Monthly Archives: August 2014

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Book of the Week – The Shatter Me Series

Hello gentle reader,

if you’re looking for a great YA trilogy to read this summer, I recommend the SHATTER ME series by Tahereh Mafi.

ShatterMeSeries

It’s a YA Sci-Fi series which was published between 2011 and 2014 by Harper Collins. It comprises three novels (SHATTER ME, UNRAVEL ME and IGNITE ME) from the main character’s point of view (Juliette) as well as two novellas (DESTROY ME from Warner’s POV and FRACTURE ME from Adam’s POV).

Here is the blurb for SHATTER ME (from Goodreads):

I have a curse
I have a gift

I am a monster
I’m more than human

My touch is lethal
My touch is power

I am their weapon
I will fight back

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

What makes this series quite unique is Juliette’s voice and Tahereh Mafi’s writing (with the now well-known crossed-out words and lines). The character development of Juliette is one of the most impressive I’ve read, and Warner remains one of the most complex characters you’ll be likely to read in a YA book. Even if there’s quite a lot of action (especially in Book 3), the characters’ journey and the love story are what these books are about. These books explores themes such as the line between good and evil, as well as what makes a person a hero or a villain.

This is an amazing series and I do hope you’ll pick it up this summer (all books are available as paperbacks, both in the US and overseas).

Have you read the SHATTER ME series? What did you think?

What are you reading this summer?

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How To Write A Pitch For Your Novel

NB: this was originally posted on There And Draft Again in February 2013, but I have tweaked it slightly to share with you again today.

Hello gentle reader,

Whether you’re looking for an agent or self-publishing your book, there comes a time in your life as a writer when you have to write a pitch for your novel. Here is a bit of advice on what to do and what to avoid when drafting your pitch…

1 – Bear in mind the purpose of your pitch is to sell the idea of your story to an agent or a reader. “Hooking” them with a 10-line paragraph summarising your 90k+ novel isn’t an easy task, but it is doable, and necessary if you want  your book to make it to readers’ shelves. So let’s start, shall we?

2 – A pitch for a novel should be about 200 words long. Which is to say, it’s brief.

3 – A pitch should include:

  • Who your Main Character is and what he wants (his GOAL)
  • What the inciting incident is and why your Main Character chooses to do something about it (his CHOICE)
  • What is at stake should your Main Character fail in his endeavour (WHY THE READER SHOULD CARE)

4 – A pitch should NOT be too generic and vague. Chuck Sambuchino gives a great example of what a pitch should not be like on the Writer’s Digest website. Do go and read it.

5 – A pitch should not include everything about your story. It should not attempt to describe in detail the wonderfully complex world you’ve created. Thus it should only include your Main Character, the Antagonist and whoever is relevant to the Main Character’s goal, choice and problem. And it should not mention too many proper names and places. And it should make sense.

6 – Last but not least, you should have beta readers for your pitch. Try to find at least one who hasn’t read your novel and has no idea what it’s about. And try to have at least one who has read your novel and can tell you if your pitch does it justice.

I hope this helps! Feel free to leave me your questions and comments below!

(All GIFs are from Pushing Daisies and none of them belong to me)