And The Winner Of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Is...

The John Green's The Fault in Our Stars giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! I really love having giveaways, and hopefully I can have an international one soon.

But now it is time to announce the winner.

Drumroll, please...

...

...

...

...

And the winner of the signed (and Hanklerfished!) copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is...

Kate Weber!!

She won with her "Spread The Word" entry. The winning entry was picked with random.org.

Congrats, Kate! I will be contacting you shortly to get your shipping info.

Everybody else, thanks so much for entering. I'm sorry I don't have more copies to give away!

How Some People Think Books Are Written

I swear, I spend more time changing stuff and doing stuff over than anything else combined... but I guess before I can write the book, sometimes I have to figure out what it's not.

PS ~ If you haven't entered to win a SIGNED copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, you can do so here! Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 31st!

Win a FREE SIGNED COPY of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green!!

I HAVE ANOTHER GIVEAWAY FOR YOU GUYS!

Their tour bus!

~NOTE: If you don't want to read my ramblings about meeting John Green in person, you can simply skip down to the end and enter to win a free signed (and Hanklerfished!) copy of John Green's newest book, The Fault in Our Stars. The entry widget is at the bottom of the post!~

FIRST, THE STORY!

So about two weeks ago, I had the enormous privilege of meeting John and Hank Green when they came to Atlanta on their Tour de Nerdfighting.

John Green reading a chapter of his new book.

About John Green:

John Green is an award-winning YA author and YouTube celebrity (and hilariously, he was an author before he was an internet celebrity although usually it's the other way around). He has been called the JD Salinger of this generation--a totally deserved designation, in my opinion--and his books have won honors like the prestigious Printz and Edgar Allen Poe awards. In addition to penning incredible works of literary fiction for young adults, John and his musician brother Hank have an incredibly successful YouTube channel called the Vlogbrothers, which has over 600,000 subscribers and which is #36 Most Subscribed of All Time channel on YouTube. His brother, Hank Green, is a musician and the co-founder of DFTBA records, among many other awesome jobs like running Ecogeek.org.

The Weird Parts of YouTube

Of course I am ALWAYS a diligent, dedicated author and I always work very hard and never procrastinate.

*cough*

But SOMETIMES I like to waste time on YouTube. And then this happens...

YOUTUBE: A SAGA

Or, Faces You Make While Watching YouTube

A Musical

(not really)

I am bored. I think I'll browse cute videos on YouTube.

*CLICK*

Aw, a cute kitty doing something cute.

*CLICK*

Double the kitties! Double the cute!!

*CLICK*

Can't... handle... the... cute!! MOAR, I say, MOAR CUTE!

*CLICK*

I've been *RICKROLLED* ? ...Very funny, internet.

 *CLICK*

Back to the cuteness... Oh, what is this a video of?

*CLICK*

That was not cute. That was... painful looking... What is this "weirdest thing ever" video?

*CLICK*

Is that Photoshopped? Please tell me that is Photoshopped...

*CLICK*

IS THAT AN ALIEN???


*CLICK*

GIANT CRABS ARE REAL?? THESE THINGS EXIST???

WHAT IS SEEN CANNOT BE UNSEEN...!

Congrats, YouTube. You have broken my brain.

Has anybody else every gotten lost in the weird part of YouTube?

It is scaaaaarry...

SOPA and the Internet Blackout

In case you weren't aware, today numerous websites like Wikipedia, Reddit, ICanHazCheezburger, etc are participating in a blackout to protest SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).

I don't exactly have enough regular content to participate in a "blackout," since I don't post every day, but I would like to use my blog to raise awareness and point people in the direction of more information.

I am against piracy, yes, but I think this bill is a very bad idea, and I am very concerned about the impact it would have on the internet and the expression of ideas. Instead of solving the problem, I think this bill will create a myriad of new ones.

Read the information and decide for yourself.

What Is SOPA?

More About SOPA and PIPPA

Sign The Petition

Please take a few moments to educate yourself about this issue today!

Some of My Favorite Quotes About Writing

"I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head." ~John Updike

"It should be noted that there are two blissful things about writing novels: making them up and seeing them finished." ~ Ann Patchett

found here

“Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.” Virginia Woolf

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they never happened." ~ Willa Cather

"It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive." ~ James Baldwin 

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the 1st time unlike, say, brain surgery.” R. Cormier

found here

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." ~Hannah Arendt

"If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ~Toni Morrison

"Writing books is the closest men will ever come to child bearing." - Norman Maile

"If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad." ~Lord Byron

You and me both, Lord Byron. You and me both.

What's your favorite quote about writing?

The Worst Enemy to Creativity

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." ~ Sylvia Plath.

Hi, guys.

I read this inspiring post Sunday and wanted to share. It's called What If Your Biggest Naysayer Is Yourself?

This is a huge struggle for me personally. Internally, I am always dealing with these kinds of thoughts while I'm writing or editing a book. They're the kind that say what I write will never be good enough... The kind that kind that tell me I'm going to fail... The kind that tell me to quit now while I'm ahead.

They are insidious and hurtful and they kill my creativity, like Ms. Plath points out above. That quote of hers has always resonated with me deeply... maybe I should frame it and stick in on the wall above my desk.

Self-doubt. Fear. Sense of worthlessness.

In 2012, I'm not going to let those thoughts stop me from writing.

Does anybody else have an inner critic like mine?