Wednesday, November 9, 2011

LISTS! LISTS! + Manuscript Awesome-izing

Yesterday was a mixed bag. On the one hand, Clementine and I were sick and I had to miss the Neil Gaiman/Amanda Palmer show Jim and I had tickets for. Boo.

On the other hand, and compleeeeeeeeeetely compensating for any amount of headaches (and then some), Amazon's Best Books of 2011 were announced, and ...




Daughter of Smoke and Bone made the
AMAZON TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2011!!!!!!

The above image is slightly deceptive. Daughter is #6 on the list, not #1. There's a previous screen I've already scrolled past. But you guys. NUMBER SIX. The only YA book in the top 10! I am totally swooning with joy! It means a lot to get on the teen list too. A LOT. But to get on the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LIST is the kind of crazy I never even wasted any time hoping for. 

THANK YOU AMAZON!!!


(You can see the full list, and the category lists, HERE.)


And speaking of the teen list, Daughter did not just make the list.

Ulp.

It made #1.







This is so amazing. I want to just stare at these screens.


Also, I want to say thank you to the readers who have posted reviews to Amazon. That is one of those things I try not to look at too much but I can't help it, and I really really appreciate them. Saying that is a reminder to me to get busy and post some reviews for books I have loved lately like Chime and The Red Glove.



Okay. I feel like I'm gloating, but I have another awesome list to tell you about.

Daughter also made Publisher's Weekly
Best Books of 2011, Children's Fiction:





THANK YOU, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY!!


It's an amazing list of books, and includes Chime and another of my favorite books of the year, from months back, Where She Went by Gayle Foreman, and also How To Save a Life and Beauty Queens by my Little, Brown sistren Sara Zarr and Libba Bray, which I have not read yet but will soon, as I love love love their books.

I will also be taking a look at that sci fi/fantasy list. I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with any of them. I feel like an ostrich these days. A reading ostrich. Randomly, look at this cover from that list. Love it:




Isn't that fun?


Well. I'm well enough today to get back to work, so back to work I shall get immediately. I have actually been ... rearranging the furniture ... in the new novel, which is something I do all along the way as I discover bit by bit what the book is *really* about. In the best of worlds, the pieces will reform without me having to ditch whole chapters, but only rewrite lightly, kind of like ... dusting. And that IS what is happening, thankfully. 

I was emailing with a writing friend the other day who has a similar process as me, and we both confessed to not really discovering what a book is "about" until it is almost done. I sometimes think of this as finding the "axis," the pivot point around which the whole story turns. At which point it must be revised, restructured. This might sound drastic and terrible but it is not. I have done it with every book and story, and it is actually a fun and comfortable procedure for me, the "embettering" of the manuscript, once the light switches on in my attic. I mean, the pieces are mostly there, but they need jiggering. The suspense threads need tightening, the character arcs need tweaking, the whole thing could stand a general awesome-izing. Which is kind of a fun name for a procedure.

I'm going to the salon to have my hair awesome-ized. 

That bit of dialogue could stand some awesome-izing. 

Ha, add another excellent technical term to my lexicon, along with my go-to: "cool."

Cheers! 





17 comments:

CJ Omololu said...

ALL the lists! Totally and completely deserved. I keep buying copies and giving them away to teens I love.

Connie Onnie said...

Last night we threw a little party for my friend Mimi's birthday and I gave her Daughter of Smoke and Bone and told her "it's the best book I have read all year". Which is actually saying a lot since I have in fact read several awesome books this year.

amy said...

Awesome and wonderful!!! Congrats!

June G said...

Many congrats! Its a truly awesome story. Several people came to me and asked about the "big fantasy book you told me about". I've told people they HAVE to read it!

Kristan said...

I can't talk DOSAB up enough. As CJ said, well deserved. :)

Also, I can't wait to "awesome-ize" my book. That sounds so much more fun than revising!

persnickety_jen said...

You can't see it, but I'm totally flailing like Kermit. YAY!

And I think we'll be seeing a lot more posts like this in the next year..! I haven't met a single person who hasn't LOVED this book. It's fantastic from start to finish, and if you want to talk about "awesome-izing" a manuscript, DOSAB is pretty much the gold standard.

Since being sick deprived you of seeing Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer, I hope you, Jim, and Clementine do something awesome to celebrate all this good news!

SarahWT said...

(!!!!!) That's flipping awesome, Laini! Congratulations! :)

Connie Onnie said...

AND I just heard that my friend told her husband about the book he read the first chapter and was completely hooked!!

Carrie Ryan said...

YAY for lists! Congrats!

Your process sounds EXACTLY like mine! It's often not until the end that I get the story and understand it and then I have to go back and smooth everything down and make it work. Nice to know I'm not alone :)

Emy Shin said...

Yay, congratulations! I'm not surprised DAUGHTER made so many lists, because it's certainly #1 on my list of favorite books of the year!

Katie Anderson said...

Wow! wow! Wow! Well deserved, Laini. Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! :-)

Evie said...

Your blog is pretty funderful too :D

Amber said...

Wonderful! Happy for you, and all who get to find out about your amazing books.
I just gave my copy to the kids new school, for the older kids part of the library. I know they will love it.

:)

Miss K said...

Congratulations! I just read your novel last weekend and loved it so much; I already mailed it to my best friend to enjoy.
I reviewed it for Young Adults Book Central here: http://yabookscentral.com/yafiction/10706-daughter-of-smoke-and-bone

I can't wait for the sequel!

newshadeofgreen said...

CONGRATS! That is just awesome! I absolutely loved Daughter of Smoke & Bone but I haven't posted my review yet because I'm scared of not doing it justice! In the meantime I'm telling all my friends to read it, and I'm giving away a copy you signed when I met you in Denver - http://bookandlatte.blogspot.com/2011/11/author-signing-laini-taylor-giveaway.html

I can't wait to read Lips Touch!

Congratulations, again, I'm so happy for you!
~ Jen @ A Book and a Latte

Brent A said...

Congrats!! That is so awesome!! I'm going to take up reading again because of you.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...