPED, will be released this May. Click here to visit My Favorite Author.
Also, if you looking for a few belly laughs, check out Lucienne using her sharp wit to obliterate common myths about agents on Crossed Genres.
Lucienne Diver has created an awesome contest for the sophomore effort in her paranormal YA series. VAMPED and REVAMPED (Flux, September 2010) heroine, Gina, is looking for minions and not just any will do... First they must pass a test. The grand prize winner who proves they are king or queen of the minion pack will receive a Flip Video Camera. Here's a stolen bit from Lucienne's blog to explain the how, what and why:
